posted August 06, 2005 01:50 PM              

quote:

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A democracy that can not stand one man and some placards outside its front doors doesn't seem to have much faith in itself.--Mark Thomas, comedian and campaigner

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posted August 07, 2005 04:32 PM              

By Steve Holland

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - About 70 anti-war protesters shouted "bring the troops home" from Iraq near President Bush's ranch on Saturday, prompting two White House officials to come out to meet with mothers who lost children in combat in Iraq.

National Security Adviser Steven Hadley and Deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin listened to the concerns of Cindy Sheehan and five or six other mothers in a meeting that lasted about 45 minutes, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. Duffy said Sheehan told the two officials she appreciated the meeting.

"I want to ask the president, why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?" Sheehan, 48, Vacaville, California, told reporters before meeting with Hadley and Hagin. Sheehan blames Bush for the death of her son, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, 24, killed on April 4, 2004, in Sadr City, Baghdad.

The protest coincided with release of a Newsweek poll that said 61 percent of Americans disapproved of the way Bush was handling the situation in Iraq. The poll came after more than two dozen Americans were killed in the past week in Iraq.

Newsweek said it was Bush's lowest rating on Iraq and the first time it had dropped below 40 percent in its poll. Pentagon officials have said maintaining public support for the war is key to the troops' morale.

The group of protesters, including U.S. veterans from the Iraq and Vietnam wars, were loud yet peaceful and McLennan County sheriff's deputies, trying to avoid arrests, stopped them on a road about 5 miles from Bush's ranch on a hot August day.

"W. killed her son! W. killed her son!" the crowd shouted. They also shouted "Bring the troops home now" and held up signs with slogans such as "Impeach the Chicken-Hawk-in-Chief."

The protesters, many who came from a peace rally in Dallas, first drove toward the ranch in a school bus painted red, white and blue. It was stopped at a police checkpoint and the protesters got out and walked.

Police allowed the group to walk on the side of the road for about a half mile but then stopped them when some in the group walked on the street itself.

After some protesters left, a small group led by Sheehan vowed to stage a vigil on the side of the road until someone representing the White House came out to talk.

White House officials were aware of the protest and Duffy said before the meeting, "We mourn the loss of every life and Americans deeply appreciate those who have made the supreme sacrifice. The way to honor that sacrifice is to complete the mission so that their lives were not lost in vain."

http://olympics.reuters.com/news/new sArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-08-06T223835Z_01_N06262875_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-BUSH-DC.XML

posted August 08, 2005 04:36 AM              

Soldier's mom digs in near Bush ranch
Senator sees 'echoes of Vietnam' in vigil to meet president

Sunday, August 7, 2005; Posted: 5:31 p.m. EDT (21:31 GMT)

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- A mother whose son was killed in Iraq says she is prepared to continue her protest outside President Bush's ranch through August until she is granted an opportunity to speak with him.

Later, in a TV interview, a Democratic senator from California said the episode evokes images that were commonplace during the Vietnam War.

Cindy Sheehan's 24-year-old son -- Army Spc. Casey Sheehan of Vacaville, California -- was killed in Baghdad's Sadr City on April 4, 2004. The Humvee mechanic was one of eight U.S. soldiers killed there that day by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. (Full story)

They are among the 1,829 American troops, including 31 this month, who have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

The president -- who is spending a nearly five-week-long working vacation at his Texas ranch -- said in a speech Wednesday that the sacrifices of U.S. troops were "made in a noble cause." (Full story)

Sheehan said she found little comfort in his comments.

"I want to ask the president, why did he kill my son?" Sheehan told reporters. "He said my son died in a noble cause, and I want to ask him what that noble cause is."

Sheehan said hers was one of a group of about 15 families who each met separately with the president one day last June.

"He wouldn't look at the pictures of Casey. He didn't even know Casey's name," she told CNN Sunday. "Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject."

Sheehan said she was so distraught at the time that she failed to ask the questions she now wants answered.

"I want him to honor my son by bringing the troops home immediately," Sheehan told reporters Saturday. "I don't want him to use my son's name or my name to justify any more killing."

Sheehan, who co-founded the anti-war group Gold Star Families for Peace, led about 50 demonstrators near the Bush ranch Saturday. Some protesters were with the group Veterans for Peace, which was holding a convention in Dallas.

The protesters stopped their bus miles from the ranch in Crawford, and walked less than a half-mile before being stopped by local law enforcement officials.

A message on the Gold Star Families Web site says, "We want our loved ones' sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from the travesty that is Iraq IMMEDIATELY, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions.

"Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation?"

The message also urges Bush to send his twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, to Iraq "if the cause is so noble."

The site says the group is made up of families of soldiers who have died as a result of war, primarily in Iraq.

Joe Hagin, White House deputy chief of staff, and Stephen Hadley, national security adviser, met with Sheehan for about 45 minutes Saturday, according to White House spokesman Trent Duffy.

Sheehan said that the two men "were very respectful."

"They told me the party line of why we are in Iraq," she said. "I told them that I don't believe that they believed that."

