The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford (Day 11); Putting out fires

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php

Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford (Day 11); Putting out fires

-- a message from Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, TX

The right wingers are really having a field day with me. It hurts me really badly, but I am willing to put up with the crap, if it ends the war a minute sooner than it would have. I would like to address some specific concerns that have been raised against me.

The first one is about my divorce. I addressed this on my blog the other night. My divorce was in the works way before I came out to Crawford. My husband filed the papers before this all started. It just recorded last Friday. My husband didn’t know that it would become public record, and public knowledge. He had told his lawyer not to serve me with the paperwork or even bother me while I was at Camp Casey. He was trying to do the right thing. He didn’t want me to find out. Enough about that.

Another “big deal” today was the lie that I had said that Casey died for Israel. I never said that, I never wrote that. I had supposedly said it in a letter that I wrote to Ted Koppel’s producer in March. I wrote the letter because I was upset at the way Ted treated me when I appeared at a Nightline Town Hall meeting in January right after the inauguration. I felt that Ted had totally disrespected me. I wrote the letter to Ted Bettag and cc’d a copy to the person who gave me Ted’s address. I believe he changed the email and sent it out to capitalize on my new found notoriety by promoting his own agenda. Enough about that.

I didn’t blog about the cross incident last night. I was at the Peace House when there was a big commotion and people started saying that someone had run over our Arlington Crawford display. I know this is old news because I have seen great posts about it today. This is how I feel. The right wingers are emailing me and spewing filth about me on the radio and on the television saying that I am dishonoring my son’s memory. This man who ran over the crosses thinks he is a better American than we are. He thinks he is more patriotic than we are. Does he really believe that he is honoring the memories of the fallen and his country by running down 500 crosses and about 60 American flags? The Iraq Veterans Against the War who were here were also very offended. Those crosses represented their buddies who didn’t make it home. And they are so aware of the fact that one of those crosses could have their name on it.

Yesterday, we had a counter protestor who played his guitar across the way from us and sang (very terribly!!!) a song that loosely went like this:

Aiding and abetting the enemy.
How many ghosts did you make today?
Google me this, Google me that,
How many ghosts did you make today?

I find it so ironic that he was singing it to me, and not to George Bush. We named the song: The Ballad of George Bush. He came back out today, but blessed be to God, he didn’t bring his guitar, and he didn’t sing.

We are moving to a place that doesn’t have much shade and I put out an appeal for tarps and a soldier from Ft. Hood brought some to us that he “borrowed” from Ft. Hood for us to use. I have had a lot of soldiers from Ft. Hood come out and tell me to keep it up and that I am doing a good thing. We are doing this to honor Casey and the other fallen heroes in their memories. But we are doing it FOR the people of Iraq and the other soldiers who are in harm’s way right now. Right after we heard about the crosses last night, a Camp Casey volunteer found out that a pen pal she had in Iraq was KIA on August 12th. This has to stop, now. We will stop it.

[Name removed]

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[Porcupine]

2. YOU are playing the Jihadis game by their rules. You Stop.

The 9-11 terrorist were SAUDI's, the kind of people feted on Bush's ranch. There was never any Iraqi connection proven. Every time you and your men kill innocent Iraqi civilians, men, women and children, you push otherwise peacefull Iraqis into joining the resistance to your occupation.

By now you are aware that you have no realistic hope of a win by military force. You know that you cannot trust the Iraqi troops and police you train. You also know that your government will not stand by it's commitment to you and your brothers to end your service after the contracted period expires. You will be recycled in and out of the war until you are injured or die. Meanwhile you parrot the propoganda of men who never stood under enemy fire.

Stop lying to yourself and your men. Come home alive.

