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 am getting completely fed up with the yada yadas continually using the word "lie".
-Bush lied.
-The war was based on a lie.
-American soldiers are maimed and dead because they believed a lie.
I thought we settled this matter in the last election. It is completely bizarre that this hooey is given such exhorbitant play time on the news channels (FNC discluded).
Why can't we call them liars? For example Code Pink was an organization supposedly formed to help the oppressed. Now they are against us helping the Iraqi's have their freedom. Sounds like a lie to me. They don't care one wit about the oppressed and the needy. Why don't the conservative talk show hosts start throwing this rhetoric back in their face?
I am sick and tired of this BS mantra. It is these so-called peace-nik war protesters that are the liars. All they care about is expanding the general acceptability of their debased, decadent, careless, and irresponsible lifestyle and behavior.
< deep breath >
Next ...
Typical french math/spin.
sign with a peace symbol on it and the description "Footprint of the American Chicken."
MY NEXT SIGN
What a great idea!
Little is devuldged about what Sheehan is actually saying(besides that she's 'grieving' for her son). They say NOTHING about her other statements!
Last night I heard on the FOX media-panel(7:30PM) that 'censorship' was a question in the Cindy Sheehan story. I said to myself “Great!”... this will reveal how they're covering up on her real agenda.
WRONG!
They were 'concerned' that ABC wouldn't let her air a commercial!!
We get better representation during the weekdays.
He will be talking about the support the troops rally, you can count on it.
I think it's time conservatives boycott Fox for a month or two. We are not slaves on their media plantation. Without conservatives, they would certainly not be ranked #1 on cable and we should not let them forget it. Their personnel contributed more to Kerry than Pres. Bush in the '04 election, and it's certainly beginning to show in their pathetic coverage of yesterday's rally. I guess it was a mistake to get satillite TV just to get Fox four years ago.
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