The president says he feels compassion for me, but the best way to show that compassion is by meeting with me and the other mothers and families who are here. Our sons made the ultimate sacrifice and we want answers. All we're asking is that he sacrifice an hour out of his five-week vacation to talk to us, before the next mother loses her son in Iraq. We Don't Exist Sunday 25 September 2005 Last weekend, Karl Rove said that I was a clown and the anti-war movement was "non-existent." I wonder if the hundreds of thousands of people who showed up today to protest this war and George's failed policies know that they don't exist. It is also so incredible to me that Karl thinks that he can wish us away by saying we aren't real. Well, Karl and Co., we are real, we do exist and we are not going away until this illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq is over and you are sent back to the depths of whatever slimy, dark, and loathsome place you came from. I may be a clown, Karl, but you are about to be indicted. You also preside over one of the biggest three-ring, malevolent circuses of all time: the Bush administration. The rally today was overwhelming and powerful. The reports that I was arrested today were obviously false. The peace rally was mostly very peaceful. Washington, DC was filled with energetic and proud Americans who came from all over to raise their voices in unison against the criminals who run our government and their disastrous policies that are making our nation more vulnerable to all kinds of attacks (natural and "Bush"-made disasters). I led the march for peace alongside such venerable activists as the Reverends Al Sharpton, Bob Edgars, and Jesse Jackson Jr., and Julian Bond. Two of our Congresswomen with cojones from California, Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey, also led the march. Many people told me thank you for coming. I want to tell America "Thank you!!" At the Camp Casey reunion this evening, I was so overcome with emotion and gratitude that I wanted to hug every citizen of this country. We in the Camp Casey movement are so proud and thrilled that America showed up in such great numbers. So much happened today! I am exhausted but very content. I am again filled with a renewed sense of hope that we will get our country back and get our troops home. I was also thrilled at the number of young people who came out today. That is another great sign that the side of good is winning. With the Reverends, we stopped in front of the White House and said a prayer. After the prayer, I said that we are light and they are darkness. Darkness can NEVER overcome the light, ever. As long as there is one spark, the darkness has lost. We will prevail, we will be victorious. The darkness has lost because our beacons of peace and truth are shining for the entire world to see. And it is a very pretty sight. Take that Karl.
Patriotic Dissent Saturday 24 September 2005 Ahhhh, I love the smell of Patriotic Dissent in the afternoon! As we stand here on the grounds of a monument that is dedicated to the Father of our Country, George Washington, we are reminded that he was well known for the apocryphal stories of never being able to tell a lie. I find it so ironic that there is another man here named George who stays in this town between vacations, and he seems to never be able to tell the truth. It is tragic for us that our bookend presidents named George have two completely different relationships with honesty. I also find it ironic and heartbreaking that my son, Casey, who was a brave person, tall and proud, who loved his country and was honest beyond measure, could be sent to his death by someone who is even too cowardly to meet with a broken-hearted mom, let alone go and fight in the illegal and immoral war of his generation. We are losing our best and our brightest in a country that we are destroying, that was no threat to the United States of America. Iraq was and still is no danger to our safety and security, or to our way of life. The weapons of mass destruction and mass deception reside in this town: they are the neocons who pull the strings and the members of Congress who have loosened the purse strings with reckless abandon and have practically given George and company a blank check to run our country into monetary and moral bankruptcy. We are out here in force today to take our country back and restore true democracy and sanity to our political process. The time is now, and we are here because we love our country, and we won't let the reckless maniacs destroy her any further. We, as a young colony of Great Britain, broke from another tyrant, King George the Third. Well, I wish our George the Third were here today to see us out here in force protesting against his war and against his murderous policies. George is not here, though, because he is out galavanting around the country somewhere pretending that he cares about the people who are in the path of hurricane Rita. We know that he cares nothing for the people of America: Katrina, Iraq, and his idiotic response to 9/11 are evidence of that. He is just out and about play-acting like a President whose country is in crisis, just like he pretends to be a Commander in Chief and a Cowboy (I wonder if before he took off to Texas or Colorado or wherever he went, he watched a movie like Independence Day to see how that other fake president acted?). The reason he is out today is that his handlers told him that he got a little flak for playing golf and eating birthday cake with Senator McCain while some of his employers were hanging off rooftops and treetops in New Orleans. He swaggers around arrogantly like he is a macho dictatorial tyrant who doesn't have to answer to his employers, the people of the United States of America. Those days are over George, we are here today to tell you that we are a majority and we will never rest until you bring our young people home from the Middle East, and until you start putting money into rebuilding OUR communities: the ones natural disasters destroy with your help, and the ones which your callous and racist war economy are decimating. We won't allow you to take anymore money out of social programs to finance Halliburton to rebuild the Gulf States: there is no money. Our bank account is empty. George, this is our rainy day and you have failed us miserably. Stop pouring money into the pockets of the war profiteers and into building permanent bases in Iraq ... It is time to bring our billions of dollars home from Iraq too!!! One thing the Camp Casey movement that hunkered down in Crawford, Texas, this past August taught us is that we the people of America have the power and we can and should name our national policy and make sure it is carried out. I constantly get asked if we are making a difference and if we think (like we're naïve boobs) that we will actually stop the war. Well, looking back at how Vietnam was ended and looking back in the history of our country, most notably in the suffragette, union, and civil rights movements, we the people are the only ones who have been able to transform history and affect true and lasting change here in America: so to those people who question if we are making a difference: I tell them to go back to school and read their history books!! And another thing these questioners overlook is that WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!! And we are here to tell the media, Congress, and this criminal and criminally negligent administration: WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY!!! We in the peace movement need to agree on one thing: yes we need an exit plan, but it is not a strategy, it is a command. The command should be: have all of our military personnel and paid killer mercenaries out of Iraq within 6 months, and the generals carry out the command. Simple, it's not brain surgery, and I think it is so easy even George Bush can sign the order. We can't give the homicidal maniacs any wiggle room or long-term strategy sessions. For one thing, when our leaders strategize, we are put in even more jeopardy - they have proven that they are not too bright or even a little compassionate. But the most important thing is that people die every day in Iraq for absolutely no reason and for lies. We have to say NOW because the people on the other side are saying NEVER. We can't compromise, we can't say please, and we can't retreat. If we do, our country is doomed. We have to honor the sacrifices of our loved ones by completing the mission of peace and justice. It is time. Bring our troops home, NOW!
When Rose Met Cindy: The Case against the War in Iraq Friday 23 September 2005 On both sides of the Atlantic, two mothers who lost sons in Iraq have launched campaigns to end the conflict. One camped outside George Bush's ranch. The other stood in the general election. This week, they came face to face for the first time. Andrew Buncombe reports. Along the sunbaked sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue came the sound of singing. It was music from an earlier generation, but as relevant now as it ever was. "All we are saying is give peace a chance," chanted the group of demonstrators as they made their way to the north-west gates of the White House. "All we are saying is give peace chance." At the head of the huddled group was Cindy Sheehan, the woman whose soldier son, Casey, was killed in Iraq last year and whose campaign to demand an explanation for the war from President George Bush took her to the gates of his Crawford ranch, made headlines around the world and - seemingly almost single-handedly - re-energised the US peace movement. At her side was Rose Gentle, a woman whose son, Gordon, was also killed in Iraq and who has launched a similarly relentless campaign to demand answers from Prime Minister Tony Blair. "It's exciting to be here, to let George Bush know what we think about the war," Mrs. Gentle said moments afterwards, standing at the junction with 17th Street, carrying a photograph of her son wearing his uniform of Royal Highland Fusiliers. Asked if she thought he would have approved of her campaign, she glanced at the photograph of the young man, 19 years old, and replied: "Gordon would have wanted this. His pals are still there [in Iraq] and he would have wanted them home safe. They still keep in touch." She added: "Those young boys don't know who's with them or who's against them. People think we are against the troops but we are for them - we want them home safe. Once they're dead, the [authorities] don't want to know them. For a 19-year-old with just 24 weeks basic training to be sent to Iraq ..." Had the US and Britain not invaded Iraq in the spring of 2003 it is unlikely that Mrs. Sheehan, 48, from Vacaville, California, and Mrs. Gentle, 40, from the depressed Glasgow suburb of Pollok, would ever have had reason to know each other. As it is, they and many of the other demonstrators, who have this week made their way to the US capital after a tour that has taken them to 51 cities in 28 states, share a terrible bond. Mrs. Sheehan's 24-year-old son was killed in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City on 4 April when his unit, the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. Gordon Gentle was killed by a roadside bomb in the southern city of Basra on 28 June last year, the day the US and Britain purportedly handed back control of the country to an Iraqi government. "We have been in e-mail contact for months but this is the first time we have met," Mrs. Sheehan said of Mrs. Gentle as she later stood in the sunshine on the National Mall, helping set up a "Camp Casey" memorial within view of the Capitol Building. "It helps [meeting the other people who have lost loved ones]. They really are the only people who know what I'm going through." Mrs. Sheehan said she would like to accept Mrs. Gentle's invitation to tour the UK and share her message with British audiences. It was important that the anti-war message was as loudly heard in Britain as the US because "they have troops in Iraq. They are part of it", she told The Independent. The families' descent upon Washington to participate in three days of anti-war protests this weekend organised by the group United For Peace and Justice (UFPJ) comes at a time when public support in the US for the war stands at an all-time low. A recent poll conducted for The New York Times suggested that only 44 per cent of Americans now believe the invasion of Iraq was the correct thing to do. Around 80 per cent are concerned that the spiralling costs of the occupation are diverting resources needed in the US. Mr. Bush's own ratings have similarly sunk to record lows. A Gallup poll released this week suggested only 40 per cent approve of his performance, down from almost 90 per cent in the aftermath of 9/11. Yesterday, Mr. Bush showed