[divineorder]

3. Odysseus, This is also about America too.

For too long, we have fought other people's battles for them. Did the Iraqis want our help? No....We moved in and replaced order with chaos, Saddam's brutal torturers with our own loonies in Abu Graib, and practically delivered Shiite Iraqis to Iran...that's progress? That's democracy? Nope. And let's not forget the money spent on Iraq could have financed alternatives to Mid-East oil, mass transit, national healhcare and education, and other things that our long-suffering nation badly needs. And the idea that protesting a war and questioning the President isi unpatriotic has to stop. America is a democracy, not a monarchy. We The People have a right, both Constitutional and natural to question what is done in our names and with our blood and money. That's what Jefferson and others spent long, hot sweltering summers trying to set up for generations not yet born. It would have been easier for them to simply install a King if they wanted no dissent or questioning at all.

[Name removed]

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[OneTwentyoNine]

31. Funny,it keeps coming up NOT FOUND.....n't

[Name removed]

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[spuddonna]

5. Thank you for your service, but can you tell me...

what your mission is in Iraq?

The President told us that the reason we were going to Iraq was because it was an 'imminent threat'. Condi said '45 minutes to mushroom clouds'. We had to attack asap to stop terrorists from buying WMDs from Saddam.

Now we find from Senate committees and the Downing Street Memos that this was all a lie. The president has changed his message to 'bringing freedom to the Iraqi people'. That's not why we went to war.

You say that, "Anything that undermines our effort plays into the hands of the Jihadis who want to subjugate the region."

Can you give me an example of how this would happen? I really don't understand how a mother in the US demanding to know why we went into Iraq will support the Jihadists.

[herbbrown]

7. And I'm the Pope writing from Rome

No, really I am. Bless you Cindy and all you do. Blessed be the Peace Makers. Out.

[spuddonna]

15. Wow! The Pope! Benny, wait I have a question...

How many Hail Mary's do I have to say when I utter oaths about the president and his illegal war?

[Name removed]

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[spuddonna]

16. Whoa, back up the truck...

Look, there's nothing wrong with the soldiers. They don't get to 'pick' where they go. This administration is the reason we're in Iraq.

[Name removed]

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[T Town Jake]

8. I thank you for your service to our country...

...but part and parcel of what you're "fighting" for, supposedly, is American values. Like free speech. The Bill of Rights. The Constitution.

Please remember that.

[Name removed]

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[BikeWriter]

40. Yeah, right. That's what they told us in VietNam.

[Name removed]

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[BikeWriter]

43. You pick and choose which posts of mine you reply to.

When you've answered my other I'll reply to this one.

[BikeWriter]

11. If you are telling the truth you are a dupe of the neocons...

You have been lied to as we have. We were told Iraq was an imminent threat to America. We were lied to. We were told our experts knew exactly where the WMD were located. We were lied to. We were told the Iraqi people would welcome you with dancing in the streets and flowers. We were lied to.
General Zinni's plans for the invasion were trashed. Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz ridiculed General Shinseki for requesting the number of troops Zinni had advised using. Their arrogance is the cause of the failed occupation. There were not enough troops to secure the massive amount of conventional weapons stored. They caused most of our troop's deaths. You can believe nothing they say.

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. So can I ask you a few questions?

I would take it that you don't mind supporting a war that was based on lies? I do. Especially since that war distracted from the original reason for military action after 9-11, which was to hunt down Osama. Wouldn't you rather be in Afghanistan going after the really bad guys?

What do you think of the Downing Street Minutes?

What about a President who thinks its funny that 1800+ soldiers have died for his lies?

What about a President who was unwilling to fulfill his duty when it was his turn?

Doesn't it bother you that billions of US dollars have gone missing in Iraq and there is no accountability.

Doesn't it bother you that mercenaries make thousands of dollars more then you per month fighting in Iraq, to do the same job you are do for much, much less?

Bush said that Iraq is now a noble cause but doesn't bother to explain what that means. Maybe you can tell us since you are there what that noble cause might be?

Thanks

PBWY
DYEW

[Name removed]

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[DoYouEverWonder]

37. Thank you for thoughtful response

You seem like a decent person. It may surprise you but I think you and me and most Americans want the same things. However there is (for lack a of a better word) a darkness that has taken over. I hope that in my own small way I can try to help you open your eyes and show you the light.

