What
One Mom Has to Say to George Bush
© 2005 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
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
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
“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
The
co-founder of Gold Star Mothers for Peace objected to hearing that her son was
among the soldiers lost in
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
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
###
Ferner
is a writer in