Joan Baez sings at war protest near Bush ranch
President's backers continue their efforts
CRAWFORD, Texas -- Iraq war protesters camping out near President Bush's ranch are getting support from a prominent figure from the anti-Vietnam War movement: folk singer Joan Baez.
''In the first march I went to [opposing Vietnam], there were 10 of us. This is huge," Baez told relatives of fallen US soldiers yesterday before performing a free evening concert in Bush's adopted hometown.
About 500 people attended the concert on a 1-acre lot offered by a landowner who opposes the war. Not far away, protesters continued a camp-out started by grieving mother Cindy Sheehan.
Meanwhile, more Bush supporters arrived at a downtown pro-Bush camp. As of yesterday afternoon, more than 150 people had visited the large tent with ''God Bless Our President!" and ''God Bless Our Troops" banners and a life-size cardboard cutout of Bush.
''When we saw this, we said, 'Thank God you're here,' " said Frances Lee, who arrived in Crawford with her Douglasville, Ga., neighbor Brenda Bohanan. They planned to hold pro-Bush banners down the street from the protesters.
The pro-Bush camp is called ''Fort Qualls," for Marine Lance Corporal Louis Wayne Qualls, 20, killed in Fallujah, Iraq, last fall. His father, Gary, of Temple, said the antiwar demonstrators are being disrespectful to soldiers.
Sheehan's 24-year-old son, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, also died last year in Iraq. He is among more than 1,800 US soldiers killed since the March 2003 invasion.
Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., started the antiwar demonstration Aug. 6 and vowed to remain until Bush agreed to meet with her or until his monthlong vacation ends Sept. 3. She flew to Los Angeles last week after her 74-year-old mother had a stroke but is expected to return to Texas in a few days.
Bush has said he sympathizes with Sheehan but won't change his schedule. She and other families met with Bush about two months after Casey died, before she became a vocal opponent of the war.
In addition to the Fort Qualls camp, Bush supporters have stood with signs in the ditch across from the demonstrators' camp. Down the street, a group of about a dozen set up tents and pro-Bush signs on private property during the weekend.
