Posted on 08/27/2005 3:15:01 PM PDT by johnmecainrino
CRAWFORD, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush warned of more sacrifices ahead in Iraq, while thousands of his supporters and anti-war protesters flooded this one-stoplight Texas town near his ranch.
Many on both sides flew the US flag or wore its red, white, and blue colors and everyone agreed that it was paramount to "support the troops" fighting and dying thousands of miles (kilometers) away -- but on little else.
Bush kept out of sight, but in his weekly radio address he urged patience with Iraq's constitutional process, saying Iraqis were "making the tough choices and compromises necessary for a free and peaceful future."
"Our efforts in Iraq and the broader Middle East will require more time, more sacrifice and continued resolve. Yet people across the Middle East are choosing a future of freedom and prosperity and hope," he said.
Not far from Bush's ranch, police kept dozens of his supporters and about the same number of anti-war protesters on separate sides of a narrow country road, while the two sides jeered at each other and waved flags and signs.
Police arrested two people for "disorderly conduct," according to Captain Kenneth Vanek of the McLennan County sheriff's office, who said that they faced a fine of up to 500 dollars for improper "language."
Asked which side had produced the offenders, Vanek replied: "They were no side. They didn't get along with anybody."
While the two sides traded schoolyard taunts, questioning each other's virility, musical skills, wardrobes and hygiene habits, a constant stream of cars festooned with slogans and flags rolled past, honking their horns.
Each side had their champion: The anti-war group rallied behind Cindy Sheehan, who soldier son Case was killed in Iraq in April 2004, while Bush supporters stood with Gary Qualls, who son Louis was killed in Iraq late last year.
Sheehan, who met once with Bush shortly after her son was killed, sought a second meeting to confront the president and demanded a swift withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, where more than 1,870 have died.
Qualls says the United States must honor the fallen by staying the course in Iraq, and has repeatedly objected to Sheehan supporters using a cross with his son's name as part of their protest.
Pro-Bush demonstrators, headquartered at a makeshift "Fort Qualls" in central Crawford, and Sheehan's supporters, settled at "Camp Casey" outside this town of 705 people, held loud rallies.
"Camp Casey is what it is, a camp. This is a fort. This is a war, and we're going to win it," Bill Johnson, 63, told AFP, while sitting in the shade at Fort Qualls, which sits on his property.
Nearby, sweating in the searing Texas summer sun, was Brad Ward, who drove from Austin, Texas, to Crawford early Saturday and waved a sign with a peace symbol on it and the description "Footprint of the American Chicken."
"I'm here to support the president and the troops and honor the fallen hero, Specialist Casey Sheehan, since his mother is disgracing his memory," said Ward, an army veteran who never saw combat because "the Gulf War ended before I could get over there."
Ward, who packed "a big cooler full of water" for his day-long trip to Crawford, urged reporters to "tell our side, since you told hers (Sheehan's)."
At the road-side protest, Don Eyre, 68, stood on the anti-war side clutching an "impeach Bush" sign, and quietly declared that "Bush lied, soldiers died," a popular refrain among anti-war protestors that plays off the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"I hate this war. I've been against it ever since it started," he told AFP.
On the pro-Bush side, one young man held up a sign that read "Cindy and Osama, sitting in a tree..." the beginning of a schoolyard jibe that ends with "k-i-s-s-i-n-g."
i could be wrong but what i heard was over 3000 pro bush and 100 or so anti-usa protestors
i left around 2:30 and yes... they were REALLY outnumbered
According to the AFP that's about the same.
B.S. Typical Dimwit mantra regurgitated by the MSM. The left-wing wants the terrorists to win so they can pin a 'Vietnam' on Bush. They are traitors...it is too bad that they are not rounded up and executed as such...at a minimum, deport them to the Third World country of their choice.
Cheers to those who support the US.
Saw very little of it on FOXNews... and what little I saw made no mention of numbers. FOX let us down bigtime.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471900/posts
Live thread here
< drops head on table in dissapointment >
Wish someone on the scene could gives an after action report on the day's doings.
Or the more accurate (cough-cough) description: "Thousands of anti-war demonstrators and pro-troops supporters..." (it all depends on what the meaning of "is" is).
" Saw very little of it on FOXNews... and what little I saw made no mention of numbers. FOX let us down bigtime "
The coverage was terrible. The video did not even match what the reporter was describing.
You said it. Fox has been letting me down for quite some time now.
That's very disappointing. I mean the coverage. I bet they've got some good pictures at the Move America Forward website...I'll be watching that. Protest Warriors are supposed to be going down, and isn't there are FReeper representation also?
So sick of Van Der Sloot/Kalpoe
Sounds like this could be a financial bonanza for Crawford. Wish I owned a motel there.
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