New York ? Anti-war activists marched in the streets of American cities big and small Saturday, stopping traffic and lying down alongside flag-draped cardboard coffins to mark the second anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

Some of the demonstrators were arrested in New York as they demanded that U.S. troops be brought home.

“This country was founded by acts of civil disobedience,” said David McReynolds, 75, of New York, as he marched along 42nd Street. “We have an obligation to make our resistance public and to say as clearly as we can that the war is illegal.”

In San Francisco, hundreds of protesters rallied in Dolores 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. The woman was surrounded by others wearing masks of President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who were dancing to the song “Shout” by the Isley Brothers.

“This is a war of aggression,” said Ed McManus, 54, a Vietnam War veteran. “Bush has admitted by his actions and his deeds that he is a war criminal.”

Organizers encouraged civility at rallies in the city, where protests just after the war began were among the most vocal and angry in the country, with thousands of arrests and frequent conflicts between police and demonstrators.

Police wearing helmets and armed with batons lined the streets Saturday, but they reported no disturbances.

Across Europe, tens of thousands of protesters also packed streets and public parks to protest the war. In England, 45,000 people marched from London’s Hyde Park past the American Embassy to Trafalgar Square, while an estimated 15,000 people — some carrying signs reading “Murderer Bush, get out” — marched in Turkey.

Thousands of anti-war activists gather in Federal Plaza in Chicago to mark the second anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Protesters sought a permit to march down Michigan Avenue in downtown but were denied by the city, prompting a heavy police presence. Police say two protesters were arrested.

Hundreds in New York listened to anti-war speeches at the United Nations, then marched along 42nd Street to Times Square, where police penned them in on a sidewalk.

A small contingent of protesters then knelt in front of a military recruiting station and lay down on Broadway next to the flag-draped coffins. Traffic was stopped for about five minutes before police moved in and arrested 27 protesters.

“It’s such a small act in light of over 100,000 Iraqis dead and 1,500 American soldiers dead,” Anna Brown, 40, of Jersey City, N.J., said before she was arrested.

An anti-war rally organized in part by veterans and military families drew about 3,000 people to a park near Fort Bragg, N.C. — home to more than 40,000 soldiers.

Demonstrators said they hoped it would build pressure to bring troops home.

“I can’t remain silent on these issues, slap a yellow ribbon on my car and call it supporting our troops,” said Kara Hollingsworth, the wife of a soldier serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. “I support our troops by making sure they are not put in harm’s way unless absolutely necessary.”

In Chicago, hundreds of police, some in riot gear, escorted about a thousand marchers down Dearborn Avenue to an afternoon rally at the Federal Plaza. Police were trying to avoid a repeat of two years ago when thousands of protesters caused a huge traffic jam during rush hour and hundreds were arrested.

Only two arrests were reported Saturday.

About 300 demonstrators also gathered in front of the New Mexico National Guard Armory in Albuquerque, where pieces of paper featuring the names and faces of dead American soldiers were glued to the sidewalk.

“That’s a whole tsunami worth of people, vanished,” said Maureen Small, an Albuquerque physician.