no sign of changing tack. Speaking at the Pentagon where he had just received an update of the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, he claimed that withdrawing US forces would make the world more dangerous and allow terrorists "to claim an historic victory over the United States." The President claimed that terrorists had been emboldened over the years by the hesitant US response to the hostage crisis with Iran, the bombing of US Marine barracks in Lebanon and the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. "The terrorists concluded we lacked the courage and character to defend ourselves. The only way the terrorists can win is if we lose our nerve and abandon the mission. For the safety and security of the American people, that's not going to happen on my watch," he said. Of Mrs. Sheehan and the other protesters who will be gathering in Washington this weekend, he said: "I recognise their good intentions but their position is wrong. Withdrawing our troops would make the world more dangerous." But veteran peace campaigners in America are confident they have reached a "turning point" - which they attribute to several factors. The war in Iraq, which may have been responsible for 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths, has now taken the lives of more than 1,900 US and almost 100 British troops. The publication of the Downing Street memo appeared to suggest that Mr. Bush had made up his mind to invade Iraq as early as the spring of 2002, whether the UN supported him or not. And on one single, shocking day this summer, 14 marines from the same Ohio town were killed in an attack on a convoy near the city of Haditha. Bill Dodds, a UFPJ spokesman, said: "And then a few days [after the 14 marines were killed], at a Veterans for Peace convention in Dallas, someone got up and said: 'We've got to go to Crawford.' That was Cindy." He added: "The momentum had been gathering and then, at the end of the summer, there was definitely a big boost with everything [that was happening in Crawford]. We saw some old faces return and some new ones joined ... We think this could be a turning point." The day after the 8 August meeting, Mrs. Sheehan and a small group of supporters headed for Crawford, where Mr. Bush was spending his holiday. Though he repeatedly refused to meet with her in person and despite an attempt by some on the right to smear Mrs. Sheehan, she was able to seize the opportunity of a bored White House press corps camped out with nothing much to do to win public support for her hitherto unnoticed campaign. From across the country protesters arrived in Crawford, where a temporary memorial to Casey and the other US troops killed in Iraq had been established. Mrs. Sheehan demanded that Mr. Bush immediately withdraw US forces to prevent further loss of life. In Washington, some suggested that Mrs. Sheehan's campaign was counter-productive because it gave conservatives a target they could attack. She dismisses the charge. "Distracted attention? I think that I focused attention on the war," she said. Mrs. Gentle's attention on the war changed forever on the morning of 28 June last year. That morning, before she left home for her job as a cleaner, she had switched on the television and watched a report about the death of a British soldier in Basra. She watched the footage that showed the soldier's body, his face obscured by a sheet, and then left for work. A few hours later, two members of the Army came to where she was working and broke the news. "They sat me in the back of a car and told me that Gordon had been killed," she said. "I realised it was Gordon I had seen lying on the floor ... It was 10 days before I could get him home." Mrs. Gentle, who ran against the Armed Forces minister, Adam Ingram, in the East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow constituency at the general election last May, only joined the peace tour this week in Washington. She flew by herself from Glasgow, packing her favourite brand of cigarettes, and joined up with other family members and veterans. They have been staying in motels and hostels, sleeping on the sofas of friends, eating dinners cooked by other supporters. For the group, including Bill Mitchell, whose son was killed in the same battle that Mrs. Sheehan's son died in, it has been a packed week. On Wednesday they held a press conference on Capitol Hill, delivered a letter to the White House urging Mr. Bush to withdraw the troops and then ended up with an emotional three-hour presentation in front of a packed audience at American University. Yesterday, the group had arranged to meet with Senators John Kerry, John McCain, Edward Kennedy and others before heading off for more public appearances. Mrs. Gentle said while there were some people who clearly disagreed with their campaign, the overwhelming response from the people they had met was positive and supportive. The other family members had also been supportive, but being part of the group was not easy. "Meeting with the other family members does make you feel sad," said Mrs. Gentle, who is suing the Ministry of Defence, claiming that her son's vehicle should have been fitted with electronic jamming equipment. "No one here has done anything but shed tears ... People tell me it gets easier but how can it get easier when you turn on the TV and [some more soldiers are being killed]. Tony Blair and George Bush should be held responsible for this."
Witnessing History Monday 19 September 2005 I spent three weeks in Crawford, Texas. The heat was unbearable; bugs were everywhere, including fire ants crawling into my keyboard. But I wouldn't have traded Camp Casey for any other story that I have ever covered. I remember the frigid cold of January in Washington DC, when millions around the world said no to the war in Iraq. We covered the Democratic and Republican conventions, I went to Iowa and New Hampshire to cover the primaries. These were all stories that I will not forget, but what happened this August in Crawford, Texas, was historic. Twenty years from now, social studies classes will be studying the impact that Cindy Sheehan, Camp Casey, and the September 24th March on Washington had on George Bush's Iraq policy. There were several moments in Crawford when I thought to myself, "I am witnessing history." Cindy Sheehan was the spark plug, and has emerged as a leader of the anti-war movement. Other leaders also emerged at Camp Casey; it is not that they were new to protesting the war, but Cindy's stand gave them the national stage that they were unable to gain access to before. I remember the first press conference that I attended, Day 6 of the camp. Cindy opened with her emotional plea for answers, and many other family members followed, letting the world know that she was not alone. I remember Bill Mitchell and Dante Zapalla in tears as they placed flowers on their loved ones' crosses. It was the first day that the crosses from Arlington West were set up at Camp Casey. Veterans for Peace had been setting those crosses up for over a year - now they were on the national stage. I remember when Larry Northern mowed those crosses down with his pickup truck. I was at the Crawford Peace House, typing my blog report; Cindy was a few feet away typing her daily blog post. The phone call came, letting us know that the crosses had been mowed down. A few minutes later, a volunteer sitting behind us shouted "No!" At first we thought she was just learning about the crosses, but she had just learned that her pen pal was killed in Iraq. Cindy immediately comforted her. Cindy Sheehan has an amazing gift for connecting with people individually. Everywhere she goes now, people want to meet her, and while others would probably be uncomfortable, Cindy with a hug or a word of encouragement connects with them all. I remember the candlelight vigil the night that tens of thousands of people around the country held vigils in their communities. Aidan Delgado, a veteran of the war in Iraq, gave an impassioned plea for us to make sure that our military is never used again until all other means have been exhausted. I remember Hart Viges, another Iraq War vet, talking about how hard it is for him to deal with the knowledge that he killed people defending their homeland. And Charlie Anderson speaking after learning that his wife had left him. Cody Camacho explained that his own wife left him because she didn't recognize him when he returned from Iraq. Marine Jeff Key played taps at dusk every day, and one night invited the counter protesters across the road to join Camp Casey for a vigil honoring our fallen soldiers. Jeff came back across the street carrying a huge pole with the American flag on top, followed by the counter protesters, who sang and vigiled with Camp Casey. Ann Wright, who, after decades in the military and diplomatic corps resigned in protest of the Iraq war, was the Camp Casey Commandant. Her leadership kept things organized and from descending into chaos. Beatriz Saldivar, Dante Zappala, Mimi Evans, Celeste Zappala, Tamara Rosenleaf, and dozens of other family members of fallen or deployed soldiers also emerged as leaders of the anti-war movement. Grammy Award-winning musician Steve Earle put it best: "It wasn't the fact that I opposed the Vietnam War that stopped it ... It was when my father came to oppose the war that it ended." With Cindy, Beatriz, Ann, Dante, Mimi, Charlie, Jeff, Aidan, Cody, Celeste, Tamara, and the thousands of others who got their voice at Camp Casey leading the way to Washington this week, more mothers and fathers will begin to oppose this war. On April 24, 1971, Vietnam Veterans Against the War were among the leaders of 500,000 people who converged on Washington to end the Vietnam War. On September 24, 2005, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans for Peace will be leading another huge march against today's war. As the call goes out far and wide to gather in the nation's capitol, history stands to be made again.
Protesters Draw Link Between Katrina and Iraq War Monday 19 September 2005 New York - President George W. Bush's faltering performance after Hurricane Katrina, like his decision to invade Iraq, show his priorities are at odds with actions needed to keep Americans safe, anti-war protesters said on Monday. "One of the bogus reasons that George Bush gives for this invasion (and) occupation of Iraq is to make America safer - and Katrina exposed that clearly he has made America more vulnerable through his policies in Iraq," anti-war activist and bereaved mother Cindy Sheehan told a morning news conference. US troops fighting an unexpectedly stubborn insurgency in Iraq should come home to help face domestic challenges like the unprecedented humanitarian relief and recovery effort on the Gulf Coast, said the activists, who will stage a march on Washington this weekend. When Sheehan later spoke in Manhattan's Union Square to a group of about 200 anti-war protesters, New York police broke up the rally and arrested a man over a dispute about whether their permit allowed amplified sound. Morrigan Phillips, spokeswoman for the Bring Them Home Now Tour, which has been stopping in towns across America on its way to the march in Washington, said the arrest was the first since the group began its campaign earlier this summer. Leaders of the coalition organizing the September 24-26 protest in Washington include Sheehan, who gained international fame by camping out for weeks outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. The anti-war group United for Peace and Justice, spearheading the march on Washington, said National Guard troops and materiel deployed in Iraq were needed to respond to the tragedy in and around New Orleans. Sheehan is the star attraction for the three-day protest, which will include nonviolent acts of civil disobedience at the White House and an interfaith religious service, organizers said. After her soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq, Sheehan demanded to meet with Bush while he vacationed in Texas so he could explain why US troops were not being withdrawn from Iraq. Bush, who had met briefly with Sheehan on a previous occasion, has declined to meet with her again. "We were alarmed to hear the first company to get a contract in the rebuilding of New Orleans was Halliburton, another nonbid contract," said Leslie Cagan of United for Peace and Justice, which bills itself as the largest anti-war coalition in the United States. The largest US contractor in Iraq, Halliburton Co.'s subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root has been given a $29.8 million contract to rebuild Navy bases along the Katrina-battered Gulf Coast. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton, whose subsidiary secured no-bid contracts in Iraq after the United States toppled Saddam Hussein.
