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CORRECTED: Protesters march toward Bush ranch

Posted on: Saturday, 6 August 2005, 16:21 CDT

(Corrects name of county to McLennan instead of McClellan in paragraph 4.)

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 McLennan 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.

Source: REUTERS

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