[Mb-civic] CBC News - SOLDIER'S MOTHER KEEPS VIGIL OUTSIDE BUSH RANCH

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SOLDIER'S MOTHER KEEPS VIGIL OUTSIDE BUSH RANCH
WebPosted Fri Aug 12 08:47:05 2005

---The mother of a U.S. soldier slain in Iraq continued to stand vigil
Friday outside U.S. President George W. Bush's ranch in Texas, waiting
– with a growing number of anti-war protesters – for a face-to-
face meeting to air her grievances.

Cindy Sheehan has been camped out on the road outside Bush's ranch in
Crawford, Texas, since last Saturday.

Her son, Casey, was killed last year in Iraq just five days after
arriving for duty there. He was 24 years old.

Sheehan, who's from California, wants the U.S. to pull out of Iraq.

"All we're asking is that he sacrifice an hour out of his five-week
vacation to talk to us, before the next mother loses her son in Iraq,"
she told reporters.

"The president says he feels compassion for me, but the best way to show
that compassion is by meeting with me and the other mothers and families
who are here."

Other parents join

Sheehan's protest has attracted at least three other parents whose
children have died while on U.S. duty in Iraq. Dozens of other protesters
are also taking part.

But, so far, Bush has declined to meet with her.



 FROM AUG. 11, 2005: Spring withdrawal from Iraq just
 'speculation,' Bush says

On Wednesday, Bush acknowledged the activists camped outside his ranch,
saying he had thought about their "cries to pull out of Iraq. … But
I strongly disagree."

"I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan," Bush said. "I thought long and hard
about her position. … But it would be a mistake for this country."

The president said the U.S. army had surpassed its recruitment goals for
July, the first time it had done so this year. Other services continued
to be on track for their recruitment drives, he said.

Bush also said recent reports that American troops would begin
withdrawing from Iraq next spring were simply "speculation."

At least 32 U.S. soldiers died in the first 10 days of August alone, U.S.
defence officials say.

And on Friday, a roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier in Tikrit, in the
central part of Iraq.

Copyright (C) 2005 CBC. All rights reserved.