So here are some answers to your questions and then of course some more questions for you.

PBWY
DYEW



Just what qualifies you to determine where the main effort of the war should be?

This is America. Everyone has a right to an opinion. But you do what they say about opinions.


In regards to Al Zarqawi, the first question is he even real or is he a composite? But for the sake of argument I will assume he's real.


You claim Saddam welcomed Zarqawi to Iraq?

Before the Iraq invasion al Zarqawi was in Iraq. Kurdish controlled Northern Iraq. Supposedly al Qaida was running a chem plant up there and that we could have easily taken it out, since it was in the no fly zone but we decided to leave him and his base alone for political reasons.

So far there has been no evidence of Saddam having ties with al Qaida. If you have such evidence, then I ask you to show me the reports in the M$M. Sy Hersh said just last night that there are very few foreign fighters in Iraq and that the majority of the insurgency is home grown.

The Downing Street Minutes?

Congressional authorization for the use of force was based on lies and according to the DSM, the facts were made to fit the policy. Congress took the President at his word when they granted him authority. Since then, we not only have the DSM, but we know that the yellowcake story was based on forgeries that may have been created by a former member of the Bush administration. Google - Michael Ledeen)

Even worse, we now know that Saddam was not in violation of the UN Resolutions. He did not have WMD's. He did not have a massive or even a small chem/bio weapons program. He didn't have shit. How can you violate something when your not doing anything to begin with?

Now don't get me wrong. Saddam is a major SOB but there are a lot of them in the world. Most of them are business partners of BushCo. (Google - Charles Taylor if you want to see a real SOB but Pat Robertson thinks he's just dandy.)

Saddam was in violation of a slew or UN resolutions, was allowing Al Qaeda remnants into Iraq from Afghanistan and had openly celebrated 9/11. Nobody here misses him except his former henchmen.

When did we become the world's policemen?

The President doesn't seem to find our losses funny

Apparently you never saw the video Bush made of himself that he played at the National Press Club dinner, looking for the WMD's in the Oval Office. I'll post a link later when I get a chance to look for it. You really need to see it. "By their deeds you shall know them."


What about a President who was unwilling to fulfill his duty when it was his turn?

The big difference is that Clinton, FDR or Wilson were not deserters. Bush made a commitment and can not prove that he kept that commitment. That is a pretty sad indication of the character of this man.

None of the contractors are doing the same job that I am.

What about the Blackwater guys that guarded Bremer. US Troops weren't good enough?


In regards to my last question about noble cause, I am glad that you believe in what you are doing. It wouldn't be worth getting up in the morning if you didn't. Obviously I think you are wrong. But obviously life has taken us on different paths.

When I was younger I found out that our government sometimes does bad things. That sometimes they do bad things to good people. That they purposely did bad things to my family (long story, not for public consumption) and then lied about it and try to cover it up. From that point on I become unable to ever see the people who are in power in this country the same way ever again.

Since the days of Watergate and Vietnam, I have been an avid political news junkie. I have watched and read about these _______ for a long time. I can document any of my above claims with articles and citations from the M$M and official government publications.

So fire back. I look forward to your response. I just hope that I can help open your eyes.

[Name removed]

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[mtnester]

18. Maybe you should refer your comments to GW

if more of you had spoken up in the beginning, maybe you would not have to be saying this to a mother who was asked to sacrifce her son...and she DID give him up...for lies.

Please stop should be directed to WH West.

[unhappycamper]

19. If you are who you say you are, I feel sorry for you.

As previously posters have said, there are a number of inconsistencies about the reasons we invaded and now occupy a foreign nation.

Please help me understand what your mission is. WMDs? Spreading "Freedom?" I served two tours of duty in RVN, and think I have the moral authority to say: There is nothing noble about a war of choice.

