1600+ Nationwide Vigils Call for End of Iraq War

[fbahrami]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050818/ap_on_re_us/peace_mom

Hundreds of candlelight vigils calling for an end to the war in Iraq lit up the night Wednesday, part of a national effort spurred by one mother's anti-war demonstration near President Bush's ranch.

The vigils were urged by Cindy Sheehan, who has become the icon of the anti-war movement since she started a protest Aug. 6 in memory of her son Casey, who died in Iraq last year.

Sheehan says she will remain outside the president's ranch until he meets with her and other grieving families, or until his monthlong vacation there ends.

Bush has said he sympathizes with Sheehan but has made no indication he will meet with her. Two top Bush administration officials talked to Sheehan the day she started her camp, and she and other families had met with Bush shortly after her son's death.

More than 1,600 vigils were planned Wednesday from coast to coast by liberal advocacy groups MoveOn.org Political Action, TrueMajority and Democracy for America. A large vigil was also planned in Paris.

...

[fbahrami]

1. awesome

The one in Ocean Beach, Ca was awesome. People gathered at 'Dog Beach', lit candles, and then walked quietly to a WWII memorial in downtown Ocean Beach. Someone starting singing "All we are saying is give peace a chance". Everyone joined in for a couple of minutes. Then someone else started singing "Amazing Grace" and so we snag for a while. Then someone thanked everyone and asked for a minute of silence, after which we dispersed.

We should do this EVERY WEEK!

[arcane1]

2. oh my god, did you see this?

:puke:

Before the Crawford vigil began, Gary Qualls, of Temple, walked to the protesters' memorial to fallen U.S. soldiers and removed a wooden cross bearing his son's name. Qualls said he supports the war effort even though his 20-year-old son Louis was killed in Fallujah last fall serving with the Marine Reserves.

"I don't believe in some of the things happening here," he said. "I find it disrespectful."

[Ian David]

3. Well, that's his prerogative. At least he didn't mow a bunch of them down

If someone wants to show-up and politely ask for their loved-one's marker, then I say let them go to Crawford and ask for it.

[insane_cratic_gal]

9. Actually I was waiting for that to happen

there are people in this country who feel the need to cling to the insanity the Bush CO lie.

To believe otherwise only forces one to believe their child died for oil, greed, the pocket books of Corporate America. It's far easier to keep on lying to oneself then to admit your greatest sacrifice was in vain. It's easier to look at oneself and keep believing you didn't sell your own child down the river. You didn't trade your child's life and or future for the billions Exxon, Bush, and Halliburton is currently pocketing. That truth is too horrible, to vulgar for some to believe.

Funny thing about truth, it is patient and eventually finds it way to you.

[MisterP]

12. people are very strongly wrapped up in their falsehoods or prejudices,

so long as they're "theirs": gives them something to cling to

[soup]

11. Strange.

Thought the name was familiar, found it finally at Truthout-


August 11, 2005 | Cindy Sheehan, right, hugs President Bush supporter Gary Qualls of Temple, Texas after the two met at her camp near Crawford, Texas, Saturday, August 13, 2005. Qualls' son Marine LCPL. Louis W. Qualls was killed in the battle of Fallujah November 14, 2004. Qualls answered an invitation from Sheehan to meet with pro-Bush parents that lost children in Iraq. Qualls was the only parent that came.
(Photo: L.M. Otero / AP Photo)
http://truthout.org/cindy.shtml

[tinrobot]

4. So, 1600 vigils with hundreds of people per vigil

That's millions of people, folks.

Millions.

On very short notice.

This is a turning point.

[Barrett808]

6. Well, more like 160,000 people

Still a good turnout.

[Barrett808]

5. Being freeped -- vote it up! 3/5 with 2659 votes n/t

[Oreegone]

7. We had a great turnout

450+ at our federal courthouse, as good or better than at the White House...We had minutes of silence holding our candles. We sang Give Peace a Chance,Down by the Riverside & Let There be Peace on Earth. Many people drove by all the while honking and waving their support. Saw some people looking confused but no nastiness.

[leQ]

8. did the freepers show up anywhere else last nite? (eom)

.

[bread_and_roses]

10. Rate it up! Still 3/5 with 2961 votes (n/t)