Washington ? To chants of “Impeach Bush,” thousands of anti-war demonstrators rallied in the nation’s capital Saturday and delivered a scathing critique of President Bush and his Iraq policy.

Demanding an end to the U.S.-led occupation and the quick return of American troops, the demonstrators gathered on a sunny fall day at the Washington Monument to listen to speeches and songs.

One man’s small cardboard sign gave his summing-up of the day: “This administration does not represent me,” it said in black capital letters typewritten on white paper.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, exhorted the crowd not to be content with the gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

“Don’t give Bush $87 billion, don’t give him 87 cents, give our troops a ride home,” Sharpton said to loud cheers.

Hundreds of anti-war protesters also took to sun-drenched streets in San Francisco.

“We feel it’s very important to keep our voices heard because we want our troops home,” said Bill Nelson, a Burbank, Calif., bookstore owner. “We want the money here for health care and jobs, not a military industrial complex.”

The rallies on both coasts were organized by International ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and United for Peace and Justice.

The protest in Washington drew a diverse crowd — young, old, veterans, relatives with loved ones in the armed forces and American Muslims. An activist group of older women called the Raging Grannies, singing anti-Bush songs, brought whoops of agreement from the protesters.

Medea Benjamin, right, co-founder of the group Code Pink, chants during a march in Washington near the White House to protest U.S. troops' presence in Iraq. The thousands-strong march Saturday was organized by the groups ANSWER Coalition (Act Now To Stop War And End Racism) and United for Peace and Justice.

Organizers estimated that 100,000 people turned out for the demonstration, but police at the scene put the number much lower, from 10,000 to 20,000.

Waving signs reading “Make Jobs Not War” and “Bush is a liar,” the demonstrators marched from the White House, down toward the White House, on to the Justice Department and then back to the Washington Monument.

Michael McPhearson, a veteran from the 1991 Persian Gulf War, denounced the president, saying he had misled the nation. “You have butchered the truth, George Bush.”