A protest by a grieving mother camped out near U.S. President George Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas is gaining steam.

About 50 people have pitched their tents in muddy ditches, hung anti-war banners and are showing their support for Cindy Sheehan, who lost her oldest son Casey in Iraq.

Casey, 24, joined the U.S. army in 2000. He was killed in Sadr City five days after he arrived in Iraq last year.

Sheehan has been camping out along the winding road near Bush's ranch since Saturday. She says she wants to talk to the president and is vowing to remain until his Texas vacation ends later this month.

"Before my son was killed, I used to think that one person could not make a difference," says the 48-year-old mother from Vacaville, Calif. "But one person that is surrounded and supported by millions of people can be heard."

She says she wants Bush to stop using her son's death to justify the war in Iraq.

Bush reacts

Bush told reporters Thursday he respects the views of people like Sheehan. "I understand the anguish that some feel about the death that takes place,'' Bush said.

"I also have heard the voices of those saying: `Pull out now!''' he said. "And I've thought about their cry and their sincere desire to reduce the loss of life by pulling our troops out. I just strongly disagree.''

Immediate withdrawal "would send a terrible signal to the enemy,'' the president said.

A coalition of anti-war groups in Washington called on Bush Wednesday to speak with Sheehan. So have nearly 40 Democratic members of Congress.

Two White House officials eventually did meet with her in a meeting that Washington says lasted 45 minutes. But Sheehan -- who says she "very appreciated" the meeting which lasted, by her count, 20 minutes -- calls the meeting "pointless."

"George Bush is the one I want to talk to," she says.

Sheehan admits she doesn't expect to actually meet with Bush, but says if she did, she would ask him whether he would encourage his twin daughters to enlist.

Along with the dozens of people who have joined her in her vigil, others have sent her flowers and food. One activist called her "the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement."

"She's tired, fed up and she's not going to take it anymore, and so now we stand with her," said Rev. Lennox Yearwood, leader of the activist group, Hip Hop Caucus.

But not everyone supports Sheehan.

Kristinn Taylor, co-leader of the Washington, D.C., chapter of FreeRepublic.com, said Sheehan's protest is hurting the morale of American soldiers.

"She has a political agenda that goes way beyond her son's death in combat," said Taylor, whose group has held pro-troop rallies since the 9/11 terror attacks in New York and Washington.

Son 'misled' by military

Sheehan says she never wanted Casey to join the military. But he did so after being misled by his recruiter, she says.

"I begged him not to go. I said, 'I'll take you to Canada' ... but he said, 'Mom, I have to go. It's my duty. My buddies are going."'

Sheehan was among a group of grieving military families who met with Bush in June 2004 at Fort Lewis, Wash., near Seattle. She has said her feelings have shifted from shock to anger since then, in part because of various reports that have disputed some of the Bush administration's justifications for the war.

Many supporters decided to go to Crawford because of rumours that Sheehan would be arrested.

But Capt. Kenneth Vanek of the McLennan County Sheriff's Office says no protesters will be arrested unless they trespass on private property or block the road.