The Scene in Crawford...

"In the name of 1,828 soldiers that should be alive, I'm going to go see the President. He killed my son."

UPDATES ON CINDY SHEEHAN VISIT TO CRAWFORD

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Photos of the activities to be uploaded shortly.

Snip...

12:40 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6

When Cindy Sheehan got off her bus in Crawford around 11:40 a.m. coming from the Veterans for Peace convention in Irving (near Dallas), she was greeted with applause and swarmed by reporters. Some of the meda covering the event, along with The Iconoclast, were ABC, CNN, CBS, NBC and AFP (Agency France Press).

A veteran of World War II carrying a sign, Archie Goodwin from South Florida, commented that he is for peace, "but Bush isn't." His sign reads "Somebody lied."

Currently, a bus provided by Veterans for Peace is taking about a dozen members, including Cindy Sheehan, to the checkpoint in front of President Bush's ranch. Sheriff's Department Captain Kenneth Vanek said prior to departing to lead the caravan, "As long as y'all work with us, we'll work with y'all."

Following the bus is a train of automobiles, numbering about over 15.

Sheehan said she is prepared to go to jail if necesssary, but is expecting a peaceful confrontation.

The McLennan County Sheriff's Department is acting as the escort to the checkpoint.

With the arrival of Sheehan's bus, there were at least 50 people present, from Code Pink Austin, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Iraqi Veterans Against the War, and Gold Star Families for Peace, which is Sheehan's group.

Among those present, rumors of pro-war, anti-protest protestors perhaps arriving later were voiced.

In all, about a dozen law enforcement officers were on the scene near the Peace House. No Secret Service personnel had been identified. More later.

1:10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6

Diebenow reporting:

We've got about 50-something people walking on the side of the road, in a ditch, all the way up the mile to the Bush ranch. At the first checkpoint, the police ordered them to not walk on the roadway, but in the medium-tall grass along the right side of the road where it is about 10 ft. wide in places, three feet deep in some places. They are kind of straddling the roadway.

There appears to be another checkpoint up ahead, with another car in the middle of the road.

Now two big white dogs are coming out to greet them along the fence. I don't know what kind of dogs they are, but they seem to be friendly. Some ranchers' probably.

It's really hot, humid, with people sweating.

Wait. Call you back in a minute.



1:15 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6

Diebenow reporting:

We are at the second checkpoint and the sheriff's department has told the protestors to get off the road. They've been walking on the road, breaking their part of the bargain, the police say.

Some of Cindy's group are now sitting, waiting for Bush to come out. Now more are sitting down.

One Veterans for Peace protestor asked police officers for water because it's a hundred degrees.

Now the protestors are reciting The Lord's Prayer in unison.

(moments later)

Now Cindy Sheehan is shouting that Bush's mother ought to be ashamed of him. She's proud of her child who died in Iraq.

I now see Secret Service out here.

Protestors are saying that one of their rationales for not getting off the road was that the media was on the road. A police officer said that the media was just following them, but the media is still on the road, with cameras, booms, microphones.

Some protestors are still sitting, but more are now standing.

They are now chanting "No Justice, No Peace." "George Bush is a war criminal." "Downing Street memos prove it." "Billion dollars a week for war."

Chanting again, people on left saying "Had enough," people on right saying "Stop the war," going back and forth.

Police now telling media to get on the other side of the road and to not disrupt traffic.

Chanting still going on (time 1:20).

More coming.



2:10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6

At the first checkpoint, Sheehan told the Officer Vanek: "We don't have the quarrel with you. The quarrel we have is with the President."

At the second checkpoint, she said, "I didn't come all the way from California to stand here in a ditch."

An officer offered to send Bush a letter or a statement from Cindy Sheehan, but she said she didn't want to do that.

Her reply was that they were making the mother of a veteran of the Iraq war walk in a ditch.

Protestors are carrying signs that read "No more blood for oil," "Support our troops, bring them home now," and "Frodo failed. Bush has the ring."

It is extremely hot. People are starting to get dehydrated.

Sheehan is moving toward the ranch at the second checkpoint and says, "In the name of 1,828 soldiers that should be alive, I'm going to go see the President. He killed my son."

An officer got in her face, stopping her.

The crowd starts chanting, "W. killed her son. W. killed her son."

Bush has not come out, none of those anti-protest protesters either.

Hadi Jawad, a board member of the Crawford Peace House, shouts to the media: "Do your job. Ask about the Downing Street Memo."

After sitting in the heat waiting to interview Cindy, most members of the press start to leave. Now protestors start to leave. One says, "I guess we ought to go." It appears that the initial protest is over.

Sheehan says she is going to stay at the checkpoint. Others are bringing water to her. The idea seems to be that she intends to camp out here, but I am unsure at this point whether the authorities will allow it. The others are going back to the Peace House to regroup.

Cindy Sheehan said after the media had left, "This is the beginning of the end of the occupation of Iraq." A wild round of applause followed.

Currently, the Secret Service and the police are just hanging around. The area is beginning to look deserted except for Cindy and her small group.

3:10 p.m.

The police are giving Cindy a hard time because they won't let her set up a tent by the side of the road.

This will probably be the last dispatch for awhile.