Thousands of demonstrators upset with the war in Afghanistan, climate change, the erosion of union rights -- and dozens of other issues -- have begun a two-mile protest march to the site of the NATO summit.

Protesters, many affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, march down a Chicago street
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Some are calling for the dissolution of NATO, the 63-year-old military alliance holding its 25th formal meeting at Chicago's lakefront convention center.

But the crowd is mostly filled with protesters whose primary concerns have little to do with the discussions taking place among the dozens of NATO leaders hosted by President Barack Obama in his hometown.

The march lacks the size and single message that shaped the last major protest moment in Chicago, when nearly half a million people filled the city's downtown in 2006 to protest making being an illegal immigrant a felony.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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