Anti-War Mom Leaves Camp

The grieving woman who started an anti-war demonstration near President Bush's ranch nearly two weeks ago left the camp Thursday after learning her mother had had a stroke, but she told supporters the protest would go on.

Cindy Sheehan told reporters she had just received the phone call and was leaving immediately to be with her 74-year-old mother at a Los Angeles hospital.

"I'll be back as soon as possible - if it's possible," she said. After hugging some of her supporters, Sheehan and her sister, Deedee Miller, got in a van and left for the Waco airport about 20 miles away.

CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller reports that Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son Casey died in Iraq, made clear that fellow protestors would maintain the vigil near the presidents ranch.

The camp has grown to more than 100 people, including many relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq. After Sheehan left, dozens of the demonstrators gathered under a canopy to pray for her mother.

Sheehan, of Vacaville, California, had vowed to remain at the camp until Mr. Bush met with her or until his month-long vacation ended.

Her protest inspired candlelight vigils across the country Wednesday night, and she has drawn sympathy for the loss of her son, which she says tore apart her marriage as well.

According to a recent poll, more than 50 percent of Americans favor some type of U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq. It's not clear if that majority favors an immediate withdrawal, but Sheehan has tapped the public's frustration, CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports.

Mr. Bush has also said he sympathizes with Sheehan. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said earlier Thursday that the president said Sheehan had a right to protest, but that he did not plan to change his schedule and meet with her. Mr. Bush is scheduled to return to Washington on Sept. 3.

Two top Bush administration officials talked to Sheehan the day she started her camp, and she and other families met with Mr. Bush shortly after her son's death and before she became a vocal opponent of the war.

Michelle Mulkey, a spokeswoman for Sheehan, said Sheehan hoped to be back in Texas within 24 to 48 hours. Mulkey said Sheehan's mother, Shirley Miller, was in a hospital emergency room and Sheehan didn't yet know how serious her condition was.

Sheehan and the other demonstrators have camped in ditches along the road to Mr. Bush's ranch since Aug. 6. After complaints from some neighbors, they planned to start moving the camp site Thursday and Friday to a private one-acre lot owned by Fred Mattlage, who opposes the war and offered his property to give them more room and safety.

FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley and Sen. Becky Lourey, a Minnesota lawmaker whose son died in Iraq, were expected to join the demonstrators later Thursday.

Rowley gained notoriety in 2002 when she alleged that FBI headquarters ignored her office's pleas to investigate Sept. 11 suspect Zacarias Moussaoui aggressively before the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Andrews adds that the anti-war movement faces its truest test a month from now when supporters say 100,000 anti-war protestors will march on Washington. It's a march organizers say has been energized by the emergence of Sheehan.