Mother Who Lost Son in Iraq Continues Fight against War Monday 19 September 2005
Speaking in front of more than 500 supporters in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Ms. Sheehan, speaking of Senator Clinton, said, "She knows that the war is a lie but she is waiting for the right time to say it." Then, as the crowd cheered, she issued a challenge to Senator Clinton, saying, "You say it or you are losing your job." A spokesman for Senator Clinton, while not commenting about Ms. Sheehan's remarks, said that the senator, while voting to give President Bush the authority to go to war, has been very critical of the way he has chosen to use that authority. The main focus of Ms. Sheehan's anger, however, continued to be the Bush administration. She camped outside President Bush's vacation home in Crawford, Tex., for many days last month, a move that earned her widespread attention. Since leaving Texas, Ms. Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., has been traveling around the country, rallying people against the war. Her entourage includes other parents who lost their children in the war, families of soldiers overseas, and veterans who have returned from Iraq. The tour culminates with what organizers hope will be a huge protest in Washington Sept. 24 to 26. Many in the crowd at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church last night were eager to get a peek at the woman whom they had seen on television. "I was just passing by," said John Ullman, 37. "This is going to be a chance for me to get my first impression of her," he added, noting that he agrees with her goal of ending the war. Mr. Ullman and the others who came to the church had to wait for more than an hour to hear Ms. Sheehan, as her party got lost on the streets of New York. When they finally arrived, Ms. Sheehan, whose son Casey, 24, was killed last year, was treated like a rock star, as children and adults crowded around her, clamoring to shake her hand or get an autograph. The church was an appropriate setting for a protest, said the Rev. David W. Dyson, who helped organize the event. Built in 1857, the church was created as part of the abolitionist movement, and tunnels below were twice used to shelter runaway slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. Mr. Dyson said many people showed up because they respect Ms. Sheehan's willingness to speak out for what she believes. "I was opposed to the war in the beginning," Mr. Dyson said. "I am even more opposed to it now." Ms. Sheehan, however, was not the only person speaking to a crowd about the war in Iraq yesterday. Gary Qualls, an Army veteran whose son also died in Iraq, spoke in Bryant Park in Manhattan as part of a gathering sponsored by Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, which supports the Bush administration's goals. Elsewhere, the Times Square Choir gathered for a special service called "Salute to the Troops" on the deck of the USS Intrepid, which is permanently docked on the Hudson River. Ms. Sheehan has more events scheduled in the city, including a news conference with the Rev. Al Sharpton and other New York leaders this morning and a rally later in Union Square. She is to end her trip to New York with another speech at Riverside Church. She also faulted the media for not scrutinizing the White House. "It is not patriotism when you say, 'My country right or wrong,'" she said. "Because our country is very wrong now."
Editor's Note: This report was sent to us from a rally participant. He is the co-editor of "G" which is the publication of the New State Green Party. We also confirmed the accuracy of the report with Cindy's sister DeeDee who is traveling with her. Police Shut Down Cindy Sheehan Rally in NYC Monday 19 September 2005 As anti-war activist and gold-star mom Cindy Sheehan addressed hundreds of people assembled in Union Square Park in Manhattan this afternoon, around 12 members of the New York Police Department waded into the crowd, confiscated the sound system and arrested "Camp Casey New York" organizer Paul "Zool" Zulkowitz. Sheehan was immediately encircled by members of the Veterans for Peace and others in her group and taken to safety. (Cindy Sheehan will be speaking tonight at St. John the Divine Cathedral at 112th St. and Amsterdam Avenue.) I was standing just to Zool's left and witnessed an NYPD official draw an index finger across his throat (presumably a signal to cut off Cindy's speech) just as the police moved in. I also witnessed the same NYPD officials point to Zool, who was standing with many others, and several cops went straight for him, knocking me and others out of their way, and grabbed Zool without any of the police saying a word.
Wake Up Monday 19 September 2005 So we have come to cash this check - a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. What Bush's Katrina shows once again is that my son died for nothing. If you listen to Bush - and fewer and fewer are, thank goodness - we are in Iraq in part due to 9/11. All our president has been talking about has been protecting this country since 9/11. That's why people voted for him in the last election. Katrina shows it's all as sham, a fraud, a disaster as large as Katrina itself. Hundreds of billions and tens of thousands of innocent lives wasted later, what have we achieved? Nothing. Casey died for nothing and Bush says others have to die for those that have died already. Enough, George! What is disgusting is not, as the first lady says, criticism of you, but rather the crimes you've committed against this country and our sons and daughters. Stop hiding behind your twisted idea of God and stop destroying this country. This week I arrive in Washington DC to begin my Vigil at the White House just like I did in Texas. But this time I'll be joined by Katrina victims as well. In your America we are all victims. The failed bookends of your Presidency are Iraq and Katrina. It is time for all of us to stand up and be counted: to show the media, Congress, and this inept, corrupt, and criminal administration that we mean business. It is time to get off of our collective behinds to show the people who are running our country into oblivion that we will stand for it no longer. That we want our country back and we want our nation's young people back home, safe and sound, on our shores to help protect America. That it is time for a change in our country's "leadership." That we will never go away until our dreams are reality. We have so-called leaders in our country who are waiting for the correct "politically expedient" time to speak up and out against the occupation of Iraq. It is no sweat for our politicos to wait for the right time, because not one of them has a child in harm's way. I don't care if the politician is a Democrat or a Republican, this is not about politics. Being a strong leader to guide our country out of the quagmire and mistake of Iraq will require people of courage and determination to stand up and say: "I don't care if I win the next election, people are dying in Iraq every day and families are being decimated." We, as the 62% of Americans who want our troops to begin coming home, will follow such a leader down the difficult but oh-so-rewarding path of peace with justice. It is no longer time for the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. It never has been the time for that. Our "now" is so fiercely urgent. Like my daughter, Carly, wrote in the last verse of her "A Nation Rocked to Sleep" poem: Have you ever heard the sound of a Nation Being Rocked to Sleep? Wake up: See you in DC on the 24th.
For more information on September 24th go to: http://www.unitedforpeace.org.
Mother Who Lost Son in Iraq Continues Fight Against War Monday 19 September 2005 Cindy Sheehan, the mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq, last night brought her campaign to end the war to New York, where she accused Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of not doing enough to challenge the Bush administration's Iraq policies. Speaking in front of more than 500 supporters in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Ms. Sheehan, speaking of Senator Clinton, said, "She knows that the war is a lie but she is waiting for the right time to say it." Then, as the crowd cheered, she issued a challenge to Senator Clinton, saying, "You say it or you are losing your job." A spokesman for Senator Clinton, while not commenting about Ms. Sheehan's remarks, said that the senator, while voting to give President Bush the authority to go to war, has been very critical of the way he has chosen to use that authority. The main focus of Ms. Sheehan's anger, however, continued to be the Bush administration. She camped outside President Bush's vacation home in Crawford, Tex., for many days last month, a move that earned her widespread attention . Since leaving Texas, Ms. Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., has been traveling around the country, rallying people against the war. Her entourage includes other parents who lost their children in the war, families of soldiers overseas, and veterans who have returned from Iraq. The tour culminates with what organizers hope will be a huge protest in Washington Sept. 24 to 26. Many in the crowd at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church last night were eager to get a peek at the woman whom they had seen on television. "I was just passing by," said John Ullman, 37. "This is going to be a chance for me to get my first impression of her," he added, noting that he agrees with her goal of ending the war. Mr. Ullman and the others who came to the church had to wait for more than an hour to hear Ms. Sheehan, as her party got lost on the streets of New York. When they finally arrived, Ms. Sheehan, whose son Casey, 24, was killed last year, was treated like a rock star, as children and adults crowded around her, clamoring to shake her hand or get an autograph. The church was an appropriate setting for a protest, said the Rev. David W. Dyson, who helped organize the event. Built in 1857, the church was created as part of the abolitionist movement, and tunnels below were twice used to shelter runaway slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. Mr. Dyson said many people showed up because they respect Ms. Sheehan's willingness to speak out for what she believes. "I was opposed to the war in the beginning," Mr. Dyson said. "I am even more opposed to it now." Ms. Sheehan, however, was not the only person speaking to a crowd about the war in Iraq yesterday. Gary Qualls, an Army veteran whose son also died in Iraq, spoke in Bryant Park in Manhattan as part of a gathering sponsored by Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, which supports the Bush administration's goals. Elsewhere, the Times Square Choir gathered for a special service called "Salute to the Troops" on the deck of the USS. Intrepid, which is permanently docked on the Hudson River. Ms. Sheehan has more events scheduled in the city, including a news conference with the Rev. Al Sharpton and other New York leaders this morning and a rally later in Union Square. She is to end her trip to New York with another speech at Riverside Church. She also faulted the media for not scrutinizing the White House. "It is not patriotism when you say, 'My country right or wrong,'" she said. "Because our country is very wrong now."