If you are an officer, then theoretically you are educated. If you're educated, you should have a sense of history. History shows us that the Vietnam war was based on lies. There are 58,264 names carved on The Wall - what was the noble cause they died for?

I might also point out that the Vietnam war gave us a generation of fucked up soldiers and fucked up families that we are still coping with 30 years after the fact. George Santayana said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Perhaps a review of history is warranted.

Finally, I ask you to open your mind. The oath you took: "I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." Your first duty is to pretect and defend the Constitution of the United States. IMHO, that's not what you are doing.

[Name removed]

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[Rockholm]

21. Yeah, right.

[Name removed]

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[renie408]

27. Good job

Hey, good work on that shuttle mission. Things look like they went really well. Just what NASA needed.

Actual soldier or not, Odysseus' comments certainly reflect the opinions of SOMEBODY in the army. Sadly, probably a lot of somebodies. And if someone could feel so strongly about Cindy Sheehan to chain a pipe to the back of his truck and run over a bunch of crosses, someone else might feel strongly enough to comment here.

The thing to remember is that the opinion of ONE soldier does not speak for all of the armed forces. I am sure that there are some soldiers who are secretly convinced that aliens are monitoring every thing we do here on earth. My niece's husband is in the Army and he thought Pearl Harbor was the greatest movie ever made. Soldiers are as likely to hold strange individual opinions as the rest of the population that do not necessarily reflect on the majority.

[Name removed]

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[matcom]

33. i believe you are serving

and as a fellow Veteran, let me apologize for your treatment so far (IF you are indeed serving).

i'm an Army Vet. i UNDERSTAND your service BUT completely disagree with you on not supporting Cindy. WE are trying to get you back home and so is she.

you have been lied to sir. by a corrupt government. IF you are there, you have no choice but we on the outside do. don't tell us to stop protesting this war and administration. for it is our right DUTY as citizens to do so.

the Downing Street Memo should be the last straw for all of you. if it isn't, well then good luck to you sir.

we'll keep up the fight in spite of you.

[Name removed]

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[matcom]

39. problem is that Saddam was NOT Al Qaeda. never was

the only reason there is an Al Qaeda problem in Iraq today is thanks to US.

and you will NEVER defeat them. can't be done. just like Viet Nam. they will keep coming and coming and coming until our POLICIES change. we can't win this with might. we CAN win this via actions and deeds.

i'll give you a little taste of what this war is doing to thinking people over here. my father is retired CIA. 33 years counter-intelligence. lead officer during the Iran/Iraq war and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. life long Republican, conservative voter.

this war and the Bush policies forced him to register as an Indy and vote for Kerry this time around.

i'm no where near as smart as he is but he knows more about this situation than you or I for sure and this is what he sees as the downfall of this (our) empire.

[Bok_Tukalo]

42. I guess that's why they call it a quagmire

" ... if we cut and run, this war won't end, it will just expand to include the entire Moslem world and eventually ours. Nobody thought that Hitler was much of a threat in 1933, and those who did, like Churchill, were roundly excoriated by the sophisticates like Neville Chamberlain. You saw where that went. Today, you act as though Al Qaeda is not a threat, but a victory for them in Iraq will give them the means to conquer Saudi Arabia and the oil revenues to buy the nuclear weapons that they can't develop on their own. When that happens, kiss Tel Aviv and Jerusalem goodbye. An Al Qaeda victory will drown out any hopes of moderation in the Ummah (the Arab street, as it were) and empower the extremes. Eventually, this will spill out of the Middle East and into Europe and Asia (where Islamists are already operating against the governments of Thailand and the Philippines). This Jihad is their "kampf" and they intend to continue to expand Dar Al Islam until we're all either converted or dead. I've seen these guys face to face and believe me, you don't want us leaving until we've won."

I agree that our defeat in Iraq would be huge, probably a greater blow to this nation's cultural identity than Vietnam and withdrawing now would be a disaster, but denying that the invasion and occupation of Iraq itself was a strategic blunder and ignoring the intitial conditions and the way in which this country was lead into this particular battle in the War on Terror will not futher the goal of defeating our enemies and only serves to divide the citizens of the United States.

