Supporters of anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan on Friday August 19 vowed to stay near U.S. President George W. Bush's Texas ranch in her absence, while opponents of her campaign displayed sheets filled with messages of support for the President.
Sheehan, whose son was killed in the Iraq war, returned to California on Thursday after her mother had a stroke.
She had been camped out near the ranch in Crawford since Aug. 6 seeking a meeting with Bush to ask him what "noble cause" her 24-year-old son, Casey, died for last year.
About 60 supporters attended a prayer rally at the campsite to say they were not leaving and would keep pressing for Bush to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.
Meanwhile, US president George W. Bush, besieged at his Texas ranch by relatives of US soldiers killed in Iraq, said on Saturday that the best way to honor fallen troops was to win the war on terrorism.
"We must finish the task that our troops have given their lives for and honor their sacrifice by completing their mission," the President said in his weekly radio address from his prairie Chapel property near this tiny town.
"They know that if we do not confront these evil men abroad, we will have to face them one day in our own cities and streets, and they know that the safety and security of every American is at stake in this war, and they know we will prevail," said Bush, who was here on a five-week vacation from Washington.
The stay has been marked by a high-profile protest against the war in Iraq led by Cindy Sheehan, who says she wants to share her opposition to the conflict with the President in person.
(IRIB)
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