In Cambridge, Crowd Cheers on Sheehan Sunday 18 September 2005 Mother of soldier killed in Iraq touring nation. Cambridge - Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a slain soldier whose vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, helped galvanize antiwar sentiment last month, told 200 cheering, chanting supporters in Cambridge yesterday that Americans should never again be led into what she called an illegal and unjust war. "We remembered something that we as Americans had forgotten after almost five years of being under a virtual dictatorship," she said on Cambridge Common. "We have the power. We Americans are the ones with the power." It was Sheehan's first stop in the Boston area since her vigil helped draw nationwide attention to the movement to remove US troops from Iraq, and she received a rapturous welcome in this famously liberal city. Her supporters, including several military veterans, parents with young children, and local activists, cheered and waved peace flags on the green where George Washington once mustered his troops. A few people sang the traditional song with the lyrics, "We ain't gonna study war no more," while others hoisted a banner that asked, "How many more?" Another banner declared, "Peace and social justice thrive in Cambridge." When the first busload of military families arrived, people chanted, "Welcome," and then burst into applause as Sheehan took the makeshift stage adorned with a red tarp backdrop. "George Bush wouldn't meet with me," Sheehan said. "But I went over his head. I went to the people of America." The rally was part of a nationwide tour that Sheehan launched after she failed in her immediate goal to meet with the president to ask him why her son, 24-year-old Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, had to die. Casey Sheehan was killed in April 2004 after insurgents ambushed his unit in the Sadr City section of Baghdad. "It's going to be us that makes this war end," said Cambridge City Councilor Denise Simmons, to the cheers of the audience. "It's going to be all of us." Sheehan's supporters had set up tents on the grass yesterday and hung a placard reading, "Welcome to Camp Alex," in honor of Alex S. Arredondo, a 20-year-old Marine lance corporal from Randolph who died in August 2004. He was shot by insurgents while storming a building in Najaf. His father, Carlos Arredondo of Roslindale, later made national headlines when he set himself on fire inside a van that the Marines had used to bring him the news of his son's death. He survived, but suffered burns on 26 percent of his body. "I hope armed forces families won't go through what my family is going through," Arredondo said in an interview at the rally yesterday, describing his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. "Because it's one year gone by, and it's still very difficult, and people are telling me it's a far road ahead." When Arredondo took the stage with his mother and his wife by his side, he hoisted over his head a picture of his son in full dress uniform. "He was proud of what he was doing for his country. And I am proud of that," Carlos Arredondo said. "But the effects that come with that are very high, very high for the family." He added, "I want peace," and repeated the phrase again. At the rally, activists rallied support for a petition that would try to force the state government to withdraw the Massachusetts National Guard from Iraq. As a first step, supporters need to collect 100,000 signatures. Activists, including Sheehan, also asked those in attendance to turn out for an antiwar rally planned for Sept. 24-26 in Washington, D.C., Supporters are trying to draw hundreds of thousands of people in what they hope will be the largest antiwar demonstration since the US invaded Iraq last year. "Our life here in America is being threatened. It's being sold out," said Anne Sapp. Her husband, Andrew, is a teacher at Concord-Carlisle High School and a staff sergeant in the Massachusetts National Guard currently serving in Iraq, she said. Every night, she said, she worries about him and the increasingly anxious e-mails he sends home. He is due back in the United States in October, she said, but she is not certain the date will hold. "Each step of the way, when you have a loved one in Iraq, there is a new type of pain, a new type of fear," Anne Sapp said, as the crowd fell silent to listen. Her husband, she said, "should be here now, serving his community." After the rally, Sheehan was scheduled to speak at Boston University Law School. She is then due to visit New Haven, Conn., Providence, New York City, Newark, N.J., and Baltimore. Since she left her encampment outside the president's ranch in Texas, Sheehan said, she has been encouraged but not surprised by the crowds she meets across America. "I was sensing that America was ready for a change, that America was saying, 'Enough is enough,' " she said.
Bring Them Home Now Tour Hits Philly Saturday 17 September 2005 Today we accomplished the induction of "Camp Gold Star" near the Liberty Bell at the Independence Mall, 5th and Market Streets. It was tough to build Camp Gold Star because the rules do not allow us to "poke holes in the ground," which is how the crosses stand up. Eventually we decided to break the rules and planted the crosses anyway. It's curious that we would have such resistance to honoring our beloved soldiers with crosses at what is famously known as the Birthplace of Liberty. Well ... the crosses remained. We also - as a reminder of the "Eyes Wide Open" campaign - placed empty boots with the crosses. We then placed a set of empty boots among the others with the idea that the next owner of a set of boots here is yet to be determined. What can we do to help end it? Those of us who have never been to this city also took time toward the end of the day, when the lines were shorter, to see the Liberty Bell and again ponder our own history and heritage in the presence of something real and tangible that evokes feelings akin to when we see our flag or sing the national anthem. We met another mother who lost a soldier in Iraq a month ago. As she is tragically eligible to join Gold Star Mothers, we do not know if she will. But her agony is not so great as to overpower her wisdom. We saw as she spoke with 4 young R.O.T.C. cadets who apparently knew her son, pleading with them not to take the same path and risk a similar fate for such a discredited reason. Later, a security guard, after finishing his shift, came by. He's a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq in his mid- to late-30s. If we understood him correctly, he joined (or rejoined) the military after September 11th because he had a sense that the military (including him) could "end it" before his 10-year-old son reached draft age. An extraordinary thing - yet so typical of what a parent instinctively feels for the children. We see it all the time, sacrificing oneself so the next generation has a chance. It has been great to work with the Veterans for Peace members, they have been wonderful in their participation, support and activities all day. We are also excited late in the day to receive notice from Beatriz Saldivar that Daniel's widow, Sophia, gave birth to a valiant soldier's daughter, a new niece for Beatriz and a living legacy of a heroic man. They named her Daniela. Today the northern leg of the Bring Them Home Now Tour will visit Syracuse and Rochester, followed by Albany and towns in western Massachusetts.
For More Tour Updates: Bring Them Home Now Tour | Reports from the Road
What Noble Cause? Saturday 17 September 2005 It has been one month, one week, and 4 days since I sat in a ditch in Crawford, Tx. My request was very simple: I wanted to speak to the man who has sent over a million of our young people over to fight, kill, and die in a country that was absolutely no threat to the United States of America. I wanted to ask him: "What is the Noble Cause that you keep talking about?" Well, we all know now that George Bush never came down the road to talk to me. Thank God! Many people have been saying that I am the "spark," "catalyst," "face of the anti-war movement" etc. I beg to differ. George Bush and his arrogant advisers are the spark that lit the prairie fire of peace activism that has swept over America and the entire world. If he had met with me that fateful day in August it would not have been good for him (because I knew he was going to lie and I would have advertised that fact) but it would have had less of an impact on the peace movement if he had. Upon reflection on the events of this past August, I have come up with two reasons why George could not meet with me: He is a coward and there is no Noble Cause. If George had as much courage and integrity in his entire body as Casey had in his pinky, he would have met with me. But, ironically, if George had that much courage and integrity he never would have preemptively invaded a practically defenseless country. His syncophantic cabinet and hangers-on are also incontrovertible evidence that he is a coward. No one better dare disagree with him. How dare a mom from Vacaville, Ca. have the nerve to contradict the emperor of Prairie Chapel Road!!?? All of the "Noble Cause" reasons that George has variously given for the invasion and continued illegal occupation of a sovereign nation are also patently false and ridiculous. He has been claiming recently (since he admitted a long time ago that Iraq had no WMDs or links to 9/11) that this occupation of Iraq is spreading "freedom and democracy" in the Middle East. Really? Does he have any idea that the constitution that the Iraqi governing body is working on is based on Sharia and that it undermines the freedoms of women? Does he realize that for over 50 years women had equal rights with men in Iraq? Does George realize (of course he does) that the puppet government the US put in place in Iraq is comprised of the very same people who encouraged the invasion to line their own pockets? What kind of freedom and democracy is this? If George is so hell bent on freedom and democracy for Iraq, then why doesn't he practice it here in America? Up to 62 percent of Americans believe that what George has done in Iraq is a mistake and we should begin to bring our troops home. Well, George, 62 percent is a clear majority and you should begin to listen to the people who pay your salary. He has also claimed that what we are doing in Iraq is "making America safer." Another statement that is easier to disprove than the "freedom and democracy" baloney. To disprove this little bit of deception, all we have to do is look at the Gulf States. Ask the people of New Orleans, especially, if they feel safer. By misappropriating all of our personnel, equipment and pouring billions of dollars into the sands of Iraq, George has made our country more vulnerable to attack by outside forces. Also, from the cold and callous statements of people like Michael Chertoff and George's own mama, the people of New Orleans seem to be "acceptable" collateral damage to the ruling elite of this country. It is my humble opinion that the only thing that will make America safer is to get George and his unfeeling and dangerously incompetent supporters out of our White House. We all now know the reason that we are in Iraq. George told us so from a break he was taking from Crawford in San Diego on the same day that Katrina was hitting the Gulf States: it is for oil. It is so George, Dick, and their evil buddies can rape more profits from our children's flesh and blood. This is not a Noble Cause, as a matter of fact, it is the most ignoble cause for a war that has ever been waged. We as Americans knew either in the front of our brains, or in the back of our consciousness, that this war was to feed the corporations. 15 brave young Americans have been killed so far this month while our attention has been focused, and rightfully so, on the Gulf States. Over 200 innocent and unfortunate Iraqis have been killed in this week alone. How much more blood are we as Americans going to allow George, Congress, and the corporations to spill before we demand an end to this war and an accounting for the lives that have been needlessly ruined? It is also time to stop hemorrhaging money in Iraq. I witnessed the abject poverty and sense of abandoment the less fortunate people of New Orleans were living in even before the levees broke. It is time to start pumping hope back into our own communities. It is time to start taking care of Americans. How many millions of our tax dollars are we going to allow George, Congress and the corporations to misuse and waste in Iraq? Not one more drop of blood. Not one more life. Not one more penny for killing. If you love our country and want to see a change for the better, come to DC on the 24th of this month and stand up and be counted for peace. The entire world is counting on you.
