Personal Message From Vacaville

What follows are posts from FReeper Mom of Two Soldiers, a Vacaville resident who has quite a bit of background knowledge of events of the last few years vis-a-vis the Sheehan's and Vacaville's response to 9/11.

We were present at the Vacaville caravan two days ago. From the articles in the Associated Press and in the San Francisco Chronicle, one would have thought there were two different functions.

Anxiously, while the group waited for arrival, there were two families present who were somber and anxious. One from Vallejo and one from Vacaville.

The Vallejo family was the brother of a solider hwo had fallen in Iraq. The Vacaville family was a father of a fallen Marine. On March 23, 2003, Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams, 31, was killed in action during a firefight around Nasiriyah, Iraq. The Yuma, Ariz., native was reported missing in action March 26 before the military changed his status three days later to killed in action. He was based in Camp Lejeune, N.C., and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. He was engaged to be married and proposed while on a ship in Kuwait, prior to going into battle.

One could tell that the mention of Sheehan brought up emotions for the family members. Hands visibly shook as the father, Joseph Wilson, put a photograph of his son and a folded flag in front of it, upon the hood of his truck.

Hugs of support were given to him and to one another from members of the group, mostly families of soldiers, former soldiers and those who have been personally touched by the War in Iraq.

By those who were in the same hometown as Cindy Sheehan and who don't agree with her statements that what our sons and daughters were risking their lives for was a "noble cause," that the U.S. get out of Palestine (echoing the sentiments of terrorists)and the partisan political statements she continues to make. "Our government is run by one party, every level," Sheehan continued, "and the mainstream media is a propaganda tool for the government." Sheehan also called the 2004 presidential election "the election, quote-unquote, that happened in November."

They didn't agree with Sheehan's support of Lynn Stewart, who was charged with aiding and abetting terrorists who have been trying to kill our U.S. citizens and our children fighting overseas.

Sheehan said she considered Lynne Stewart her Atticus Finch, the lawyer who defended an innocent Black man accused of rape in the book and film “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

“They’re not waging a War on Terror but a War of Terror,” she said. “The biggest terrorist is George W. Bush.” She claimed “it costs $66,000 to recruit one soldier, not including training, and $49,000 a year to house a prisoner, yet only $6,000 per year is spent to educate a child in California. (Recruiting costs are actually $15,000 per soldier, the cost of housing a prisoner in California for one year is $26,000.)

Sheehan continued, “9/11 was Pearl Harbor for the neo-conservatives’ agenda” and declared the U.S. government a “morally repugnant system.” Then she raged:

We have no Constitution. We’re the only country with no checks and balances. We want our country back if we have to impeach George Bush down to the person who picks up the dog sh-t in Washington! Let George Bush send his two little party animals to die in Iraq. It’s OK for Israel to have nuclear weapons but we are waging nuclear war in Iraq, we have contaminated the entire country. It’s not OK for Syria to be in Lebanon. Hypocrites! But Israel can occupy Palestine? Stop the slaughter!

Nowhere do the articles indicating media bias indicate that Casey reenlisted in the military, coming home for a period of time and encouraging many young Vacaville adults to enlist. That he was proud of what he was doing and he believed in what he was doing in Iraq.

We, in Vacaville, know the family, knew Casey and know of the difficulties the Sheehans had before and after Casey's death.

We knew of the John Kerry campaign coming out to visit them just after it occurred, as they tried to do with many other families. We knew of the referral to the Fenton Communications agency. Most of us know how she has been used.

Many of us comforted the family. Some of our troops, from Travis Air Force Base faced hostile fire to bring Casey home to his parents. Sheehan was grateful then. Now, she slams them for THEIR wishes that the way they honor their fallen be done in privacy.

Nowhere in the articles by the media on the Vacaville event, did it indicate families of other fallen soldiers were at odds with her or even existed.

Nowhere does it state that while individuals were in the parking lot, during the press conferences, vehicles drove by honking in support.

The story of Vacaville was basically ignored by the SF Chronicle and by the Associated Press, who tried to minimize what occurred.

And what occurred were the long time friends and neighbors of Cindy Sheehan standing behind her during her time of grief and standing up against her during her time of anger. Not only long time friends and neighbors, but families and parents of military members, loved ones of fallen soldiers and those who knew Casey and knew he was a hero.

Most frustrating are the times in which Casey died. In March of that year, John Kerry stood up for Al Sadr, the Muslim Cleric who called in his newspaper for the deaths of U.S. troops. Kerry stated in public radio that Al Sadr had a legitimate voice (to call for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq) and that the military should not have shut down his newspaper. It was Al Sadr's people who killed Casey Sheehan. It was John Kerry who approached her and used her after that occurred. None of us can understand why Cindy Sheehan would embrace someone after that occurred.

So, the REAL story from Vacaville...the truth that the newspapers are not telling you.

'Peace Mom' returns to Texas war protest
Boston Globe, United States - 8 hours ago

'Peace Mom' returns to Texas to continue anti-war protest
USA Today

Sheehan returns to anti-war vigil after weeklong trip to ...
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription)
Cindy Sheehan: 'I am not the issue' Scripps Howard News Service

Cindy Sheehan: Coming Back to Crawford
Yahoo News

Cindy Sheehan returns to Texas
China Daily, China - 5 hours ago

Hundreds gathered to honor Cindy Sheehan
Lexington Minuteman, MA - 2 hours ago

Joan Baez Joins Peace Mom's Cause
CBS News

******

CLIFFORD D. MAY: An open letter to Cindy Sheehan

Scripps Howard News Service
Last Updated: August 24, 2005, 12:47:00 PM PDT

(SH) - Dear Cindy Sheehan:

I know you want to talk to President Bush about the conflict in Iraq, the war in which your son, Specialist Casey Sheehan, was tragically killed. I also know that while the president met with you previously, he is not eager to see you again - not now that you are affiliated with Moveon.org and supported by David Duke and handled by slick public-relations professionals.

