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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (204407)	9/29/2004 10:30:42 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578045

Families of Iraq War Dead Target Bush in Ads Wednesday, September 29, 2004 4:30 p.m. ET By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Angered by President Bush's policy in Iraq, a group of military families whose relatives died there is targeting the president in new television ads to be aired ahead of the Nov. 2 election. "I think the American people need to know that we have been betrayed in this rush to war," said Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey is among more than 1,000 U.S. troops who died in Iraq. Sheehan joined a small group of military families at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday to launch new political ads by an interest group called RealVoices.org, which supports Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's White House bid. The first ads are set to run next week nationally and in battleground cities of Las Vegas, Orlando and Albuquerque. In one ad, Sheehan is seen sobbing as she tells the story of her son, 24-year-old Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who died in the arms of his best friend in Iraq on April 4. Sheehan, who lives in Vacaville, California, said she was prepared for critics likely to accuse her of being unpatriotic but she said she had to speak out in an attempt to stop more young Americans dying in Iraq. Nadia McCaffrey, a French-American whose son Patrick was killed in an ambush in Iraq on June 22, held up a picture of her only child clutching flowers given to him by Iraqi children about half an hour before he died. "Can somebody tell me why my son had to die? We need some changes in this country. Strong, positive changes. We need to see things the way they are, not the way we are told. And yes, there is nothing I can do to replace my son," she said. Another ad shows Raphael Zappala, whose brother Sgt. Sherwood Baker was killed on April 26 in Iraq while searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The threat of such weapons was given by Bush as the key reason for going into Iraq but no such weapons were found. "The war was based on false stories and bad information. As the truth comes out, we know that the president was withholding information (about Iraq)," said Zappala, who also criticized the president for not providing all troops with body armor. Zappala's family is active in "Military Families Speak Out" (www.mfso.org), a group that opposes the U.S. war in Iraq and has about 1,700 families among its members. OPPOSING VIEWS Another group, "Military Moms with a Mission," is campaigning for Kerry in 30 cities across America. "They are traveling the country telling people their stories and why George Bush has let them down. Many are frustrated that George Bush is not telling the truth about the reality in Iraq," said Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton. Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said the president enjoyed broad support among veterans and the military, which he had supported with the best equipment, pay and resources. "The president's most solemn duty is to protect this nation and the most difficult task he has is to put our men and women in harm's way," said Stanzel. "We will honor their sacrifice by completing the mission in Iraq and bringing stability and freedom to a troubled area of the world so that it no longer breeds terror," he added. Countering the campaign to support Kerry are similar groups who back Bush and his policy in Iraq. One of these, retired Air Force Capt. Linda Bergin who is campaigning in New Jersey said many veterans and people still in the military felt Kerry had been disloyal, particularly for criticizing the U.S. presence in Vietnam after he returned from fighting there. "People are heartbroken their people are over there (in Iraq) but out of respect of their child, they want to support the president," she said. wireservice.wired.com