Texas protest changes columnist's perspective
Mary deJuliis
Phoenix columnist
Cindy Sheehan's son, Casey, lost his life in Iraq. When the president visited her a few days after his death, the president changed the subject when she tried to talk about Casey and wouldn't look at pictures of her son.
As time has gone on, this has bothered her more and more. What really bothers her is that President Bush uses the death of her son and the other 1840-plus soldiers as a reason to continue our military presence in Iraq, and she doesn't understand what noble cause the president mentions but doesn't define. She plans to stay camped two miles from the gate of the Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch, now called Camp Casey, until the president talks to her or until Aug. 31. The camp is where her group was stopped for walking on the road instead of staying in the ditch. On Sept. 1, she plans to move the camp to the White House lawn.
Former President Nixon allowed antiwar protesters to gather and camp on the White House lawn and even went out and visited them with a very small Secret Service detail. I don't expect the same from Bush. Especially not after being at Camp Casey for a couple of days and seeing the police presence and tactics they used. But from the little I know of Cindy Sheehan after talking to her three or so times, I have no doubt that she will be camped somewhere in Washington D.C.
It was a very diverse crowd that gathered to support Cindy and protest the Iraq War in Camp Casey. The group changed as people had to return to their jobs and new people arrived. There were groups and organizations there that represent military families, several who had also lost loved ones in Iraq, some with family members currently serving in Iraq or shipping out soon.
The Peace House in Crawford was very helpful and supportive. Code Pink, which is a national group of women and veterans trying to stop this war, had members present from chapters in California and several Texas cities. Veterans were there. Families took detours and a few days out of their vacation to support the cause of ending the Iraq War, and several ministers, along with moms like me from everywhere who felt compelled to go to Crawford after hearing Cindy's story. I met folks from Minnesota, Illinois, California, Washington, Tennesee, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Oregon.
I went to pay my respects to a grieving mother. There is no way I can express my feelings to the families of all 1,841 KIAs (the count when I left for Crawford,) so I paid my respects to Cindy and the other grieving moms and wives who I found at Camp Casey. I was very moved by the more than 1,841 white crosses that lined the side of the country road from the campsite back towards Crawford. Each one represented a fallen soldier. They were placed along the side of the road, three or four back, and went for about a mile. Each cross or star of David had a soldier's name. They were hard to look at going as far as the eye could see to a bend in the road without thinking of your own children. And there are so many soldiers who have come home injured. War isn't a video game. It isn't a movie. They don't get back up when it's over.
The president had to pass the crosses and protestors when he attended a GOP fundraiser Friday afternoon (Aug. 12) at a nearby ranch. We protestors were backed farther away from the road, roped off with police tape for about four hours with Secret Service, state and county law enforcement officers. A helicopter flew overhead lower than others that we were accustomed to. The helicopter had an agent riding outside with a weapon trained on us, but once the motorcade passed he moved on as well. The motorcade went by us twice very fast, and a few of the vehicles had rifles pointed out open windows. I was thankful no one made any sudden moves.
Being there has changed my perspective regarding veterans. I have always respected the men and women of our military. But I don't think I've been showing it like one should. They honor our country and we citizens by their great service and sacrifice. We should respect and honor them. They go into the military and train to protect our country and our freedoms and understand they may have to sacrifice their lives. They trust our government to be in the right and don't question it. We should do what we can to ensure they aren't misused, abused or cast aside by our own government. We can do this by paying attention to what the people we elect are doing in Washington D.C. and calling or writing them when we are happy with them and when we are not. It's time to get off the couch, take 10 minutes out of your lunch break, or whenever you can find a few minutes as this is important.
I will never miss another Veteran's Day parade. I will write members of Congress at the first sign they are thinking of closing VA hospitals or cutting veterans' benefits. I am ashamed that the folks on Capital Hill balked at passing a bill to cover the shortfall in the VA budget for health care until there was a bombing in London.
We Americans have sat by while this administration and top Pentagon officials have gone against the Geneva Convention, which will put our troops in harm's way for years to come. This administration felt the need to have "torture" defined by the attorney general for the first time.
We Americans have sat by and allowed the low-level military personnel become scapegoats after the torture photographs came out. Everyone knows that in the military you follow orders without question. We haven't seen all the torture photos and videos. I'm sure we don't want the world to see our shame. Once we know about it and do nothing to stop it, then aren't we just as guilty as those who carry it out?
I am not antiwar. As long as it is possible for people like Adolph Hitler to come to power and persecute people, then there is a possibility for a need of military action. We need military presence here at home to protect ourselves from attack, so closing all the bases under Base Realignment And Closure makes absolutely no sense to me. I'm not sure why we need all those military bases all over the world, as I don't see the strategy of some of their locations. But I'm no expert.
I am antiwar in Iraq because we were lied to about why we are in Iraq, our troops still don't have enough protective equipment, there were no weapons of mass destruction and Iraq wasn't responsible for the bombing of the World Trade Center. The first report I saw on CNN was that Marines had successfully secured 20 oil sites. It hasn't been about taking democracy to the Iraqi people. The Downing Street memos, the massive number of soldiers returning wounded and with missing limbs and more than 1,841 American soldiers' deaths, those are some of the reason's I am against the war in Iraq.
We Americans should make sure we elect officials who will send our boys to war only when absolutely necessary. I do not intend to be partisan as I am very disappointed in the leadership in both parties. I am disappointed in "we Americans," too, as many of us have sat quietly by and let this happen and that includes me. I pray that our troops will be home by Thanksgiving. I don't care which side of the aisle in Congress can get it done. But I don't think it will happen unless we Americans start letting our voices be heard. Peace.
Published: Torsdag, August 18, 2005
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