Saturday marked the eighth anniversary of the start of the U.S. war in Iraq.

People rallied to commemorate the occasion and to make connections between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the hardships we face at home: budget cuts, deficits, loss of jobs and vital programs as well as an end to investing in the future.

The Santa Barbara event was called “economic wake-up call.”

Former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson led off the event with a rallying speech in De la Guerra Plaza. The crowd then marched down State Street with police escort to Arlington West, at the foot of Stearns Wharf.

There, many more speakers made the connections between U.S. wars abroad and damage to our economy and to our future in the United States.

Topics included the lack of investment in sustainable energy, our inability to help on a larger scale in Japan, as well as the current news about new military intervention in Libya.

— Robert Bernstein is a local photographer and frequent Noozhawk contributor.