Camp Casey to DC Friday 16 September 2005 The Camp Casey to DC tour is going very well! We have the three RV's that are going from city to city and we are speaking in front of rallies that have hundreds, and sometimes thousands of people attending. We are receiving positive responses from all over America. We have had amazingly little opposition to what we are doing. Today in Raleigh, NC at the University, there were some Young Republicans who support the President and support the war. I tried to get one of the many recruiters who were on campus to go over and sign them up for the service, but they wouldn't even look at me. I think the recruiters missed a golden opportunity to swell the ranks. I have a feeling that the Young killing supporters wouldn't be willing to go over and put their money where their mouths are. One of the fine young American baby chicken hawks told one of the members of our tour whose brother was killed in Iraq that: "someone has to stay in school and employ people." Sounds like the "Dick Cheney" alternative to serving your country to me. The people who are on the three RV's are true Americans serving their country without reservation. Most of the patriots on the tour have given up their entire months of August to be at Camp Casey in Crawford and now they are giving up their Septembers to be on the bus tour or at Camp Casey III in Covington. If everyone who believes that our country can change from a paradigm of war to one of peace did even did a small fraction of what our Camp Casey loyalists did, this war would be over tomorrow, the troops would be home, and America would be a safe and sane place to live. I honor everyone who works for peace, but especially the people who dropped everything to take back our country and make it a better place to live and raise children.` In Columbia, SC, yesterday, the Southern Leg of the Bus Tour spoke to a few hundred supporters and 2 counter protestors. One of the counter protestors had a sign that said: "Support the Mission." I invited her to talk to me after the rally to explain to me what this every changing and ephemeral mission is now. She didn't. We all know on August 29th, George said that "we need to stay in Iraq to keep the oil fields from falling into the hands of terrorists." Is that the mission? Are we supporting our troops dying and innocent Iraqi people being killed for oil and greed? This doesn't sound like anything I want to support. While we are at it, let's talk about the people who held a "We support the troops" rally at the capitol in Raleigh today while we were holding our "We really support the troops" rally in Moore Square. I wonder if the people who say they support the troops by wanting to support more of them being killed realize how ironic they are being. They don't think that it's hypocritical that our troops still don't have proper body armor, proper vehicle armor, proper training, equipment, food, water, competent leadership, support when they return from the battle field, etc? They thinks "Supporting the Troops" is sending them to a mistaken war based on lies to occupy a country that was absolutely no threat to the United States of America. These people equate supporting an evil mission with supporting the troops. I believe that the people on the peace side are the ones who authentically support the troops by wanting them to come home alive. But like one sign said to today: The Peace Symbol is the footprint of the American Chicken. Do they find it ironic that they are protesting a group of people who have served our country in war ( Iraq included), families who have loved ones serving, and families whose brave children have been killed for the deceptions of this criminal administration? Do they find it in the least bit ironic that the people who are sending our lifeblood off to kill and die NEVER served their country in the military and don't have children in the military? They also say "Cindy doesn't speak for me." Phew ... I wouldn't even presume to have such a narrow world view and speak for them. Another thing these pro-war people don't realize is that just like them, we have the right to say what we are saying, we give them their space to do so, we would like the same space from them. Besides, if they think they are going to make us go away by protesting us, they are wrong. The number of pro-war, pro-Bush (sorry for being redundant) people are dwindling in numbers and in intensity. Maybe the crimes that are happening in Iraq have softened their venom? It is one thing for the criminal negligence of George and company to kill innocent Iraqis, but also killing innocent Americans in America? Maybe that's where they draw the line. I hope the line is drawn quickly before George is allowed to harm more of us. The "Winter Soldiers" who stayed in Crawford to guard the memorial to Casey, Camp Casey, and all of our fallen heroes, have had two very disturbing events happen. In the first incident, the Mc Clennan County Board of Supervisors have banned parking on County roads up to the Bush ranch. But we all remember that the supervisors told us it was "private property" so I don't think they have any authority up Prairie Chapel Road. When we take Camp Casey back from George's home away from his vacations: DC, we were planning on taking Camp Casey there. I hope they don't try to stop us from parking there. If they do, maybe Fred will let us use his land to park, also. Another thing that happened at Camp Casey I was that some "Patriot" stole the memorial. They took everything that honored our children. They stole Casey's boots. What will these people stop at? They are shameless and they have no sense of moral values. They have tried to stop us before by shooting rifles at us, mowing down the crosses, calling us names: but you know what? Nothing will stop us. Check the Lone Star Iconoclast's web site for more info on the vandalism and suppression of our rights going on in Crawford still. But even with the minor counter-protests, our spirits are high and we are overwhelmed and grateful for all of the support we are getting from the true Americans who come out to help us bring the troops home now! I received the email below from a Doctor whom I met in Louisiana. I told him I would pass it along: Dear Cindy, I am ready to keep fighting for humanity. I thank you all for joining me in the struggle: the fight of our lives.
A Bright Spot in Bush World Friday 16 September 2005 It has been one month and one week since I sat in a ditch in Crawford, Tx. I can hardly believe it when I think of it myself. So much has happened in that time, and really, so little. I got to Camp Casey III in Covington, La today, after getting up at 3am to head for the airport. Now it is 3am the next day and we are driving in a car to try and find a hotel to sleep anywhere around Jackson, Miss. I was prepared to be shocked by what I saw in Louisiana, but I guess one can never really fully prepare for such devastation and tragedy. After living in a country your entire life it is so difficult to see such callous indifference on an immense scale. When I reflect on how the mother of the imbecile who is running our country said that the people who are in the Astrodome are happy to be there, it angers me beyond comparison. The people in LA who were displaced have nice, if modest homes that are perfectly fine. I wonder why the government made them leave at great expense and uproot families who have been living in their communities for generations. After we arrived at Camp Casey III, we took the Veterans for Peace "Impeachment Tour Bus" into New Orleans after stopping at the distribution center to pick up some supplies in Covington. The stench and the destruction are unbelievable. I saw some hurricane zones in the panhandle of Florida last year that were pretty bad but that couldn't have prepared me for this. I saw in the paper that George Bush said the recovery in the Gulf States would be "hard work." That's what he said about sending troops to Iraq and looking at the casualty reports everyday: "It's hard work." That man has never known a day of hard work in his life. The people on the ground in Covington scoffed at George's little junket to Louisiana yesterday. He stayed in the French Quarter and a Ward that weren't even damaged a bit. The VFP took me to the city of Algiers on the West Bank. The part of Algiers we went to was very poor and black. The people of Algiers know what hard work is. Algiers had no flooding. All of the damage was from winds. There are trees knocked over and shingles off of roofs. There are signs blown over and there was a dead body lying on the ground for 2 weeks before someone finally came to get it. Even though Algiers came through Katrina relatively unscathed, our federal government tried to force (mostly successfully) the people out of the community. Malik Rahim, a new friend of ours and resident of Algiers, told us stories of the days after the hurricane. The government declared martial law, but there was no effective police presence to enforce it. Malik said the lawlessness was rampant. People were running out of food and water and they were being forced to go to the Superdome. They didn't want to go to the Superdome, because their homes were pretty intact: they wanted to stay and have food and water brought to them. A town of 76,000 people dwindled down to 3,000. The die hards were rewarded last Wednesday when the VFP rolled into town with food and water. The Camp Casey III people were the first ones to bring any relief to Algiers. The people who were supposed to look after its citizens, our government, failed them. In Algiers, in the space of 2 short weeks, Malik and his community has opened a clinic which also doubles as a food and supply distribution center. We need more help in Algiers. Malik and the other dozens fine volunteers are planning on opening 2 more clinics in Algiers and Malik would dearly love someone to give him a flat bottomed boat so he can go to the flood drenched poor communities that still have not been helped and bring them food, supplies, and medical attention. Medical professionals are dearly needed. Malik has also set up a communications center in an apartment next to his house which is for the community to use. The aid that is being given in Algiers is completely driven by the needs of the community. They have a saying in Algiers: Not Charity, Solidarity. The citizens of Algiers desperately needed help and hope before the hurricane. When I think of how many other poor neighborhoods are being decimated and made so desperate and hopeless by the failed policies of the Bush administration, it makes me so angry. But when I see what the people of Algiers are doing to help themselves and the people of America are doing to help them help themselves, it gives me hope. I think Algiers can be a model for all of our communities. One thing that truly troubled me about my visit to Louisiana was the level of the military presence there. I imagined before that if the military had to be used in a CONUS (Continental US) operations that they would be there to help the citizens: Clothe them, feed them, shelter them, and protect them. But what I saw was a city that is occupied. I saw soldiers walking around in patrols of 7 with their weapons slung on their backs. I wanted to ask one of them what it would take for one of them to shoot me. Sand bags were removed from private property to make machine gun nests. The vast majority of people who were looting in New Orleans were doing so to feed their families or to get resources to get their families out of there. If I had a store with an inventory of insured belongings, and a tragedy happened, I would fling my doors open and tell everyone to take what they need: it is only stuff. When our fellow citizens are told to "shoot to kill" other fellow citizens because they want to stay alive, that is military and governmental fascism gone out of control. What I saw today in Algiers lifted up my spirits, but what I also saw today in Algiers frightened me terribly. The people who are running the clinic in Algiers gave me a list of desperately needed supplies: Blood pressure medication - properly packaged. The children in Algiers have also been out of school. Malik would like to open a school and they need school supplies and teachers. I have a testimony from a Doctor that came to Louisiana to help that I will post tomorrow. The failure in every level of our government is criminal negligence. Tens of thousands of families in our country have been devastated because of the incompetence and callousness of our so-called leadership. America is stepping up to the plate to help Americans. America stepped up to the plate to hold George accountable for the abomination in Iraq. One thing George has taught us is that we are self-sufficient and we have a country that is worth fighting for and we are not going away. I was told that Pat Boone was on a conservative radio talk show in San Francisco (yes they do exist) with Melanie Morgan (who has a vendetta against me) and he told the listeners that after we "stole the supplies" from the Red Cross, we gave them to the "enemies of America who are like the people who want to fly airplanes into our buildings." Boone says that we were giving them to enemies of America, because we were distributing the supplies from a Mosque. First of all, accusing me of stealing is slander, I think, and second of all: we were helping Americans. Just because their government abandoned them, we shouldn't feed them and give them medicine and supplies? I thought Pat Boone was supposed to be a Christian man? Thirdly, isn't Freedom of Religion one of our Constitutional guarantees? It is a Christ-like principal to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless. That's what is happening in Algiers and other places in Louisiana ... but by the people of America, not the so-called "Christians" in charge. If George Bush truly listened to God and read the words of the Christ, Iraq and the devastation in New Orleans would have never happened. I don't care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I don't care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I don't care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don't fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest.