Duffy said Saturday that "many of the hundreds of families the president has met with know their loved one died for a noble cause and that the best way to honor their sacrifice is to complete the mission."

Bush has refused to provide a time frame for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, saying American forces will return home when Iraqis can take care of their own security.

"President Bush wants the troops home as soon as possible, but the U.S. will not cut and run from terrorists," Duffy said.

Sheehan elicited sympathy from both sides of the political spectrum on Sunday.

"What you're seeing with that mom trying to meet with President Bush is echoes of Vietnam," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat. "Because no one is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."

"I think the president ought to meet with this mother," said Sen. George Allen, a Virginia Republican. "What I would say to her is her son will always be remembered as a great hero and a patriot, advanced freedom in Iraq and the Middle East, has made this country more secure."

Boxer said her own message would be different: "I would tell her to do everything she could to spare other families this grief, to get us off this cycle of violence."

Recent surveys have shown decreasing public support for the war.

In a Newsweek poll released Sunday, 64 percent of those asked said they do not believe the war in Iraq has made Americans safer, and 61 percent said they disapprove of the way the president is handling the war.

The telephone poll of 1,004 adults was taken from Tuesday to Thursday last week and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

posted August 08, 2005 06:59 PM              

he probably thought he would be disarming saddam hussein of wmd
********

Spc. Casey Sheehan AGE 24

Battery C, 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division
Vacaville, California

posted August 09, 2005 02:15 PM            

Since learning in April that their son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, had been killed in Iraq, life has been everything but normal for the Sheehan family of Vacaville.
Casey's parents, Cindy and Patrick, as well as their three children, have attended event after event honoring the soldier both locally and abroad, received countless letters of support and fielded questions from reporters across the country.

"That's the way our whole lives have been since April 4," Patrick said. "It's been surreal."

But none of that prepared the family for the message left on their answering machine last week, inviting them to have a face-to-face meeting with President George W. Bush at Fort Lewis near Seattle.

Surreal soon seemed like an understatement, as the Sheehans - one of 17 families who met Thursday with Bush - were whisked in a matter of days to the Army post and given the VIP treatment from the military. But as their meeting with the president approached, the family was faced with a dilemma as to what to say when faced with Casey's commander-in-chief.

"We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled," Cindy said. "The president has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached."

The 10 minutes of face time with the president could have given the family a chance to vent their frustrations or ask Bush some of the difficult questions they have been asking themselves, such as whether Casey's sacrifice would make the world a safer place.

But in the end, the family decided against such talk, deferring to how they believed Casey would have wanted them to act. In addition, Pat noted that Bush wasn't stumping for votes or trying to gain a political edge for the upcoming election.

"We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us," Pat said.

Sincerity was something Cindy had hoped to find in the meeting. Shortly after Casey died, Bush sent the family a form letter expressing his condolences, and Cindy said she felt it was an impersonal gesture.

"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. "I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."

The meeting didn't last long, but in their time with Bush, Cindy spoke about Casey and asked the president to make her son's sacrifice count for something. They also spoke of their faith.

While meeting with Bush, as well as Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, was an honor, it was almost a tangent benefit of the trip. The Sheehans said they enjoyed meeting the other families of fallen soldiers, sharing stories, contact information, grief and support.

For some, grief was still visceral and raw, while for others it had melted into the background of their lives, the pain as common as breathing. Cindy said she saw her reflection in the troubled eyes of each.

"It's hard to lose a son," she said. "But we (all) lost a son in the Iraqi war."

The trip had one benefit that none of the Sheehans expected.

For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle.

For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again.

"That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together," Cindy said.

David Henson can be reached at schools@thereporter.com.
http://www.thereporter.com/republished

Bring the troops home the crazed moron appeasers of the left chant? Indeed not!

"Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy. This figure includes over 209,000 Allied casualties, with nearly 37,000 dead amongst the ground forces and a further 16,714 deaths amongst the Allied air forces. Of the Allied casualties, 83,045 were from 21st Army Group (British, Canadian and Polish ground forces), 125,847 from the US ground forces. The losses of the German forces during the Battle of Normandy can only be estimated. Roughly 200,000 German troops were killed or wounded. The Allies also captured 200,000 prisoners of war (not included in the 425,000 total, above). During the fighting around the Falaise Pocket (August 1944) alone, the Germans suffered losses of around 90,000, including prisoners."
http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/faq.htm

posted August 11, 2005 11:27 PM            

The family of American soldier Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004, has broken its silence and spoken out against his mother Cindy Sheehan's anti-war vigil against George Bush held outside the president's Crawford, Texas ranch.

The following email was received by the DRUDGE REPORT from Casey's aunt and godmother:

Our family has been so distressed by the recent activities of Cindy we are breaking our silence and we have collectively written a statement for release. Feel free to distribute it as you wish.

Thanks, Cherie

In response to questions regarding the Cindy Sheehan/Crawford Texas issue: Sheehan Family Statement:

The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect.

Sincerely,

Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins.

posted August 12, 2005 12:22 AM            

Cindy Sheehan has become a tool of the lying leftists with statements that Bush killed her son and other inflammatory commentary when she is being supported financially by lying leftists groups who paid for her flights to cities across America and abroad. It's certain she didn't and doesn't have the financial wherewithal to do so herself.

