Crawford's Getting Crowded
Cindy Sheehan (AP)
Aside from the nuclear protesters at Dubya's photo-op ranch, a mother of a dead soldier is also protesting. Cindy Sheehan, the co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace is protesting outside of the Crawford 'ranch' with 50 of her fellow group members. Her son, Army Spc Casey Sheehan, was killed in Baghdad on April 4th, 2004. Cindy wants to know why her son had to die. She said she will stay and continue to protest until she can speak with Bush. Bush, whilst on his five-week vacation, said last Wednesday that sacrifices of U.S. troops were "made in a noble cause." Sheehan was not comforted. "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 appeared on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer and delivered a stinging judgment on Bush and his apathy towards the troops and the Iraqi people who have died. On the show Sheehan said that she and 15 families met with the president one day last June.
" We wanted to use the time for him to know that he killed an indispensable part of our family and humanity. And we wanted him to look at the pictures of Casey. He wouldn't look at the pictures of Casey. He didn't even know Casey's name. He came in the room and the very first thing he said is, 'So who are we honoring here?' He didn't even know Casey's name. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear anything about Casey. He wouldn't even call him "him" or "he." He called him "your loved one." Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject. And he acted like it was a party...he came in very jovial, and like we should be happy that he, our son, died for his misguided policies. He didn't even pretend like somebody."
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."
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.
posted by Lisa @ 7:28 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
PROTESTING SOLDIER MOM CHANGED STORY ON BUSH
Mon Aug 08 2005 10:11:07 ET
The mother of a fallen U.S. soldier who is holding a roadside peace vigil near President Bush's ranch -- has dramatically changed her account about what happened when she met the commander-in-chief last summer!
Cindy Sheehan, 48, of Vacaville, Calif., who last year praised Bush for bringing her family the "gift of happiness," took to the nation's TV outlets this weekend to declare how Bush "killed an indispensable part of our family and humanity."
CINDY 2004
THE REPORTER of Vacaville, CA published an account of Cindy Sheehan's visit with the president at Fort Lewis near Seattle on June 24, 2004:
"'I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis,' Cindy said after their meeting. 'I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith.'
"The meeting didn't last long, but in their time with Bush, Cindy spoke about Casey and asked the president to make her son's sacrifice count for something. They also spoke of their faith.
"The trip had one benefit that none of the Sheehans expected.
"For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle.
For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again.
"'That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together,' Cindy said."
CINDY 2005
Sheehan's current comments are a striking departure.
She vowed on Sunday to continue her protest until she can personally ask Bush: "Why did you kill my son?"
In an interview on CNN, she claimed Bush "acted like it was party" when she met him last year.
"It was -- you know, there was a lot of things said. We wanted to use the time for him to know that he killed an indispensable part of our family and humanity. And we wanted him to look at the pictures of Casey.
"He wouldn't look at the pictures of Casey. He didn't even know Casey's name. He came in the room and the very first thing he said is, 'So who are we honoring here?' He didn't even know Casey's name. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear anything about Casey. He wouldn't even call him 'him' or 'he.' He called him 'your loved one.'
Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject. And he acted like it was a party.
BLITZER: Like a party? I mean...
SHEEHAN: Yes, he came in very jovial, and like we should be happy that he, our son, died for his misguided policies. He didn't even pretend like somebody...
END
So the point of this comment is what exactly? Have you never lost a loved one, particularly a child? Sheehan met with Bush just eleven weeks after her son died. She was still deeply grief-stricken and just looking for comfort and to hear anything to let her know that her son gave his life for a noble purpose.
Now, a year later, Cindy's head is clear. She realized that what she got the first time was sympathy and platitudes, and now she wants answers.
It's easy for a president to say "I'm sorry for your loss, but you can take solace in knowing your son died defending his country.." What this president can't answer to anyone is how sending American troops to invade Iraq constitutes "defending our country." Every single rationale Bush has given for the invasion has been proven to be utter bullshit and that's all he has to offer to families of the men and women he sent to die.
Well, first off, I can only imagine the grief a mother feels when losing a son. For that, my condolences and prayers for Ms. Sheehan. I'm not sure what information you have that would indicate her thinking is any clearer now than when she first met Bush. Perhaps you know her personally. I do not. What I see empirically as a difference over this last year is that dealing with Mr. Bush as a person as well as President elicited one response, as opposed to groups and individuals with their own agenda essentially hijacking this woman's grief and convincing her that her current posture in some way now honors the memory of her son. Ms. Sheehan has admitted that she was against the war and against Bush in 2000 and 2004, even before her son was killed. I just see it as her being used by the anti-war/anti-Bush crowd. As to her son, he had already re-enlisted. That was his choice. Even though a mechanic, he volunteered for the dangerous mission that he ultimately lost his life in. I don't see where Mr. Bush forced him to do anything.
We can argue the merits of the war and disagree. What no one seems to be getting is that the people that killed Casey Sheehan are the same people that are willing to kill me and you, willing to kill themselves in the process, and kill as many innocent people (deliberately, I might add) as they need to get us, not for any other reason than we don't subscribe to their radical, Islamofascist, jihadist beliefs. If you want to spend all your time hating Bush, go ahead. I don't think he's intending to cut your head off and show the video worldwide. Islamic terrorists on the other hand are hard at work planning just that. Fair warning
Sounds like you are a sponge for neo-con propaganda. How is Cindy Sheehan being used by the left? She was already opposed to the war before her son went off to die, as you already noted- surprisingly. She became more passionate about ENDING this illegal war AFTER the Downing Street Memo was exposed. Once that was exposed, she had a renewed and more focused fight to end this illegal war, BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE DYING FOR A LIE. Do you get that? There were no WMD's. This was a wag the dog scenario. They needed a photo-op war, oil, and billions of dollars in contracts for the core Republican donors. Do you get it? Would you want your son to die for this? A lie? A photo-op? Billions for billionaires? No, those who sign up for the military do so to either pay for college, or because they believe in defending our country. As you will see on Iraqi vet websites, documentaries, publications, most want out, they have caught on. They don't want to die for a lie. Especially when their benefits and pay are being cut and while the contractors make several times the pay they do. The Bush administration blindly and greedily opened the gates of hell in Iraq, and let our men and women walk right in.
The Downing Street Memo....
Putting any partisanship aside, if what you're alleging is true, if the Downing Street Memo is proof that this whole Iraq 'thing' is a lie, then what in the world are Tony Blair and George Bush still doing in office? Knowing how unpopular the war has been in Britain, and the current lag in support here, the memo should have drummed Mr. Blair out of office and initiated impeachment proceedings immediately for Mr. Bush. I haven't seen either one happening. Now, not knowing anything else, I can only conclude that the memo isn't the smoking gun that its portrayed to be. That's just simple logic there, Anonymous. If there was incontrovertible proof of wrongdoing or lying, proceedings would already be underway. BTW, if there WAS some type of incontrovertible truth, I'd be the first to ask for impeachment. Personally, Mr. Bush's current policies on border security are enough for me to suggest he step down, so its not like I'm blindly following in step with any Republican agenda. I'm just trying to meet the facts, if they ever show up here...:-).
Post a Comment
<< Home