Anti-war protesters march toward Bush ranch

By Steve Holland

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) – About 70 anti-war protesters
marched toward President Bush’s ranch on Saturday shouting
“bring the troops home now” from Iraq, led by a California
mother whose son was killed in combat in Baghdad.

The protest coincided with release of a Newsweek poll that
said 61 percent of Americans disapproved of the way Bush was
handling the situation in Iraq. The poll came after more than
two dozen Americans were killed in the past week in Iraq.

Newsweek said it was Bush’s lowest rating on Iraq and the
first time it had dropped below 40 percent in its poll.
Pentagon officials have said maintaining public support for the
war is key to the troops’ morale.

The group of protesters, including U.S. veterans from the
Iraq and Vietnam wars, were loud yet peaceful and McClellan
County sheriff’s deputies, trying to avoid arrests, stopped
them on a road about 5 miles from Bush’s ranch on a hot August
day.

The march was led by Cindy Sheehan, 48, of Vacaville,
California, who blames Bush for the death of her son, Army
Specialist Casey Sheehan, 24, killed on April 4, 2004, in Sadr
City, Baghdad.

“I want to ask the president, why did you kill my son? What
did my son die for?” Sheehan, carrying a picture of her son,
told reporters.

“W. killed her son! W. killed her son!” the crowd shouted.
They also shouted “Bring the troops home now” and held up signs
with slogans such as “Impeach the Chicken-Hawk-in-Chief.”

The protesters, many who came from a peace rally in Dallas,
first drove toward the ranch in a school bus painted red, white
and blue. It was stopped at a police checkpoint and the
protesters got out and walked.

Police allowed the group to walk on the side of the road
for about a half mile but then stopped them when some in the
group walked on the street itself.

After some protesters left, a small group led by Sheehan
vowed to stage a vigil on the side of the road until someone
representing the White House came out to talk to her.

While no one from the White House immediately emerged,
White House officials were aware of the protest.

“We mourn the loss of every life and Americans deeply
appreciate those who have made the supreme sacrifice. The way
to honor that sacrifice is to complete the mission so that
their lives were not lost in vain,” said White House spokesman
Trent Duffy.

“The president has met with hundreds of families of those
fallen. He grieves with all those who have lost loved ones,” he
said.

UPBEAT ON ECONOMY

As Americans question his Iraq policy, Bush crowed about
the strength of the U.S. economy on Saturday and credited his
hotly debated tax cuts for the growth.

Bush was upbeat in his weekly radio address a day after the
Labor Department reported the U.S. economy added 207,000 jobs
last month, a stronger-than-expected gain.

“Recent economic reports show that our economy is growing
faster than any other major industrialized nation,” he said
from his ranch.

Bush renewed his call for making permanent the tax cuts he
pushed through Congress in his first term. Democrats believe
the tax cuts have done little more than drain the U.S. budget
and even some Republicans doubt the wisdom of extending them.

“The tax relief stimulated economic vitality and growth and
it has helped increase revenues to the Treasury,” Bush said,
adding later, “We need to make the tax relief permanent.”

Bush spoke at the end of the first week of his 33-day
working vacation.