So let me suggest an alternative: Come visit with me. Our meeting probably won't get much publicity, but I can promise you an interesting discussion. I could have some people join us - for example, a few of the many Iraqi freedom fighters with whom I've been working for the past several years, many of them women, as well as democracy and human-rights activists from Syria, Iran, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon and other countries.

You say you want to know, "What is the noble cause that my son died for?" They would answer: Your son died fighting a war against an extremist movement intent on destroying free societies and replacing them with racist dictatorships.

The Iraqis will want to tell you what life was like under Saddam Hussein - the mass murders of hundreds of thousands, the women and girls who were gang-raped by Saddam's cronies, the creative forms of torture that were ignored by the "international community."

I know several Baghdadi businessmen whom Saddam suspected of disloyalty. He had their right hands amputated. Want to meet them? The doctors who were forced to perform these amputations are worth chatting with as well.

It's true, as you and others have pointed out, that we did not find Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction. But don't be misled into believing that Saddam never had any. Indeed, he used chemical weapons against the Kurds, slaughtering thousands in villages like Halabja, where mothers laid down in the streets and embraced their children in their final moments. We can show you pictures. We can introduce you to survivors.

Like you, I wish America's intelligence agencies had known more than they did about Saddam's capabilities. But Saddam's intentions were never in doubt.

Cindy, you've been calling for the United States to get out of Iraq at a time when our enemies in that country include the most aggressive and lethal branch of al-Qaida, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Can you not see that if we were to retreat from Iraq now, it would be a historic defeat for the United States?

And it would be a huge victory for al-Qaida. Zarqawi would view himself - not without justification - as a giant killer. Recruits would flock to him for the many battles that would, inevitably, follow. We could not expect to do better in those battles than we did in Iraq.

We will never be able to make ourselves inoffensive to the racist death cults that have declared war on us. When these barbarians kill brave Americans like Casey Sheehan, we can't run and hide. Or rather we can - but that only invites the terrorists to hit us again. For years we didn't understand that. The consequence was Sept. 11, 2001.

Remember: We fled from Somalia in 1993. We left Saddam in power after the first Gulf War in 1991. We did nothing much after the Hezbollah bombing of our Marine barracks in 1983. Our response to the taking of American hostages in Tehran in 1979 was toothless.

In each of these cases - and too many others - we demonstrated to our enemies that there would be no penalty for humiliating and even slaughtering Americans. In each of these cases Osama bin Laden saw evidence that Americans are irresolute and weak; that America's military - for all its sophistication and technology - would prove no match for determined hostage-takers, decapitators and suicide bombers.

One more thing: Your slogan has been "America out of Iraq!" and also "Israel out of Palestine!" I wonder if you understand that you are calling for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their ancient homeland. I wonder if you understand that more than half of all Israelis fled from places like Tehran, Cairo and Tripoli - and they are not welcome to return. I wonder if you understand that there is no way for Israelis to get "out of Palestine" that does not include genocide.

If you and your supporters are not, in fact, arguing for another Holocaust, would you be so good as to clarify your remarks?

Again, Cindy, I hope we can discuss all of this and more in my office with my friends - fighters for freedom who count on the support of freedom-loving Americans. Will you join us for lunch? Tuna or turkey?

Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.

ROFLOL!!!

Check this out...Whoo hoo...Shelia Jackson Lee and Joan Baez with Margot Kidder tomorrow! I'm soooo excited! roflol!

******

Raw Radio Miracles Can Happen! And today they did!
Live and Deep in the Heart of Texas!
Plus: Rep. Shiela Jackson Lee's Surprise Appearance, A THIRD Night of Baez to Come Tomorrow and Margot Kidder on Tomorrow's BRAD SHOW!

Wow...What a day...A radio miracle, indeed. The BRAD SHOW via RAW RADIO's "Operation Noble Cause" seems to now be up and running from Crawford Texas!

Thanks to Ben Burch of WhiteRoseSociety.org today's extraordinary 4 hours will now be looping throughout the night until we fire it up again tomorrow at HIGH NOON Central Time tomorrow. ReBRADCasting all night long! Option 1 or Option 2 (whatever works best for your audio player).

As well, here's the Joan Baez interview [MP3]with commercial breaks pulled out (again, thanks to Ben and WhiteRose! You saved our lives!)

Baez decided to stick around another day and is about to give an account of "Her Life in Activism" which will include a few songs as well (she tells us) and some other performances from some other folks.

And now, she's just been introducted by a suprise guest -- Rep. Shiela Jackson Lee...and further surprise, Baez is to make it a two-parter! She's gonna be here another night for part II of "Her Life in Activism" (Come on down folks!)

If I'd had more than 40 minutes sleep last night, I might be more articulate now. But listen to whatever you can of today's show. I think there was some extraordinary stuff. Amazing voices. And the last thirty minutes just tore me up...

But here's some fresh skinny for ya...We'll be back LIVE at NOON CT tomorrow (1p ET, 10a PT) and our first guest will be Superman's Margot Kidder, whose just become a U.S. citizen last week!

And oh, the things you'll hear...Stay tuned...

Thanks again to those who can DONATE to help keep us up on the air! And to those who have done so already!

We hope to have another audio highlight or two soon!

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