An article.......
Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq last year, wants U.S. troops out of the region now.
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, July 27, 2005
BY ELIZABETH GUDRAIS
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Cindy Sheehan believed the Iraq war was immoral before her son died. She just didn't speak up about it then.
"If I had broken my silence sooner, would Casey and others still be alive?" Sheehan wondered last night.
Sheehan's son, Casey, an Army specialist, died in Iraq on April 4, 2004. He was 24 years old.
Sheehan is speaking up now.
She founded Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization dedicated to ending the U.S. presence in Iraq. Last night, her travels around the country speaking for that cause brought her to Beneficent Congregational Church, where a crowd of 60 sweated through her speech in a room without air conditioning on the hottest night of the summer.
Sheehan was full of advice for her listeners.
First of all, stop saying that parents "lose" children in Iraq, Sheehan said. "I did not lose Casey," she said. "I lost him one time at Disneyland, and it was scary. If Casey was lost in Iraq, I would go there and I would find him.
"He's in a grave in Vacaville, California, and George Bush and his murderous policies put him there," Sheehan continued. "We need to use harsh rhetoric, because war is harsh."
She urged her listeners to contact members of Congress and request they take action to get U.S. troops out of Iraq.
"The people who say we have to stay in Iraq because it will harm Iraqis if we leave -- well, our presence there is harming them," she said. "To say they can't rebuild their own country is arrogant and racist."
Sheehan said she also supports congressional initiatives to impeach President Bush and to end the requirement that public schools share student records with military recruiters if the schools receive federal funding.
"I encourage every citizen of this world to do one thing for peace each day," she said.
For one thing, Sheehan said, she has stopped paying her taxes. "I didn't pay my taxes for 2004," she said. When a letter arrives declaring her payment delinquent, she said, "I'll say no -- I don't owe you a penny. We'll see what they do to me."
She pressed the audience to tell young people in their lives not to join the military. "They'll have to stop the war if we cut off the human cannon fodder," she said.
Sheehan posed a question for the president: "If you think this is such a just war, then you send your own two daughters over there. And if you're not willing to do that, then get the rest of our troops out of there, you hypocrite!"
Her stinging invective against Mr. Bush met, by and large, with robust applause.
Sheehan does not charge for her appearances. She said she uses money from her son's life insurance policy and the government compensation she gets for his death to cover the cost of her plane fare from California, meals and hotel for speaking engagements. The Rhode Island Community Coalition for Peace, which hosted her talk, took up a collection last night to reimburse part of her expenses.
The Rhode Island Community Coalition for Peace is a grass-roots organization founded in November 2004, following the American assault on Fallujah. The coalition organized a peace demonstration in Providence on March 19, the second anniversary of the Iraq war's beginning. It counts 20 active members who attend weekly meetings -- Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at Beneficent Congregational Church, 300 Weybosset St. -- and 180 subscribers to its e-mail listserver. The group supports immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, supports repealing the Patriot Act, and opposes reestablishing the military draft.
John Osmand
h: 401-831-3969
w: 401-273-7076
“An assault on Iraq will inflame world opinion and jeopardise security and peace everywhere. London, as one of the major world cities, has a great deal to lose from war and a lot to gain from peace, international cooperation and global stability.”
-- Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, when he appealed to Tony Blair not to support the war in Iraq
__________________________________________________
Note from coyote
If you're in the area, consider attending a meeting.
If you aren't close by, consider joing (or starting!) a chapter!
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, July 27, 2005
BY ELIZABETH GUDRAIS
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Cindy Sheehan believed the Iraq war was immoral before her son died. She just didn't speak up about it then.
"If I had broken my silence sooner, would Casey and others still be alive?" Sheehan wondered last night.
Sheehan's son, Casey, an Army specialist, died in Iraq on April 4, 2004. He was 24 years old.
Sheehan is speaking up now.
She founded Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization dedicated to ending the U.S. presence in Iraq. Last night, her travels around the country speaking for that cause brought her to Beneficent Congregational Church, where a crowd of 60 sweated through her speech in a room without air conditioning on the hottest night of the summer.
Sheehan was full of advice for her listeners.
First of all, stop saying that parents "lose" children in Iraq, Sheehan said. "I did not lose Casey," she said. "I lost him one time at Disneyland, and it was scary. If Casey was lost in Iraq, I would go there and I would find him.
"He's in a grave in Vacaville, California, and George Bush and his murderous policies put him there," Sheehan continued. "We need to use harsh rhetoric, because war is harsh."
She urged her listeners to contact members of Congress and request they take action to get U.S. troops out of Iraq.
"The people who say we have to stay in Iraq because it will harm Iraqis if we leave -- well, our presence there is harming them," she said. "To say they can't rebuild their own country is arrogant and racist."
Sheehan said she also supports congressional initiatives to impeach President Bush and to end the requirement that public schools share student records with military recruiters if the schools receive federal funding.
"I encourage every citizen of this world to do one thing for peace each day," she said.
For one thing, Sheehan said, she has stopped paying her taxes. "I didn't pay my taxes for 2004," she said. When a letter arrives declaring her payment delinquent, she said, "I'll say no -- I don't owe you a penny. We'll see what they do to me."
She pressed the audience to tell young people in their lives not to join the military. "They'll have to stop the war if we cut off the human cannon fodder," she said.
Sheehan posed a question for the president: "If you think this is such a just war, then you send your own two daughters over there. And if you're not willing to do that, then get the rest of our troops out of there, you hypocrite!"
Her stinging invective against Mr. Bush met, by and large, with robust applause.
Sheehan does not charge for her appearances. She said she uses money from her son's life insurance policy and the government compensation she gets for his death to cover the cost of her plane fare from California, meals and hotel for speaking engagements. The Rhode Island Community Coalition for Peace, which hosted her talk, took up a collection last night to reimburse part of her expenses.
The Rhode Island Community Coalition for Peace is a grass-roots organization founded in November 2004, following the American assault on Fallujah. The coalition organized a peace demonstration in Providence on March 19, the second anniversary of the Iraq war's beginning. It counts 20 active members who attend weekly meetings -- Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at Beneficent Congregational Church, 300 Weybosset St. -- and 180 subscribers to its e-mail listserver. The group supports immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, supports repealing the Patriot Act, and opposes reestablishing the military draft.
John Osmand
h: 401-831-3969
w: 401-273-7076
“An assault on Iraq will inflame world opinion and jeopardise security and peace everywhere. London, as one of the major world cities, has a great deal to lose from war and a lot to gain from peace, international cooperation and global stability.”
-- Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, when he appealed to Tony Blair not to support the war in Iraq
__________________________________________________
Note from coyote
If you're in the area, consider attending a meeting.
If you aren't close by, consider joing (or starting!) a chapter!
<< Home