It is perhaps only a mother, a mother who has lost a son, who could stand vigil in Texas against the war in Iraq.
In the post-Sept. 11 era, when criticism of the war is often labeled unpatriotic, observers say it is only someone who has made the ultimate sacrifice who can speak out.
"Mothers seeing their sons die are not only a very powerful and emotional anti-war face but the one group in a position now to lead the opposition," said Dan Carter, history professor at the University of South Carolina, who has studied the differences between anti-war movements.
The protest by Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., has galvanized those on both sides and spurred 1,500 nationwide vigils on Wednesday evening.
More than 1,000 people showed up to the five vigils in the Valley. At 24th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix, supporters and protesters packed the intersection's four corners and incited a steady stream of car horns.
"You stand on the sidewalk, and you get a lot of different reactions," said Larry Noack, 64, of Phoenix. "You get people giving you the middle finger and people honking and sticking their thumbs up. It's a microcosm for society."
One of the Arizona mothers who just returned from protesting with Sheehan joined one of the vigils. But other moms think Sheehan is disrespecting her son and should pack up and go home.
Sheehan's son, 24-year-old Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, was killed in Baghdad last year.
Afterward, Sheehan met with the president but said that was before information came out on faulty intelligence reports about weapons of mass destruction.
She said she was so upset she didn't get to ask the question she now wants answered: "Why did he kill my son?"
And she vows to stay outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, until Aug. 31 or until he speaks to her.
Two Scottsdale women who have children in the military, Sherry Bohlen and Rebecca Bahr, drove to Texas last week to join Sheehan at the protest that has grown to about 200 people.
Bohlen, an anti-war activist during Vietnam, adopted her son Thor, a war orphan from Vietnam. Now, Thor is an Army mechanic who has been in Iraq for the past two months.
Bohlen said that, when she got to Texas, she felt a "hopeful anticipation" that the anti-war movement would take off.
By the time she left, she had done 48 media interviews and is certain her voice was heard.
"Cindy Sheehan is not speaking at a political level," Bohlen said. "She's speaking at a human level, and people are responding. And in return the media is responding."
Sheehan's stand against the war is far from universal among military mothers in Arizona, however.
"I'm sorry for her loss," said Sandy Watson of Peoria, whose son, Lance Cpl. Mike Williams, was killed in Iraq in 2003. "If I were to meet her today, I would give her a hug."
But Watson said Sheehan should go home, work with family groups, write her congressman or maybe run for office herself.
"The president said he wouldn't meet with her, so she should leave," Watson said. "It's to the point of being bullying, saying, 'I'll stay here until you talk to me.'
"I don't think her son would approve of it; I know my son wouldn't."
Watson's former husband, Michael's father, lives in Vacaville and knows Sheehan.
"He's angry," she said. "She reminds him of Jane Fonda. She's stirring up negativism.
"I remember the Vietnam protests, and they weren't just disagreements, they were destructive," Watson said. "Our kids should come home to a positive environment."
Viana Bruce, who organized Semper Fi, 24/7, a group of Marine moms who meet each week to support each other, doesn't like the protest. Bruce's son served with the Marines in Iraq at the beginning of the war and has safely returned.
"I can't see how she's honoring her son's death," Bruce said. "I think she's fueling the enemy. She's causing chaos."
There were no reports of violence during Wednesday's Valley vigils, which were supported by MoveOn.org, a Web site critical of Bush and the war.
Participants carried candles and held signs ranging from "Impeach Bush" to "Support our troops." Many of the participants were surprised by the large turnout.
About 200 people showed up in Mesa. And about 700 turned out for the vigil in the Biltmore area.
Caryn Gardner, 40, is the local coordinator of Code Pink, a women's peace organization. The Paradise Valley resident attended the Phoenix vigil and said that Sheehan brought a face to the suffering and that activists felt the impact on Wednesday night.
"Having done this for a while, I am so hopeful that we're actually going to come to peace," she said. "People are really coming out to protest, people who have never come before."
Victor Rodziewicz of Phoenix was there to show his support for the troops. He said he has never protested before but became so angry when he heard about the protests that he made a sign that read "Support our troops. Support U.S.A. Cindy go home."
Rodziewicz, whose own son served in Iraq, lived in communist Poland growing up. He said the protesters don't appreciate the basic things such as schools, library and food.
Although he understands Sheehan's feelings, he believes "she's using her son's name, that's not right."
Phoenix police Detective Albert Ramirez Jr. said it's his job to monitor demonstrations in Phoenix. And up until Sheehan's protest, there hadn't been much activity.
But now he goes out to protests every day.
Historically, mothers did not protest, said Carter, the South Carolina history professor.
"You didn't have anything like this with Gold Star mothers in World War I or World War II," he said. "Even in Korea, there were no organized resistance mothers.
"We all know where it starts: with Vietnam. Vietnam drew the first substantial opposition to the war. It's significant that it emerged when the women's movement emerged."
In April 1971, a group of mothers whose sons had died in Vietnam lead about 1,100 veterans across the Lincoln Memorial Bridge to Arlington National Cemetery.
But during Vietnam, Carter said, most of the protesters were young men who were spurred to action because of opposition to the draft.
Today, with an all-volunteer military, those voices are not there, and so it is a mother who is speaking out.
Political observers disagree on the import of Sheehan's protest but agree that Bush should speak to her.
"The best way to handle it would be to walk out there and talk to the woman," said Bob Grossfeld, a political analyst and pollster in Arizona. "He's insulting her and the mothers and fathers and husbands and wives and family members of thousands of people who lost their lives, all because he can't give her a simple answer.
"This is how presidencies fall. Either by virtue of them not being electable or, in this case, not being credible."
Chuck Coughlin, president of HighGround, a Phoenix political consulting firm, said Bush will not waver.
"My awareness of the Bush folks is they're not likely to send up a peace flag soon," Coughlin said. "I don't think this bothers him. I think their sense is (the war) is going to start winding down."
Still, Coughlin would recommend a meeting.
"My advice would be to see if there was an opportunity whereby she would meet with him, express her point of view and end her vigil."
Carter said presidents have varied in their ability to deal with protests.
"Initially, President Johnson did try to meet with people, but then he became so scared, so torn and conflicted that he made it a point of very seldom meeting with critics of the war."
Talking about Sheehan's protest stirs the feelings of loss for Watson, who meets regularly with three other Gold Star mothers in the Valley.
"We have one thing in common," she said. "We lost our sons. It's a very strong bond."
They share stories they heard from their sons' buddies, donate to groups sending care packages to those still serving and make squares for quilts sent to families who have lost someone.
Watson said she supports Sheehan's right to protest but disagrees and said she will remember her son her own way.
"I don't think it will ever be OK," Watson said. "I hate like heck that he died. But to my death I will defend what he went over there to do."
Reporters Art Thomason, Carl Holcombe and Corrine Purtill contributed to this article 
President intended from the start to go to war in
Iraq and rigged American intelligence to support the case! 
