CRAWFORD, Texas — A fallen soldier's mother said Thursday that the
anti-war vigil she started nearly three weeks ago near President Bush's
ranch won't end when she and other protesters pack up their camp next
week.
LM Otero / AP Photo
Cindy Sheehan takes a moment after placing her son's boots at the
cross bearing his name at "Camp Casey" on Thursday near President
Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
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Cindy Sheehan said the day after she leaves Aug. 31, she will embark on
a bus tour ending up in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24. Then the group
will start a 24-hour vigil in the nation's capital.
"I am not alone," she said at a news conference Thursday. "There's the
people standing behind me here, but there's thousands of military
families ... who want the same answers to the same questions."
On Wednesday, Sheehan returned to "Camp Casey," named after her
24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed last year in
Iraq.
"This is where I belong, until Aug. 31, like I told the president,"
Sheehan said at the Waco airport before driving about 20 miles to the
Crawford site.
When Sheehan arrived at the campsite, she saw a large banner depicting
her son's face. She sobbed and said she felt ill. Supporters brought her
water and cold towels, and she recovered about 20 minutes later.
Sheehan began her vigil Aug. 6 on the road leading to Bush's ranch,
vowing to stay through his monthlong vacation unless he met with her.
She left last week to visit her 74-year-old mother in Los Angeles after
the woman suffered a stroke. Sheehan said her mother has started
physical therapy for paralysis on her right side.
Sheehan said she realizes that Bush has no intentions of meeting with
the protesters, but that her vigil has accomplished other things.
"I absolutely think it's worthwhile because we've galvanized the peace
movement," she said. "We've started people talking about the war again."
Sheehan's protest in Crawford has encouraged anti-war activists to join
her and prompted peace vigils nationwide. She also continues to draw
harsh criticism.
Conservative activists and military families were en route to Crawford
from California on a tour called "You don't speak for me, Cindy!" The
caravan coordinated by Move America Forward plans to hold a pro-Bush
rally in town Saturday.
Among those defending Sheehan are former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson,
who believes his wife's identity as an undercover CIA operative was
leaked in retaliation for his criticism of the Bush administration in a
2002 New York Times op-ed piece.
"The Bush White House and its right-wing allies are responding to Cindy
Sheehan and the military families' vigil in central Texas in the same
way that they always respond to bad news - by unleashing personal
attacks and smears against her," Wilson said in a statement released
Wednesday.
Later Wednesday, Bush returned to Texas after a three-day trip to Idaho
and Utah, where he gave speeches to rally support for the war. He said
Tuesday that he recognizes Sheehan's right to protest and understands
her anguish, although she does not represent the views of many families
he has met with.
Sheehan and other grieving families met with Bush about two months after
her son died last year, before reports of faulty prewar intelligence
surfaced and caused her to become a vocal opponent of the war.
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