War Protestors, Cindy Sheehan Rally in Columbia Wednesday 14 September 2005 Elaine Johnson lost her 24-year-old son to the Iraq war. She spent Monday evening at an anti-war protest at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Columbia. "I'm here because my son Darius Jennings was killed November 2, 2003," she said. Darius and 15 other soldiers died when their helicopter was shot down. That day she decided to fight to make sure no more soldiers come home the way hers did. "My son returned home to me in a closed casket," said Johnson. So Johnson teamed up with hundreds of South Carolinians and thousands of others from across the United States. They're protesting the war from Texas to Washington, DC. Three RVs will bring followers to 52 cities in 21 days. Their goal: Bring home our troops. And one woman is behind it all: Cindy Sheehan. "You know we had over 12,000 Americans come to Camp Casey but we thought that we'd bring Camp Casey to America and also to Congress to start holding them accountable for the war in Iraq," said Sheehan. Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, was a rally in honor of Sheehan's 24-year-old son who was killed in the war. She says a tour stop in Columbia was crucial. "My son Casey went to boot camp here and AIT here at Ft. Jackson and if he was alive, he'd still be here," she said. Sheehan's son planned to go back through basic training to change his specialty after his tour in Iraq. But the agenda has changed. Now, the only tour Casey's mom talks about is in the U.S. and involves Gold Star families like the Johnsons. The "Bring Them Home Now Tour" concludes Saturday, September 24, with a rally at the Washington Monument in DC.
For More Tour Updates: Bring Them Home Now Tour | Reports from the Road
Bring Them Home Now Tour Update Tuesday 13 September 2005 As I walked in that hot Crawford ditch August 6th, I sensed the cartilage rip in my left knee. By the time we reached Detroit I couldn't bear my weight on it. I had to leave the tour and return home. I'll need surgical repair of tear, scheduled for next week. I envisage myself temporarily 'in the stands' for a short time, and remain anxious to get back 'on the court'! Secondly, my son in law, currently stationed just south of the Syrian-Iraq border checked in last week to say it would be a few weeks before he could call home again. Now I understand why. The media reports some sort of insurgent movement into Iraq along that border. Communication shuts down when a soldier is killed until the family is officially notified by the DoD so I owe my daughter the support she needs right now, and hopefully it will be only a matter of time until we hear from him again. Meanwhile, Dakota, my only grandchild doesn't know her father's face. I addressed a crowd at a short stop in Highland, Indiana at the war Veteran's memorial. It was here I realized the true importance of this tour. Anna, a 72 year old woman sat in front of me. Her son was killed in Vietnam 32 years ago. Today, Anna would join Gold Star Families for Peace. For a brief moment we embraced, and Anna whispered to me as we wept. "I'm so sorry I've been silent for such a long time." "No regrets, Anna. We 'arrive' when we 'arrive' ", I told her, and met Anna's eyes through my tears. I then thanked her for the courage to finally speak the truth which I know for her, as for all of us, is very hard to do. I promised her I would keep speaking out if she would! For now, I leave with this memorized quote from George Bernard Shaw. It forever echoes what remains in my heart. "This is the true joy in life- the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: The "being" a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." "I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can." "I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for it's own sake." "Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." Duty calls. Won't you join me and Anna? In gratitude and service to humanity,
For More Tour Updates: Bring Them Home Now Tour | Reports from the Road
Bring Them Home Now Tour Update Monday 12 September 2005 Pushing his granddaughter in a stroller through downtown Buffalo yesterday, Leo, a Vietnam War vet, stopped to look at a banner erected on the square. "Hell yes!" he exclaimed. "That's what we need! We always have money for killing people. We ought to have money for that." The sign he referred to stated in bold letters: "Justice for victims of Katrina. Money for human needs, not war." It had been set up by members of the Western New York Peace Center to welcome the Bring Them Home Now Tour to this city on the eastern tip of Lake Erie. The tour had left Camp Casey, the protest village started by Cindy Sheehan at George Bush's vacation home in Crawford, Texas, 12 days previously. The most northerly of three buses working their way eastward to Washington, D.C. for a September 24 demonstration against the war in Iraq had just come from two days of activities in Detroit. In addition to a downtown rally that drew over 200 people, Members of Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans For Peace stopped at two local Congressional offices and conducted numerous interviews with the Buffalo news media. At the suburban office of Representative Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Al Zappala, a member of the tour whose son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed in Iraq, told the Congressman's chief-of-staff, Mike Brady, that "It's too late for Sherwood. He's gone. But his brother and sister soldiers are still there, dying every day." Brady told about parents of a soldier killed in the war who agreed with the Bush administration's continued occupation of Iraq. To this, Zappala replied, "I have much more in common with them than I do differences. People have to deal with their grief in whatever way they can. They lost their son whom they said died defending freedom. I wished I could say that. I wished I had that peace." Jane Murray, a member of the Western NY Peace Center, compared Bush's changing rationales for the invasion of Iraq to a slot machine. "You pull the handle and the lemons go around and around and we hear Bush say ‘here's another reason why...and another reason why...and another reason why.'" Admitting she "felt a sense of being marginalized when we're told we're not patriotic," Murray said she was happy Buffalo was one of the stops on the tour "so we can show that people here are against this war." Candice Fletcher, director of the peace center, added the tour was valuable because "we had tried to meet with Reynolds previously but he was unresponsive. We've never gotten in the door before the people on the tour said they wanted to meet with him." Shandra Jones, mother-in-law of David Evans, another soldier killed in Iraq, also attended the downtown rally. Shaking with sobs through most of the speakers, Jones leaned against a family member who comforted her. When the rally was over, she joined other Buffalo residents who placed red and white carnations on small white crosses representing each of the area soldiers killed in Iraq. As the carnations were laid on the crosses, a local musician led people in singing "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing? In the presence of Al Zappala, Shandra Jones, and other people openly grieving the war dead, Pete Seeger's folk ballad slowly built a verse at a time to its hauntingly poignant climax. Where have all the young girls gone? Gone to young men every one. Today the northern leg of the Bring Them Home Now Tour will visit Syracuse and Rochester, followed by Albany and towns in western Massachusetts.
For More Tour Updates: Bring Them Home Now Tour | Reports from the Road
The Threat of King George Tuesday 13 September 2005 We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. - Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. This past week our nation has been held captive by the news of Hurricane Katrina and the resulting devastation of Louisiana and Mississippi. Specifically, we have been horrified by the slow response of those in charge of disaster relief agencies to help the victims of the hurricane and the even more devastating aftermath of it, especially in New Orleans. Originally I had intended to write about my last weekend at Camp Casey, but at this point I just can't. There is a bigger picture here and that is the negligence of our country's leaders, specifically the President of the United States who has almost completely dismantled the emergency safety net we have all come to depend on and expect in times of national disaster. I can't help but wonder what was going through the heads of our country's leaders, specifically George Bush, who was out playing golf and eating cake with John McCain in Arizona last Tuesday. Once again our president showed that he is completely out of touch with reality and the American people by doing this. While private American citizens from across the country were busy trying to get disaster relief and aid in to the hurricane-torn region of this country, King George was, once again, checked out on vacation. Dick Cheney also remained on vacation, in Wyoming, and Condi Rice was buying shoes in New York. FEMA, a department created to (supposedly) protect our country and its citizens both before and after a disaster, now falls under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security. The director of FEMA didn't even know for several days that there were tens of thousands of refugees suffering in the Dome in New Orleans. I cannot help but wonder why he didn't know. Most of the rest of the country knew about it even before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. News crews were able to get into the city but for some reason emergency response teams could not. Private citizens were able to load up buses of refugees and drive them away from the city to get help, but our own emergency response crews did not go into the city because they were fearful of the lawlessness. In the meantime, possibly thousands of people who survived the hurricane died in the aftermath, due to heat, starvation and lack of medical care. The pictures coming out of New Orleans look more like something from the Sudan than they do the United States. It is appalling. I have to say here, now, that the leaders of our country have been negligent. The House and the Senate has allowed the President of this country to run roughshod all over our Constitution and the programs designed to protect the citizens of America because of partisan politics. Budgets were cut across the board to fund the war in Iraq. National Guard troops and their equipment were taken away from the places they were needed most to go fight the war in Iraq. These are crews and equipment that traditionally have been called into action to help stabilize areas devastated by disaster. Now they are not available to help because King George sent them to a foreign country to fight a war they had no business fighting. The troops should have been here at home ready to help when they were needed. To be quite honest, I no longer feel safe in my country. King George & Co. are more of a threat to our nation than any terrorist currently is. I have no confidence whatsoever that, if a terrorist were to strike our country with a bomb or anything else, our nation could handle the ensuing chaos and devastation. This is yet another wake up call, America. How long are we going to sit on our butts and put up with the status quo? King George wanted a war; he wanted to be known as a war president. Because of this, he has completely neglected his responsibilities to care for our nation and make sure the resources needed to care for its citizens are in place. King George claims to be a man of compassion, but I want to know, where is that compassion? I have never seen it. He and his administration have the blood of thousands of American citizens on their hands. When will the killing stop? When will the American people say enough is enough? How long are we going to put up with their negligence? In the meantime, a small group of Veterans from Veterans for Peace are working their butts off in the town of Covington, LA, doing their best to help the people there get much needed food and medical attention. These veterans took their bus directly from Crawford, Texas to Covington filled with unneeded supplies donated to the Crawford Peace House and Camp Casey to help the victims that our own government wasn't helping. They are the only source of communication and supplies there. You can find out more about them at VFProadtrips.org. We the People. It's about time the American people remind our leaders that America is for and about the people. It's time to remind them that they are public servants, put in office to serve America and its people. This time they failed the people who have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Who will it be next time? It's time to hold the leaders of our country accountable for their actions.
