crawford, texas (cnn) — a mother whose son was killed in iraq says she is prepared to continue her protest outside president bush’s ranch through august until she is granted an opportunity to speak with him.

later, in a tv interview, a democratic senator from california said the episode evokes images that were commonplace during the vietnam war.

cindy sheehan’s 24-year-old son — army spc. casey sheehan of vacaville, california — was killed in baghdad’s sadr city on april 4, 2004. the humvee mechanic was one of eight u.s. soldiers killed there that day by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. (full story)

they are among the 1,829 american troops, including 31 this month, who have died in iraq since the u.s.-led invasion in march 2003.

the president — who is spending a nearly five-week-long working vacation at his texas ranch — said in a speech wednesday that the sacrifices of u.s. troops were “made in a noble cause.” (full story)

sheehan said she found little comfort in his comments.

“i want to ask the president, why did he kill my son?” sheehan told reporters. “he said my son died in a noble cause, and i want to ask him what that noble cause is.”

sheehan said hers was one of a group of about 15 families who each met separately with the president one day last june.

“he wouldn’t look at the pictures of casey. he didn’t even know casey’s name,” she told cnn sunday. “every time we tried to talk about casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject.”

sheehan said she was so distraught at the time that she failed to ask the questions she now wants answered.

“i want him to honor my son by bringing the troops home immediately,” sheehan told reporters saturday. “i don’t want him to use my son’s name or my name to justify any more killing.”

sheehan, who co-founded the anti-war group gold star families for peace, led about 50 demonstrators near the bush ranch saturday. some protesters were with the group veterans for peace, which was holding a convention in dallas.

the protesters stopped their bus miles from the ranch in crawford, and walked less than a half-mile before being stopped by local law enforcement officials.

a message on the gold star families web site says, “we want our loved ones’ sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation’s sons and daughters home from the travesty that is iraq immediately, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions.

“just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation?”

the message also urges bush to send his twin daughters, jenna and barbara, to iraq “if the cause is so noble.”

the site says the group is made up of families of soldiers who have died as a result of war, primarily in iraq.

joe hagin, white house deputy chief of staff, and stephen hadley, national security adviser, met with sheehan for about 45 minutes saturday, according to white house spokesman trent duffy.

sheehan said that the two men “were very respectful.”

“they told me the party line of why we are in iraq,” she said. “i told them that i don’t believe that they believed that.”

duffy said saturday that “many of the hundreds of families the president has met with know their loved one died for a noble cause and that the best way to honor their sacrifice is to complete the mission.”

bush has refused to provide a time frame for u.s. troop withdrawal from iraq, saying american forces will return home when iraqis can take care of their own security.

“president bush wants the troops home as soon as possible, but the u.s. will not cut and run from terrorists,” duffy said.

sheehan elicited sympathy from both sides of the political spectrum on sunday.

“what you’re seeing with that mom trying to meet with president bush is echoes of vietnam,” said sen. barbara boxer, a california democrat. “because no one is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“i think the president ought to meet with this mother,” said sen. george allen, a virginia republican. “what i would say to her is her son will always be remembered as a great hero and a patriot, advanced freedom in iraq and the middle east, has made this country more secure.”

boxer said her own message would be different: “i would tell her to do everything she could to spare other families this grief, to get us off this cycle of violence.”

recent surveys have shown decreasing public support for the war.

in a newsweek poll released sunday, 64 percent of those asked said they do not believe the war in iraq has made americans safer, and 61 percent said they disapprove of the way the president is handling the war.

the telephone poll of 1,004 adults was taken from tuesday to thursday last week and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

from cnn:

disney blocking film about bush
new york (cnn) — oscar-winning documentary filmmaker michael moore said the walt disney company has blocked distribution of his new film critical of u.s. president george w. bush.

the film — which links bush with powerful saudi families, including that of osama bin laden — is set to debut at the cannes film festival in france later this month.

in a letter posted on his web site wednesday, moore said, “”yesterday i was told that disney, the studio that owns miramax, has officially decided to prohibit our producer, miramax, from distributing my new film, ‘fahrenheit 9/11.’

“”the reason? according to today’s edition of the new york times, it might ‘endanger’ millions of dollars of tax breaks disney receives from the state of florida because the film will ‘anger’ the governor of florida, jeb bush.””

the new york times and hollywood trade paper daily variety said in their wednesday editions that disney had moved to prevent its miramax films unit from distributing “”fahrenheit 9/11.””

the times quoted a miramax spokesman as saying that the company was “”discussing the issue with disney. we’re looking at all of our options and look forward to resolving this amicably.””

but the paper said disney isn’t willing to budge on the issue.

“”we advised both (moore’s) agent and miramax in may of 2003 that the film would not be distributed by miramax,”” said zenia mucha, a company spokeswoman.

officials from miramax and disney were not immediately available for comment wednesday morning.

the disney edict could herald the bloodiest political battle yet between miramax’s feisty co-chairman harvey weinstein and disney ceo michael eisner, who oversaw the purchase of miramax a decade ago, daily variety said.

rumors had been circulating of a july release date in north america, but the film does not appear on miramax’s summer schedule, the paper said.

independent stock analyst dennis mcalpine said there has always been a tension between miramax and disney since the media conglomerate bought the independent studio in 1993.

“”they’ve done their own thing for the most part. disney has been content to leave them alone and give them money and pull in all the academy awards,”” said mcalpine.

mcalpine said that he could see miramax releasing the film under a separate label, as it has done with some controversial films in the past. the controversy and attention the battle is getting will help draw viewers to the film, he said.

moore’s agent, ari emanuel, told the times that eisner asked him last spring to pull out of the deal with miramax.

emanuel said eisner expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in florida, where bush’s brother, jeb bush, is governor.

the times reported that disney executives denied that allegation. one executive told the paper it did not want to be seen taking sides in the election and risk alienating customers of different political views.

“”it’s not in the interest of any major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle,”” said the executive, who was not identified by the paper.

but moore said he believed the protection of tax cuts was the reason for the media conglomerate’s position, and that he has been fighting to keep the project alive for more than a year.

“”the whole story behind this (and other attempts) to kill our movie will be told in more detail as the days and weeks go on,”” moore said on his web site.

“”for nearly a year, this struggle has been a lesson in just how difficult it is in this country to create a piece of art that might upset those in charge (well, ok, sorry — it will upset them … big time. did i mention it’s a comedy?).

“”all i can say is, thank god for harvey weinstein (miramax founder) and miramax who have stood by me during the entire production of this movie.

“”i will tell you this: some people may be afraid of this movie because