Rallies and marches took place in more than 500 cities across the country, including in Seattle.

The anniversary drew about 1,000 demonstrators to the Seattle Center. They carried signs and banners urging the United States government to get its troops out of Iraq.

"It's an immoral war for the oil industry that George Bush belongs to," said protester Bob Reinhart.

Two years ago the world watched images of the "shock and awe" attack on Baghdad.

Since then, more than 1500 American troops have died in Iraq.

The peace rally brought out labor groups, physicians, neighborhoods and even waiters against the war.

"Personally, what brings me out is that this American's dream doesn't include preemptive war," said waiter Grant Holloway.

Julie Tackett came with her daughter, while her husband serves in the Army Reserve.

"There are times when we will need a military. I acknowledge that, but I don't believe in how we are using our military at this time," she said.

From the Seattle Center, the group marched to the Westlake Center. Their march was peaceful and there were no arrests.

Protesters hit the streets in cities across the country and all over the world, some of them lying down alongside flag-draped cardboard coffins.

Police estimated 45,000 Britons marched from London's Hyde Park past the American Embassy to Trafalgar Square. An estimated 15,000 marched in Istanbul, Turkey.

In New York, some demonstrators were arrested as they demanded that U.S. troops be brought home.

In San Francisco, protesters rallied in a park in the city's Mission district, holding up posters with photographs of dead American soldiers. The protesters then marched to City Hall for another rally.

One protester dressed up like the hooded Iraqi prisoner in the famous photo taken of detainee abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

In Cottage Grove, Ore., a few hundred protesters marched through town - home base of an Oregon National Guard battalion.

Protesters walked two-by-two through a quiet residential street, holding a half-mile-long chain of flags bearing the names of American troops and Iraqi children killed during the war.

President Bush noted the anniversary by saying the war is responsible for "inspiring democratic reformers from Beirut to Tehran."