Subject: Update: Support Cindy Sheehan!
From: Troops Out Now Coalition
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 13:01:42 -0400

Support Cindy Sheehan!

“And the other thing I want him to tell me is ‘just what was the noble cause Casey died for?’ Was it freedom and democracy? Bullshit! He died for oil. He died to make your friends richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East. We’re not freer here, thanks to your PATRIOT Act. Iraq is not free. You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you’ll stop the terrorism.

“There, I used the ‘I’ word – imperialism, and now I’m going to use another ‘I’ word – impeachment – because we cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on war crimes and go to jail.”

- Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan, KIA 04/04/04

In this email:

1) What One Mom has to Say to Bush

2) How to Support Cindy Sheehan

3) Call to set up "Camp Caseys" nationwide if Cindy Sheehan is arrested




Cindy Sheehan in Dallas
What One Mom has to Say to Bush


August 9, 2005

from http://counterpunch.org/ferner08092005.html


By Mike Ferner

“That lying bastard, George Bush, is taking a five-week vacation in time of war,” Cindy Sheehan told 200 cheering members of Veterans For Peace at their annual convention in Dallas last Friday evening. She then announced she would go to Bush’s vacation home in nearby Crawford, Texas and camp out until he “tells me why my son died in Iraq. I’ve got the whole month of August off, and so does he.”

Sheehan left the VFP meeting on Saturday morning and is now in Crawford with a couple dozen veterans and local peace activists, waiting for Bush to talk with her. She said in Dallas that if he sends anyone else to see her, as happened when national security adviser Steve Hadley and deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin did later that day, she would demand that “You get that maniac out here to talk with me in person.”

She told the audience of veterans from World War Two to today’s war in Iraq, that the two main things she plans to tell the man she holds responsible for son Casey’s death are “Quit saying that U.S. troops died for a noble cause in Iraq, unless you say, ‘well, except for Casey Sheehan.’ Don’t you dare spill any more blood in Casey’s name. You do not have permission to use my son’s name.”

“And the other thing I want him to tell me is ‘just what was the noble cause Casey died for?’ Was it freedom and democracy? Bullshit! He died for oil. He died to make your friends richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East. We’re not freer here, thanks to your PATRIOT Act. Iraq is not free. You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you’ll stop the terrorism,” she exclaimed.

“There, I used the ‘I’ word – imperialism,” the 48 year-old mother quipped. “And now I’m going to use another ‘I’ word – impeachment – because we cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on war crimes and go to jail.”

As the veterans in Dallas rose to their feet, Sheehan said defiantly, “My son was killed in 2004. I am not paying my taxes for 2004. You killed my son, George Bush, and I don’t owe you a penny...you give my son back and I’ll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes) and we’ll put this war on trial.”

The co-founder of Gold Star Mothers for Peace objected to hearing that her son was among the soldiers lost in Iraq. “He’s not lost,” she said tearfully. “He’s dead. He became an angel while I was sleeping.”

She railed against the notion expressed by officials in the Bush administration that bringing the troops home now would dishonor the sacrifice of those who have died. “By sending honorable people to die, they so dishonor themselves. They say we must complete our mission…but why would I want one more mother to go through what I have, just because my son is dead?”

The Vacaville, California resident said she first heard of Veterans For Peace in early May last year, during a CNN report about an exhibit of white crosses arranged in rows in the Santa Barbara beach. The exhibit was organized by VFP Chapter 54 to memorialize each U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. Her son had died the month before. “I decided there was only one place I wanted to be on Mother’s Day that year, and it was Santa Barbara,” she told the VFP members in Dallas.

Retired Special Forces Sgt. and VFP member, Stan Goff, today initiated a “Talk to Cindy” campaign to get Bush to meet with Sheehan. Contact information for the White House is: (202) 456-1111 or comments@whitehouse.gov

Mike Ferner is a writer in Toledo, Ohio and a member of Veterans for Peace. He can be reached at mike.ferner@sbcglobal.net

Support Cindy Sheehan:

1) Call, fax, and email the White House and ask the staff there to contact the President on his ranch and ask him to meet with Cindy Sheehan.

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-Mail comments@whitehouse.gov

2) Sign the online petition.

3) Join Cindy Sheehan in Texas  

Call to set up "Camp Caseys" nationwide if Cindy Sheehan is arrested

Cindy Sheehan was informed that if she doesn't leave by Thursday, when Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld are coming to the ranch, she will be arrested because she is a risk to "national security." Right now, she is camped out on the side of the road with veterans, other Gold Star Mothers, and supporters at "Camp Casey," named after her son who was killed by George W. Bush.

If she is arrested, Troops Out Now is calling on local organizers to set up their own Camp Caseys across the country in solidarity with Cindy Sheehan and her supporters.

Bring tents, placards, posters, and banners to your local park, city square, or other public place and occupy it to support Cindy Sheehan and demand her release. 

In New York City, supporters will set up Camp Casey in Union Square beginning at 5:00 pm if Cindy Sheehan is arrested.

For more information call 212-633-6646.

Troops Out Now

Donate to help Troops Out Now get the word out and organize buses for September 24 march in Washington DC


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