[BikeWriter]

45. Thank you. The continued "leadership" of this misadministration...

can do nothing but complicate this clusterfuck exponentially.

[renie408]

25. Help me out....

I would also like to believe in your mission. I am completely serious when I say that not much would make me happier than being able to believe that we devestated Iraq for some reason other than the half-baked idea that we could influence the region from a US-friendly country in its middle. But here's the problem I am having....I don't know what your mission is. Your mission has been redefined so many times that I can't keep up. Bushco has changed what they say 'the mission' is to suit what they think Americans will tolerate best from the beginning.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[deutsey]

35. As opposed to the neocon Crusaders who want to subjugate the region?

I don't mean to be flippant with you and I don't mean to sound disrespectful to you. I do not oppose the US military; I oppose Bush's and the neocon's militarism.

You obviously have your political and philosophical views that lead you to believe what's happening in Iraq is good.

Many, if not all, of us who have been opposed to the invasion and occupation of Iraq from the beginning because we never found the "evidence" (or, more accurately, the propaganda) presented by Bush as credible. Our suspicions have been proven correct. Iraq had nothing to to do with 9/11 (Bush himself has said so). There were no WMDs (Bush himself has "joked" about this). We were told this invasion would "pay for itself" and that the Iraqis would have a fully functioning, secure democracy by now. Just take a look around you. Three car bomb blasts today alone. Factionalism deepening and spreading to point of near civil war. Water, electricity and other services are lacking for many civilians, while contractors like Halliburton make millions off of this disaster with little to show for it (and they're certainly making more than those of you in the Armed Services, and you're the ones often putting your lives on the line more than they do).

Now, someone like Cindy comes out demanding to know what "noble cause" her son died for. She's asking a legitimate question which leads to other questions that deserve answers: If the cause was so noble, as Bush claims, why did he have to lie to convince everyone that we had to undertake it? Why did he "fix" intelligence to frighten people into rallying behind it?

You're entitled to your views and I really do hope you return home safely soon. But there's more than enough reason for Cindy Sheehan and those of us who have opposed this crusade to stand up and speak out against this unnecessary war.

[Ian David]

26. These things stress a marriage, can lead to a divorce. Ask Newt Gingrich

Newt divorced his wife while she was in her hospital bed dying of cancer.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

47. Well, despite the fact that the thread got hijacked...

...I hope folks will take time to read Cindy's message. It's a good one.

:patriot:

[BikeWriter]

48. Yes, it is a wonderful message. It was frustrating watching this.

I was sure wishing last night I had Mod priveleges.

[mtnester]

49. Sigh, I knew when I posted this morning this thread would go this way..

I just did not get back in time to see it all before it was deleted, which leaves this thread VERY hard to follow now!

:)

[Sparkly]

50. "They hate us for our freedoms." That sums it up.

Freedom of speech, freedom to dissent, freedom to organize -- they can't stand it.

[Cha]

51. Thanks for this from Cindy..

She puts an amazing personal tragedy on this Invasion of Iraq..not just numbers of killed that may or may not see.

That's why the "barking dogs" are getting so vicious beyond anything human.

See ya all in solidarity tonight at 7:30pm for the Candle Light Vigil with Cindy Sheehan!

[moddemny]

52. I always seem to not catch many of the deleted posts....

I don't agree with many of the things he was saying but it was interesting to listen too.

I can't see how a solider could believe in Bush but I do understand their support for their own mission given what they have put on the line. He still seemed intelligent and not your typical right wing poster. I missed a few of his posts, what did he say that went overboard? Somebody find out he wasn't really in the military?

[moddemny]

53. If I remember correctly........

...... he mentioned there was a prison for the children of saddam's enemies, I would have liked to have known where he got that information from. An article? something he witnessed personally, etc.