Amy Branham is the mother of Sgt. Jeremy R. Smith and the only Houston member of Gold Star Families for Peace. For more information go to TourofDuty.org
Ohio Caravan with "Bring Them Home Now Tour" Monday 12 September 2005 I am a mother of a 19 year old 3/25 Lima Co. Marine serving in Iraq. One third of his Unit has been KIA or injured. In early August after losing 22 Marines in less than a week, fearing for my son's life and driven by conviction, I began my journey to change the direction our country has been going. I have been waiting for my son's safe return before speaking out publicly. There is such confusion in our country about patriotism and supporting our troops while being against the war. I stood at a Marine Family Meeting and told the Major and those present that it was time to bring the Ohio Marines home. I shouted out, "My son is not expendable." I wrote to my senators asking for their help. I received no response. I refused to be powerless. I began thinking that Mothers had to win our country back and was planning to organize a Mother's March on Washington. I found the web site, www.truthout.org. Here I found Camp Casey, Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, Iraqi Vets Against the War etc. I had never heard of any of these people. I found that there already was a huge march planned for September 24th. WOW! GREAT! I didn't have to take on the huge task of planning a march. Phew! I just had to go! And this tells me there is a larger movement ... that is in our bones and is beginning to surface. I wanted to go to Camp Casey but couldn't because of scheduled meetings with the Marines to prepare for the homecoming of our boys. I saw the central Bring Them Home Now Tour plans to DC and realized I could caravan with them to Columbus, Toledo and Cleveland and maybe Pittsburgh! I contacted a Cincinnati center to see if we could get them to stop in Cincinnati. So, my tour began in Cincinnati. I offered housing and breakfast. It was great to meet them. They are "my kind of people." They are not off the wall, emotional fanatics. They are normal citizens willing to take risks as they speak out from their own experience and knowledge and with integrity against an incredible, illegal and disastrous war. They are compassionate people who suffer the loss of their beloved and they ask why? And they work hard to restore humanity, dignity and respect to our country. And they demand accountability and challenge our leadership to step up to the plate or get out of the way. I was able to speak at the forums in Columbus and Cleveland. I spoke as a mother who watched five mothers bury their sons in the Cincinnati area in August. I shared the terror that I live with. The sleepless nights. The days and nights of anguish. "How desperately I want my son to live and have hope. He is so young, so idealistic, so confident, so trusting." I was able to visit the offices of the senators who still had not responded to my letters. With others from the Tour we spoke of the many issues involved with this war ... depleted uranium, stop-loss, inadequate equipment, not enough men, operatives and the lies and deceit that led the American people into it. We asked the aides, after we broke through the shell that tells you to "make it quick, I am busy and really don't want to listen to you" to ask the Senators what they want their legacy to be. We asked them to tell the Senators to look again at the war and why we are there. Not with their jobs in mind or their political party, but to look with their human heart and their conscience. We told them if they see the truth and act from the truth ... good will follow. We participated in rallies and visited with many Americans who are sick of this war and the lies that keep us there and the dishonor it has brought to our country. We met enraged Americans. There is much more to say about this BTHN Tour. It is an important moment. And the March September 24th will be historical. I am convinced that our country is at a historical turning point ... " and the people will lead." I said to my son, "Mike, you have no idea how precious you are to me and dad, your brother and sister." I will work so Mike and other sons will not have their generosity, their courage, their integrity, their desire to serve, their desire to make a difference compromised. I want my son to always be proud that he is a Marine.
Katrina Will Bring Down the Neocons Sunday 11 September 2005 I'm bedding down in Pittsburgh tonight in the home of two very nice and very patriotic Americans. I'm traveling with Cindy Sheehan as most of you know. We are flying to stops along all three of the bus tours. Yesterday was an awesome rally in Atlanta at Victory Church. There were hundreds there and I had a reunion with some of my Camp Casey buds. Ann Wright was there. She inspires me beyond words. Camp Casey would have fallen apart if it weren't for her intelligent and compassionate leadership. I tell you that woman should run for president. She'd sure get my vote. If you don't know who she is, she's the US Ambassador and former Army Colonel who resigned her position in protest of the Iraq war. She knew early on what more and more Americans are waking up to: the corporate political empire that pulls the strings on that marionette cowboy currently squatting in the oval office led this nation into to the biggest threat to national security we have ever known on a pack of lies! Some of the time I'm able to be more diplomatic about it. Even if the office was stolen, at least some of the people refer to him as the President of the United States and out of respect for that office I have held my tongue at least some of the time. Now I'm realizing that it's because I respect that office that it is my obligation to speak the truth. What is going on in New Orleans has brought up all my feelings about what went on in Florida. Racism is evil, on all levels and in every instance. I guess it's because of where and when I grew up that it's such a personal issue to me, and if you think that the federal government's piss-poor response to Katrina wouldn't have been a hell of a lot different if those people down there sitting on their roofs were pink and not brown, you musta been smokin' dat crack! I'm sick to death of seeing the poor of this nation, of whatever color, sacrificed to the evil god of Greed. "One more dead nigger, who cares?" By the thousands they come; poor blacks, Latinos having citizenship or the idea of patriotism dangled in front of them, and their poor white counterparts lured with the hope that the American dream can come true for them, too. They are lured with the prospect of a way up and out of the poverty that has been the only life they have ever known, in hopes that they too can have what they see others having and that they don't have to sell their souls to gang wars or drug dealing to get it. They walk into the recruiting offices with hope, and how do we thank them? By sending them into the meat grinder that makes money for the Halliburton Gang. I tell you it makes me sick. What can we do to wake these people up? Let me tell you, they are waking up. Katrina, as much of a nightmare as she was to our southern coast, is going to prove to be a bigger nightmare for the neocons, because it is just one more indication of who matters in this country. Well I'm here to tell you that everyone matters! Everyone. Jesus said that whatever we do "to the least of these" we do to him. I'm not in the mood to let Jesus die in the flood waters of New Orleans or the sands of Iraq, and they can kill me for saying so, but this has got to stop! "One more dead nigger, who cares?" I care. I care! And as I travel across this great nation of ours, I'm meeting a whole lot of fine people who care as well. We care, and we are about to take back this nation's government and return it to the people to whom it belongs.
Lance Corporal JEFF KEY, United States Marine and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, turned his experiences in Iraq, and his exit from the military, into a critically acclaimed one-man show, "The Eyes of Babylon." LA Weekly calls him "an unstoppable force" and Backstage West says he "could some day change the world." US Tour of Duty (http://www.ustourofduty.org) organizes public forums about American foreign policy, and publishes news and opinion related to the anti-war advocacy of Iraq veterans, military families, policy experts and performers.
Camp Casey to DC Update Sunday 11 September 2005 Today as we honor and memorialize our countrymen and women who were tragically killed on 9/11, we must also not just remember them, but honor their memories by working to hold this dangerously incompetent administration accountable and responsible for the continuing devastation of our country. I jumped back on the tour this past Wednesday in Illinois, and I have been busy meeting with Congressional members ever since and speaking at rallies with hundreds and hundreds of people in attendance. We had a rally in front of Denny Hastert's office in Batavia, Illinois, we didn't get a meeting. He will go on our "Meet with the Moms" Hall of Shame along with Tom Delay, whose aide at least spoke to us on the phone: even if it was a very non-productive conversation. I met with an aide of Dianne Feinstein in San Francisco. The Senator will also go on our Hall of Shame. Her aides (I have only spoken with her aides, even though I have requested 3 meetings with her) have admitted that she knows that Iraq was a mistake and if she knew then what she knows now she never would have given George Bush the authority to invade and occupy Iraq. First of all, I don't buy that argument. Anyone with a brain knew George was lying in the insane rush to the invasion of Iraq, and second of all, if she believes it is a mistake, then she should be working to bring our troops home. Casey and so many tens of thousands of others should still be alive and humanity is damaged immensely by allowing the travesty to continue. The aide we spoke to, James Molinari, was pretty defensive and borderline rude when he spoke to me, a Gold Star Sister, Dr. Nooshin Razani, and a member of MFSO: Anne Roesler. Anne's son, Michael is in Iraq for his third tour of duty. As we all know, not one Senator, Congress person or member of Bush's criminal administration has any loved one serving in Iraq. These are Mrs. Feinstein's cardboard hurdles that must be jumped before we bring our troops home. (Again, I feel her aide was patronizing us and making the mistake that if we are women, who are obviously distraught because we have had horrible losses and potential horrible losses, then we must not know what we are talking about.)
