Sheehan takes case to Carolina

CARRBORO, N.C. — Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan strode through a mall parking lot, flashing the peace sign and carrying a white wooden cross with "Casey" written on it.

About a dozen supporters carried signs such as "Honor the Warriors. Defund the War." A waiting group of two dozen more cheered.

Sheehan, wearing a T-shirt reading "Humanity before politics," then walked into a restaurant that emphasizes local ingredients, and hugged those waiting to meet her.

Her visit to this small North Carolina town Thursday was part of a cross-country tour that will go through Washington, D.C., where she plans to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

"We want them both gone," Sheehan said. "I'm holding elected officials accountable."

She was invited to Carrboro by the Grassroots Impeachment Movement (GRIM), which has been working for impeachment since the discovery of the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic-eavesdropping program in late 2005. The 100-member group wants the Carrboro Board of Aldermen to adopt the nickname "Cradle of Impeachment" until the 2008 election. Both Carrboro and Chapel Hill have adopted resolutions calling for impeachment.

"Carrboro is where the impeachment movement started in North Carolina and maybe in the South," said civil-rights lawyer Al McSurely, a co-founder of GRIM.

Sheehan, 50, is best known for camping outside Bush's Texas ranch after her son, Casey, was killed in Iraq. She announced last week that she will run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., next year if Pelosi doesn't move to impeach Bush by Monday, the day Sheehan should reach the capital.

Pelosi aides previously have said the congresswoman thinks the best way to support the troops in Iraq is to bring them home safely and soon.

After her Washington stop, Sheehan and her tour will head to the United Nations in New York. Then, she said, she will go to the Middle East, including Jordan, Syria and Iraq, where she will meet with Iraqi war refugees.