DONNELLY, Idaho, 24 August 2005 — President Bush charged yesterday that anti-war protesters like Cindy Sheehan who want troops brought home immediately do not represent the views of most US military families and are “advocating a policy that would weaken the United States.”

In brief remarks outside the resort where he is vacationing, Bush gave no indication that he would change his mind and meet with Sheehan after he returns to his Texas ranch today. Sheehan lost a son in Iraq and has emerged as a harsh critic of the war.

Sheehan has been maintaining a vigil outside Bush’s ranch, a demonstration that has been joined by more and more other anti-war protesters.

Bush said that two high-ranking members of his staff already met with her earlier this month and that he met with her last year.

“I’ve met with a lot of families,” Bush said. “She doesn’t represent the view of a lot of families I have met with.”

On Iraq, Bush said that a democratic constitution “is going to be an important change in the broader Middle East.” Reaching an accord on a constitution after years of dictatorship is not easy, Bush said.

He spoke after the head of the committee drafting Iraq’s constitution said yesterday that three days are not enough to win over the minority Sunni Arabs, and the document they rejected may ultimately have to be approved by parliament as is and submitted to the people in a referendum.

“The Iraqi people are working hard to reach a consensus on their constitution,” Bush said, speaking outside the Tamarack Resort, in the mountains 100 miles north of Boise. “It’s an amazing process to work. First of all, the fact that they’re even writing a constitution is vastly different from living under the iron hand of a dictator.”

Bush was asked about the possibility that objections to the constitution as it now stands from the Sunnis, the party of deposed leader Saddam Hussein, could trigger a civil war.

“The Sunnis have got to make a choice,” Bush said. “Do they want to live in a society that’s free? Or do they want to live in violence?”

He said he thought that most mothers, regardless of their religion, would prefer to live in peace rather than violence.

He congratulated Israeli President Ariel Sharon on the completion of the withdrawal of settlers from the Gaza Strip. And Bush praised him for making “a tough decision,” saying the next step would be to establish a working government.

Bush, spending a day at the resort with Republican Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, said he was getting updates on the Iraqi constitutional process from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

He said Rice had assured him that the rights of women were being protected. “Democracy is unfolding,” the president said. “We just cannot tolerate the status quo.”

On Sheehan, the grieving mother who has camped near his ranch since Aug. 6, the president said he strongly supports her right to protest. “She expressed her opinion. I disagree with it,” Bush said.

“I think immediate withdrawal from Iraq would be a mistake,” he said. “I think those who advocate immediate withdrawal from not only Iraq but the Middle East are advocating a policy that would weaken the United States.”

Bush has scheduled more than two hours to meet with family members of slain soldiers today at the Mountain Home Air Force Base near Boise.

Meanwhile, three detainees held at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have been turned over to Yemen, Tajikistan and Iran respectively, the Pentagon said Monday.

“This detainee movement included the release of one detainee to Yemen, one detainee to Tajikistan, and one detainee to Iran,” the Pentagon said.

Two of the detainees had been declared no longer to be enemy combatants by a panel set up to review the status of prisoners at Guantanamo. The Iranian detainee was recommended for release by another review board.

“He (the Iranian detainee) was flown to Afghanistan where arrangements had been made to transfer him to Iran,” said Lieutenant Commander Flex Plexico, a Pentagon spokesman.

“The Yemeni and Tajik were flown to those two countries,” Plexico said.

The spokesman said it marked the second time an Iranian detainee has been released from Guantanamo. The first such release occurred in early 2004, he said.

“During the course of the war on terrorism, the department expects that there will be other transfers or releases of detainees,” the Pentagon said.

The releases brought to 245 the number of prisoners released from Guantanamo in a series of transfers that have reduced the population at the remote detention center to about 505, the Pentagon said.