Although it was St. Patrick's Day, some people had more on their minds than green beer and debauchery on Saturday.

Early in the afternoon, several hundred protesters assembled on the Diag to mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

LSA senior Alex Smith, the founder of the campus group Anti-War Action, said the turnout at the protest was high, but might have been lower than last year's rally because it happened to fall on St. Patrick's Day.

At about 1 p.m., protesters slowly began to fill the area in front of the Hatcher Graduate Library carrying signs with slogans like "1/20/09: End of an Error," "No Blood for Oil" and "Got WMDs?"

Another sign, modeled after the NBA's logo and slogan, showed an outline of a soldier with the caption "I hate this game."

A woman carrying a megaphone began to chant "Justice for Iraq, justice for Afghanistan" as the crowd grew. She fell silent, though, when songwriter Joe Riley began performing folk music on the steps of the graduate library.

He was followed by members of the Interfaith Council, whose representatives included ministers from several congregations around Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje also spoke, encouraging youth involvement and grassroots organization.

LSA freshman Yousef Rabhi spoke on behalf of Campus Unite!, a coalition of six left-wing campus groups united against what they say is a University administration out-of-touch with student concerns. Rabhi said most students unintentionally invest in war by paying tuition to the University. He asked audience members to sign a petition urging the University to divest from military contractors.

The rally was organized by Michigan Peaceworks, an Ann-Arbor based anti-war organization.

The eclectic crowd included young children, high school students, University students and war veterans.

Tony Morgan, a member of Michigan Peaceworks, led the protesters in a march out the Diag to Main Street and back.

"Are you ready to march?" he yelled into the microphone. Cheering crowd members marched out of the Diag behind a dove cut out of bedsheets. Some held over their shoulders a banner about 50 feet long bearing the name of every American soldier killed in Iraq.

Some students wearing green for St. Patrick's Day jeered the protesters as they marched down State Street. Others cheered as the marchers walked by.

"Y'all got a nice beat," said one man as he passed by.

Police closed downtown streets from State Street to Fourth Street along East Liberty to create a path for the protesters.

The march paused in protest in front of the Federal Building - the location of the Ann Arbor post office - on the corner of East Liberty Street and Fourth Street. Protesters danced to drums as passersby walked by a display of the faces of Michigan soldiers killed in Iraq.

Throughout the march, protesters chanted slogans like "What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!" and "This is what democracy looks like." One man stopped to thank an officer for providing the protesters with protection.

National Guard Sgt. Robert Barner, a veteran of the war in Iraq and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, took the microphone on the steps of the library and began to speak after the protesters regrouped on the Diag.

Barner described his experiences in Iraq, including that of a 21-year-old soldier whose head was split open by an improvised explosive device.

Barner's wife and 6-year-old son stood with him on the steps as he spoke. For a brief moment, his son Rory Barner took the microphone to speak.

"Peace is good. War is bad," he said.

After Barner and his family left the stage, Morgan spoke again to the crowd, which had thinned out since the march ended.

Morgan said it didn't matter how many people came to the rally as long as the protesters communicated their message.

The protest ended as Bob Marley's anti-war song "Get Up, Stand Up" played through speakers on the steps of the library.

Morgan encouraged members of the crowd to sing along. Several dozen obliged.