We pointed all of these counter-arguments out to Mr. Molinari. I also pointed out that as a mother and grandmother, would the Senator be willing to sacrifice one of her loved ones so people can line their pockets with her children's blood. At this point, I don't believe that Dianne Feinstein represents her constituents (of which I am one), the people of California. Not only is she weak on the Iraq issue, she introduced Condi ("smoking gun") Rice for her confirmation hearing and she called John (Death Squad) Negroponte "a great public servant." If she refuses to be a leader on getting our troops out of Iraq, then we the people of California need to withdraw our support of her. On a better note, I spoke with Senator Barbara Boxer, also from California. We Golden Staters are so proud of our other Senator. She is 100 percent behind us and 100 percent on board with bringing the troops home from this nightmare. She also questioned the stuffing out of Condi at her confirmation hearings and our beloved Mrs. Boxer could be elected Queen of California. I wish Mrs. Feinstein would exercise real leadership like Mrs. Boxer and quit pandering to the center and to special interests. Another bright spot in my Congressional talks was Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco, the house minority leader. I had, up until last Friday, been very disappointed with the lack of leadership that I saw that she was exhibiting on this war. Our talk was very productive and she is, I believe, willing to take a new leadership role in bringing our troops home from this quagmire. She said it was because of the leadership that I have shown by going down and challenging the Emperor that more House Dems will grow backbones and challenge the President and his lies. Lloyd Dogget of Austin, Tex, Henry Waxman of Los Angeles, Maxine Waters of Los Angeles, and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia will also go up on our "Hall of Fame" list. Maxine and Cynthia have always been strong critics of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and Mr. Waxman is coming around to our side in a big way. I am meeting with Frank Pallone of New Jersey on Monday and he has already told me we will work together to get our young men and women out of harm's way, ASAP. Congressman Charles Rangel of New York was the first one to answer our questions and go on our Hall of Fame list. Senator Jeff Bingaman from New Mexico joins Senator Boxer on our Hall of Fame. Welcome Senator Bingaman and thank you! The Bring Them Home Now bus tour had a great rally in Atlanta last night at the Victory Church. There were hundreds of people there to hear Gold Star Moms from Georgia, GSFP members, MFSO members and an Iraqi vet speak about our war stories. Congresswoman McKinney joined us and informed us that she spoke the "I" word on the floor the other day ... she got a standing ovation for that one. I will be joining our Camp Casey III in Covington, LA, on Tuesday and don't miss us on Donny Deutsch's show on CNBC this Monday. It is a very busy and potentially devastating time in our nation's history. I see one of two things happening: we will kick the criminally negligent people out of our government who have raped our country of our integrity, lifeblood and treasure and we will once again have a country we can be proud of; or we will allow the madmen to continue to take us down the path of destruction. I vote for taking our country back and I think that is the direction we are going. With the grass roots help of our fellow citizens and with continuing to hold Congress accountable and pressuring them to do the right thing, we are on the right track. Write to your representatives in DC and urge them to start to bring our troops home and join us in DC on September 24th and show our elected leaders that we mean business as patriotic Americans.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Rouses Crowd at Cindy Sheehan Event Saturday 10 September 2005 "Cindy Sheehan has shown us the power of one, and has demonstrated that we, who are against this war, are not the minority, we are the majority." Stone Mountain, GA - Anti-war mom, Cindy Sheehan, came to Georgia today to speak at the "Bring Them Home Now" rally. The event was held at Victory Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, where DeKalb County NAACP President, Dr. Kenneth L. Samuels is pastor. The church was filled to overflowing. In attendance were the Georgia Gold Star Families for Peace, which is comprised of the mothers of several Georgia servicemen who were killed in Iraq. Also included on the program were representatives from Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, and the Bring Them Home Now Tour Gold Star Families. John Evans, past president of the DeKalb County NAACP, moderated the program. The audience heard several inspiring and sometimes emotional testimonials during the course of the program. When Cindy Sheehan took to the stage, she was greeted with standing spirited applause and chants of "Cindy!" She told of her ordeal at Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas and of the abuse and harassment she has taken for daring to speak out. Of the abuse leveled at her by the right-wing, she said, "If they didn't knock me down when they killed my son Casey, nothing will knock me down." When Cynthia McKinney, in whose district the event was held, took to the podium, the audience greeted her with the same rousing applause they had for Sheehan. McKinney spoke of her recent "No" vote in Congress to deny President Bush another "blank check for war." She spoke of how people all over the country are outraged about Iraq and the government's failure to adequately respond to the hurricane Katrina disaster. When McKinney spoke of her speech from the floor of the house that was aired on C-Span this past Thursday, where she dared to say the word "impeachment," the audience exploded into applause and chants of "impeach Bush." McKinney said that Republicans have set the standard for impeachment. "Certainly," said McKinney, "based on the standards for impeachment set by Republicans during the Clinton years, criminal neglect on 9/11, taking our country to war based on lies, and what was done to the Gulf states, are grounds for impeachment."
Veterans for Peace Hurricane Relief Efforts On September 2, 2005 the Veterans for Peace Bus from Mendocino County, CA took a detour to help the victims of hurricane Katrina. We arrived in Covington, LA with food and supplies that Camp Casey had sent from Crawford, Texas. We have set up a permanent Camp Casey at the Pine View Middle School, 1115 West 28th Avenue, Covington, LA. We are using the school to support Veterans For Peace hurricane relief efforts for the people of the region. We are supporting The Red Cross with power, medical supplies, kitchen service, food bank and distribution, internet communications and trained medical personnel. You can learn more about the effort at VFP Louisiana Relief. Are you looking for someone? Do you have supplies to share? Can you help transport supplies? Visit the VFP message board now! Thanks to the folks at Camp Casey in Crawford for their donation of supplies. Visit the the Crawford Peace House web site. We Urgently Need Your Help! Right now we can use your dollars, trained volunteers & specific donations (This list will change!):
Our Mobile Media Center is on the bus with wireless Internet via Satellite. We are using our computer to communicate needs and direct refugees to services and document damage in the poorest effected areas. We need the following to be truely effective:
Donations for our multi media equipment will support refugees, volunteers, Red Cross, staff, press, keep in touch through via email, web, blogs, and teleconferencing. Drop Offs UPS & FEDEX (US Postal Service Not Yet Deliverable) Mail Donations Cash donations are always needed and are Tax Deductible! Contact US In Louisiana: Ward Reilly In California: We need to work together to send hurricane relief to the greater New Orleans area.
t r u t h o u t | One Mother's Stand Wednesday 31 August 2005 Austin stands with Cindy. Austin welcomed the Bring Them Home Now Tour in grand style. Thousands greeted the buses at the State Capital, and marched to City Hall. A powerful rally was led by Austin Against the War. Cindy, Iraq War Vet Jeff Key, Ann Wright, other Gold Star Families brought the spirit of Camp Casey. Jim Hightower and others from Austin added their voices. The tour is heading to Houston. The vets are heading to Louisiana to roll up their sleeves and aid the victims of Katrina.
t r u t h o u t | One Mother's Stand Wednesday 31 August 2005 Several thousand greeted Cindy in Austin. There is a march from the State Capital to City hall that is just now starting.
t r u t h o u t | One Mother's Stand Wednesday 31 August 2005 Cindy, Jeff Key, Ann Wright, and Cindy's sister Dee Dee are meeting with Congressman Lloyd Doggett's staff before heading to the Texas State Capital in Austin for a rally.
t r u t h o u t | One Mother's Stand Wednesday 31 August 2005 "Bring Them Home Now" Tour Launches in Austin, Texas. On Wednesday, August 31, the last day of the Crawford, Texas encampment, the "Bring Them Home Now" Tour will be launched in Austin, Texas. A bus carrying Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star family members, veterans of the Iraq war and veterans from previous wars will arrive in Austin at the State Capitol at 5:00 pm to kick off the tour. They will lead a march from the State Capitol to the Austin City Hall for a rally. Speakers at the rally will include Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star family members and Iraq Veterans as well as musicians. After leaving Austin, the bus will travel across the country, converging in Washington, DC for the March for Peace on September 24, 2005. Over the course of the tour, the group will stop in cities to speak out against the devastating human cost of this war and to insist on the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The "Bring Them Home Now" Tour is sponsored by Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace. The Austin Rally is hosted by Austin Against War. 5:00 pm MARCH - begins from sidewalk in front of State Capitol (11th & Congress) to Austin City Hall 6:00 pm RALLY - Austin City Hall Outdoor Plaza (Cesar Chavez & Guadalupe) Free parking is available in the City Hall garage.
t r u t h o u t | One Mother's Stand Wednesday 31 August 2005 The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford: "If Zarqawi and bin Laden gain control of Iraq, they would create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks, Bush said. They'd seize oil fields to fund their ambitions. They could recruit more terrorists by claiming a historic victory over the United States and our coalition."(George Bush, August 30, 2005 in San Diego.) So it is official, Casey had his blood shed in Iraq for OIL. He died so we could pay over 3.00/gallon for gas. Like I suspected all along, my dear, sweet son: almost 1900 others; and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis died so the oil fields wouldn't "fall into the hands of terrorists" and so George and his immoral band of greedy robber barons could become wealthier. Like I have said all along: how can these people sleep at night and how can they choke down their food knowing it is purchased off of the flesh and blood of others? We have found our "Noble Cause." And it is OIL. This man and his handlers need to be stopped. Well, George and I are leaving Crawford today. George is finished playing golf and telling his fables in San Diego , so he will be heading to Louisiana to see the devastation that his environmental policies and his killing policies have caused. Recovery would be easier and much quicker if almost ½ of the three states involved National Guard were not in Iraq. All of the National Guard's equipment is in Iraq also. Plus, with the 2 billion dollars a week that the private contractors are siphoning from our treasury, how are we going to pay for helping our own citizens in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama? And, should I dare say "global warming?" and be branded as a "conspiracy theorist" on top of everything else the reich-wingers say about me. We are now packing up Camp Casey and leaving Crawford and heading to George's place of employment. He wouldn't talk to us, his employers, while we were here to give him his "job evaluation," so we must go to him to have our little chat. I just want to thank a few people and groups for their support, help, and love while we have been here in Crawford. So many people made the Camp Casey experience possible and so successful. If I miss someone, I am so sorry: that is the difficult thing about thanking people. I love you all, even if I don't remember to thank you!! My sister: Dede Miller: My kids' second mom who is always by my side and supports me 100% in whatever I do. My cause is her cause, and I couldn't do what I do without her. Carly, Andy, and Janey: Who would love to see more of their mom, but who understand that we are trying to save their future by what we do. I love you guys, and I will see you very, very soon (yea!!) I couldn't do what I do without their love and support. The Crawford Peace House: I got an email from Hadi Jawad the day that I decided to come and camp in Crawford and he |
