War protesters, Bush supporters rally in Crawford
By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press
CRAWFORD — A grieving mother's anti-war protest entered its second week, gaining momentum and spurring counter rallies, as hundreds of people with conflicting opinions about the war in Iraq descended today on a road leading to the Western White House.
More than 250 supporters of President Bush gathered for a few hours in a ditch across the street from the war protesters, who have camped out along the road to Bush's ranch since Aug. 6. Most waved American flags and held signs, including one that read, "Help! I'm surrounded by America hating idiots!"
Sheriff's deputies and Secret Service agents kept the groups separated, and no confrontations were reported. But it created a traffic nightmare as cars lined the shoulders of the winding, two-lane road.
About 50 protesters were at their makeshift campsite during the counter rally, but later several hundred anti-war demonstrators gathered at Tonkawa Falls Park near downtown, hearing from relatives of fallen U.S. soldiers.
The pro-Bush rally was organized by Darrell Ankarlo, a conservative radio talk show host for KLIF in Dallas. He also asked to meet with Cindy Sheehan, who started the anti-war vigil, but she only agreed to meet privately with Bush supporters whose relatives have died in Iraq. That meeting was set for Saturday evening.
"I feel sorry for Cindy, but I think she went about this the wrong way," said Bill Garrett of Dallas, a member of Protest Warrior, a group that frequently holds counter protests to anti-war rallies. "Somebody's got to stand up to them."
But Tim Origer, who lost his left leg above the knee when he was a 19-year-old Marine fighting in Vietnam, said believing the war with Iraq is wrong does not diminish their support for the soldiers.
"When Iraqi Freedom started, it looked so much like Vietnam that I couldn't be quiet," said Origer, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M., and is a member of Veterans for Peace. "It's real easy to say war is good when you don't have to be in it."
The anti-war rally was organized by Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace. Another group was Gold Star Families for Peace, founded in part by Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., whose 24-year-old son, Casey, died in Iraq last year.
The campsite of tents and anti-war banners has swelled to more than 200 people some days but has a core group of about 100. They sing songs, chat and plan strategy each day on the shoulders of two intersecting side roads that form a triangle with Prairie Chapel Road, which leads to Bush's ranch. Others stay at the Crawford Peace House several miles away near downtown.
They vow to remain until Bush meets with Sheehan and the group's other grieving parents or until the end of his monthlong ranch visit.
Bush has said that he sympathizes with Sheehan but hasn't said whether he will talk to her. Two administration officials met with her briefly last weekend.
The first counter rally was Friday night, when more than 100 Bush supporters went to the anti-war group's campsite and waved flags, sang patriotic songs and chanted, "Go, George, go!"
That trip was organized by another conservative radio talk show host, who brought many people from Dallas to the site by bus.
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