More than 600 anti-war protestors tonight urged U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell to take a stand against the Bush administration's war plan in Iraq at an event at Bellarmine University.

The Rev. John Burke, minister at St. William Catholic Church at 1226 W. Oak St., likened the current war plan, which includes increasing troops, to the definition of insanity.

"You can't keep doing the same thing and expect a different result," Burke said in an interview.

The event was part of a nationwide campaign to "turn up the heat" on members of Congress who have opposed setting a timetable to end the war in Iraq, according to the campaign's organizers, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.

A crowd of children, teenagers and adults initiated a 28-hour vigil at Phoenix Park yesterday, calling for Sen. Mitch McConnell to bring an end to the Iraq war.

The vigil started at 5 p.m. yesterday and will conclude at 9 p.m. today. The program, at Phoenix Park on Main Street and Limestone, includes a series of rallies from 5 to 9 p.m.

The event is part of "Iraq Summer," a national campaign to pressure targeted members of Congress to discontinue support of the Iraq war. The campaign has about 100 organizers in 15 states and 40 congressional districts.

The group asks for a safe, responsible end to the war.

"When can we expect Congress to rise to their responsibilities?" questioned Nancy Jo Kemper, executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, to a crowd of at least 100. Those at the vigil waved flags and signs that reflected both support of troops and disapproval of the war.