'Peace Mom' Plans to Resume War Protest

By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press Writer

November 15, 2005, 4:25 PM EST


CRAWFORD, Texas -- The fallen soldier's mother who drew thousands to her 26-day war protest near President Bush's Crawford ranch this summer plans to return for Thanksgiving next week, despite new county ordinances banning roadside camping.

Cindy Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., and at least a dozen supporters are prepared to be arrested as they return to the makeshift campsite along the road leading to Bush's ranch, where he is expected to spend the holiday.

"It's significant that we do not let up on this administration," said Hadi Jawad, co-founder of the Crawford Peace House, which supported the protesters during their August vigil. "It is critical for our democracy that we continue to ask the same questions that Cindy Sheehan asked this summer: What is the noble cause for the war with Iraq, and at what point do we say enough bloodshed has happened?"

Bush has defended the decision to go into Iraq in 2003, citing the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Bush also has said troops need to remain in Iraq as long as necessary.

Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq last year, was not arrested during the vigil that coincided with Bush's working vacation at his ranch just outside Crawford, a one-stoplight town of 700 people about 20 miles west of Waco.

But dozens of residents in the rural area complained of noise and traffic congestion as the protesters pitched tents in shallow ditches about 2 1/2 miles away from the Western White House. Some traffic was from counter protests of hundreds of Bush supporters who said Sheehan's group was hurting troop morale.

A month later, McLennan County commissioners created and approved the new ordinances, which prohibit parking on parts of 14 roads near the ranch -- roughly a 5-mile radius -- and prohibit camping in any county ditch. The laws also ban portable toilets in ditches.

Any parking ban violators face up to a $50 fine for the first offense, $200 fine for the second offense and $500 fine and/or 60 days in the county jail for subsequent offenses. Those who violate the camping ordinance could be charged with littering or criminal trespassing.

Sheehan's group also plans to hold activities next week -- including a Thanksgiving meal of Iraqi food -- on the same 1-acre lot that a sympathetic landowner let protesters use this summer as a second camp. The group plans an anti-war rally in a downtown Crawford park the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Since leaving Crawford in late August, Sheehan has traveled the U.S. spreading her anti-war message. She also has met with politicians, including Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-North Carolina.

Sheehan and hundreds of other war protesters were arrested in September after failing to heed police warnings not to sit on a walkway outside the White House after a massive anti-war rally.

Link Here