What she is doing is spitting on her own son's service to America, freely entered into while ignoring the fact her son was serving his country in the highest traditions of military volunteers.

Her absurd statements also ignores the fact that the people truly responsible for killing her son are fighting against an interim government elected by the citizens of Iraq, citizens who have had a taste of freedom for the first time thanks to the United States military of which her son was a proud member.

posted August 12, 2005 07:19 PM              

Although, I agree with AG about the family so publicly sticking their nose into an already messy situation. Very tasteless of them, I think.

posted August 12, 2005 09:16 PM            

This is what she said after meeting with Bush.

"We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us," Pat said.

"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. "I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."

For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle.

For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again. "That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together," Cindy said.

What she's saying now. Somehow she got from her former statements to...Bush killed my son!

"I want to ask the president, why did he kill my son?" Sheehan told reporters. "He said my son died in a noble cause, and I want to ask him what that noble cause is."

"He wouldn't look at the pictures of Casey. He didn't even know Casey's name," she told CNN Sunday. "Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject."

She's also made some comments to the effect Bush treated the meeting like he was at a party. Of all the people in that same meeting, she is the only one making these kinds of comments. Further, she was
against the Iraq war before it even started so this is not some new position for her.

What is different is her conflicting stories about the meeting and Bush. She as much as called the advisors Bush sent out to talk to her about the reasons for being in Iraq...liars...saying to them..you don't believe that.

If I were Bush, hell would freeze over before I'd talk to her again because she's politicizing her son's death.

posted August 12, 2005 09:51 PM              

About her family .... it's not the disagreement I find distasteful. We're all entitled to our opinions, of course. It's the way they went about it - too public, too argumentative, too divisive.

I really do feel bad for Ms Sheehan. I suppose we should forgive her bad judgement. She is, after all, in an unspeakably bad spot.

I wish prox were still around. I'd like to know what she thought of this one.

posted August 13, 2005 05:41 AM            

My point of view is that she's a grieving mother. I, personally, wouldn't be surprised by any action of a grieving mother. That's why I wouldn't take action against her if she were [appearing to be] embarrassing my family with any sort of seemingly irrational weirdness. I'd just think that it was her way of dealing with her loss. Who am I to say how a mother should grieve?

Also, her son may have been of a completely different mentality than hers. Maybe he was a gung-ho G.I. or a patriot or whatever. One personality doesn't dictate the other just because they are in the same family.

posted August 13, 2005 12:38 PM              

the situation in iraq is getting continually worse, in terms of violence(both against our troops and with marauding bands of local criminals), and the new governing authorities are by all accounts completely corrupt....

posted August 13, 2005 12:50 PM              

quote:

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To me this story is about people being people. Even president Bush said she's got a right to her feelings and opinions on things, which she does. There's really no need for anyone to get bent out of shape over this.

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posted August 13, 2005 01:01 PM              

To be honest, I haven't been following this story too much. From what I've heard, though, I agree almost completely w/ AG's last post.

Is she going about this the right way?
Probably not, but she's a grieving mother, and one who sees no sense in her son's death.
She's raging against the reality that has settled in upon her, that's suffocating her.
She's flailing, attempting to find her breath again.
She's dealing with this as she knows how - she's not blowing people up, so I can't fault her.

Do I think she's right in her claims and in her demands?
Eh, again, probably not - I actually agree w/ Bush when he says that a mass withdrawel from Iraq would be disasterous at the present time.
There's very much about this Admin and this War that I find issue with, but not that statement.
And I can't fault Bush for not wanting to see her again - if he bent to that request, he'd have to bend to all the other aggrieved and angry mothers and wives. If nothing else, I'd imagine he wouldn't have the time in his schedule.

As for the family's actions: They're probably in bad taste, but they may think that they're being patriotic and attempting to uphold their family's name.

posted August 13, 2005 01:40 PM              

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush got his first look at an anti-war vigil near his ranch on Friday as his motorcade took him by the protest site lined with small white crosses representing fallen American soldiers in Iraq.

When Bush's black sport utility vehicle carried him past the site to a Republican fund-raiser, the protest leader, Cindy Sheehan, whose son was one of the nearly 1,850 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, held up a sign that said: "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?"

Two rows of state troopers faced several dozen activists behind a cordon of yellow police tape as Bush's 15-vehicle motorcade cruised by without slowing.

About two hours later, the president passed by on the return trip and did not stop. Sheehan raised a white cross as the convoy passed.

posted August 13, 2005 02:37 PM              

If it were a matter of making time for one woman that would be one thing - but it's not...I'm afraid that a symbolic gesture to all grieving mothers would not suffice in this instance. If he were to meet with her again
1) There may very well be an outcry by others who wish the same treatment - and Bush's POPs aren't doing hot enough to support that right now
and
2) It would look like he's waivering on his stance on Iraq.
That's not fair and wouldn't be what he would mean by it...but, c'mon - can you imagine the field day that the media would have?