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"Troops Home Fast" Hunger Strikers Enter Second Week    [

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    Troops Home Fast, Day 6
    By Cindy Sheehan
    t r u t h o u t | Perspective

    Monday 10 July 2006

    I find traveling out of the country very challenging while being on a fast. When I was on a layover in Madrid on my way to Venice, Italy yesterday, the closest thing to a smoothie I could find, to get a little protein, was a coffee with vanilla ice cream in it. Traveling for 22 hours is very taxing under normal circumstances - but then again, when have we had normal circumstances since the 2000 and 2004 successful coup attempts that have brought BushCo into power?

    I traveled from Venice to the frontier of Italy to the province of Udine, which is right at the foot of the pre-Alps. I am here for a huge youth festival, which includes many elements of social justice and peace work. It is beautiful, and the air feels different from other places that I have travelled. It is strangely soft and gentle as is the natural light. However, there is not a Jamba Juice on every corner, so blended juice drinks with protein powder are impossible to find.

    I have also received so many emails from worried, wonderful, and well-meaning friends and supporters in the US who are concerned about me and all of the others who are fasting. I don't like being on this fast, trust me, but 3 Marines were killed in Iraq today - 3 unsuspecting families are about to head into a tailspin of senseless grief and we won't ever get an accurate count of the Iraqis who were killed today. It is going to be 112 degrees in Baghdad tomorrow. The occupiers and the occupied are suffering terribly.

    It is important to keep our focus on saving the people of Iraq and our soldiers.

    It is important to keep our focus on ending the war crime in Iraq.

    The Troops Home Fast is a moral response to an immoral act. We can be, and must be, morally strong so we can feast on the day that the last troop is brought home from the war crime in Iraq.

    Then our focus can change to holding BushCo responsible for the war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace, and focus on never allowing this to happen again.

    Come to Camp Casey
    August 16 to September 2nd

    "Troops Home Fast" Hunger Strikers Enter Second Week
    t r u t h o u t | Press Release

    Monday 10 July 2006

Colonel Ann Wright, Diane Wilson, Medea Benjamin, Dick Gregory, Veterans, Iraqi citizens, and others gather in front of the White House on the second week of their fast.

    Peace activists enter their second week of the "Troops Home Fast", an historical hunger strike outside of the White House. Organized by CODEPINK: Women for Peace, a group of long-term fasters launched a historic hunger strike against the war in Iraq on July 4, 2006. During the first week of the fast, two people left the fast for medical reasons, but the others remain strong. The fasters have spent their time meeting with Senators, such as Richard Lugar and Christopher Dodd. They feed ice cream to the homeless, highlighting the need to spend our funds of helping the poor, not war. They signed up thousands of people on a Voters for Peace pledge, saying they would only vote for peace candidates. And this week, they will be walking the halls of Congress calling on representatives to vote to bring the troops home.

    Over 3,700 supporters, celebrities, veterans, mothers, and concerned citizens across the country are also participating in a rolling fast over the summer, fasting as long as they are able and then passing the fast from person to person. Many will fast in solidarity from their hometowns, urging local leaders to stand for peace. Fasters include musicians Willie Nelson and Michael Franti, actors Danny Glover, Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, Gulf War vet Michael McPherson, writer Alice Walker, and labor leader Dolores Huerta.

    The fasters have appeared in the major press, from Hannity and Colmes and Hardball to Democracy Now to the Washington Post.

    Diane Wilson, who has engaged in several hunger strikes in her history as an environmental activist, says she will not set an end date to her fast. "My goal is to bring the troops home. I don't know how long I can fast, but I'm making this open-ended," she says. "I plan to take this as far as I've ever taken anything in my 58 years. I fear our future is at stake, and I'm ready to make a major sacrifice."

    They will continue to stand outside of the White House until August 15, when they will move to Camp Casey in Crawford, TX for two weeks. They will return to Washington DC until the fast ends on September 21, International Peace Day, when activists around the country will initiate a week of nonviolent actions against the war as part of the Declaration of Peace.

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    For more information, including a full list of fasters, please see www.troopshomefast.org.