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By Associated PressThe president acknowledges families' losses, but says leaving now would be a mistake.
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush said Thursday that he sympathizes with war protesters like the mother camped outside his Texas ranch demanding answers for her soldier-son's death, but he said it would be a mistake to bring U.S. troops home now.
Bush said he had "heard the voices of those saying, "Pull out now.' " And he said, "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.
"Pulling the troops out would send a terrible signal to the enemy," the president told reporters between meetings with his military and foreign affairs advisers.
Outside his sprawling ranch, California mother Cindy Sheehan sat on the road with a growing group of war protesters who have pitched tents. Sheehan's son, Casey, was killed five days after he arrived in Iraq last year at age 24.
Sheehan began her standoff on Saturday, declaring she would stay for the entire month that Bush plans to stay in Texas if he won't meet with her. At least three other parents who have lost children in the war have joined her.
"I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan," Bush said. "She feels strongly about her position. She has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America."
More than 1,840 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in March 2003