Could politics have changed grieving mother's views? (Cindy Sheehan)

Potomac News ^ | 08/10/2005 | Charles Reichley

[CharlesWayneCT]

Could politics have changed grieving mother's views?

By CHARLES REICHLEY Columnist

Potomac News Wednesday, August 10, 2005

I heard Cindy Sheehan on C-Span Tuesday morning. Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Casey had just arrived in Iraq. When a group of soldiers were ambushed, he volunteered for the rescue mission which took his life. His mother is sitting on a road in Crawford, Texas demanding a meeting with President Bush. This would be her second meeting. Last June she was in a group of families of fallen soldiers who met individually with the President in Seattle.

After that meeting she gave her impression to a hometown newspaper, saying of the President "I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," and "I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss." Her husband Pat added "I have a new respect for him because he was sincere."

What a difference a year makes. Cindy is now an avid anti-war protester. She founded the group Gold Star Families For Peace. She joined the movement to impeach Bush. She was one of four people called to "testify" at a fake hearing about the Downing Street Memo. And her recollection of her meeting with the President has changed dramatically.

She now says that, rather than being sincere, being sorry, and feeling her pain, Bush treated the meeting like "a party." She says "there was nothing in his eyes or anything else about him that showed me he really cared or had any real compassion at all." The starkly different accounts have raised questions about her veracity.

On C-Span, she chastised the media for "parsing her words" after her meeting last year with the President. And I wanted to agree with her. After all, she did lose her son. She has a right to her opinion of the war, and of the President. Nobody wants to question the thoughts and feelings of a grieving mother

But her description of her meeting with the President doesn't make sense. And tragedy is neither a license to hatred, nor a free pass to slander. Her new story is an unsubstantiated personal attack to advance her political agenda, and it must be answered.

If you believe her original comments, it is clear she is now lying about the meeting. But even without those words, her new story is unbelievable. Bush has had many meetings with families of dead soldiers. If he was treating these people poorly, we would have heard of it long ago. Instead, the reports from those visits reveal a President who cares deeply about the sacrifice of these families.

For example, in November of 2003, Bush was in England for a ceremony honoring dead British soldiers at Westminster Abbey. Relatives were invited to meet with him, and all reported favorably about the meeting. One father who planned to challenge Bush about the war said after the meeting "I would say he's the most genuine guy I have ever met." A mother who wanted to dislike Bush said "It's really hard, I don't like to say this, but I actually think he was quite genuine. He seemed genuinely quite upset and quite emotional."

Then there is this quote Cindy attributes to Bush: "I can't even imagine losing a loved one, a mother or a father or a sister or a brother." But the President did lose a sister. His mother has said several times that his sister's death had a great impact on him. So in fact he certainly can imagine what it is like.

Cindy has used her celebrity to make many outrageous statements. Commenting on a Bush speech in June, she said of our own Sen. John Warner "Of course, he fell in lockstep behind his F?hrer (Bush) and praised the speech." On a recent talk show she said "this country is immoral, the laws are immoral, the people who enforce the laws are immoral." She refuses to pay taxes for last year, saying "You give me my son, and I'll pay your taxes."

After 14 marines were killed last week, the President consoled their loved ones by ensuring them that they had died for a noble cause. This enraged Cindy, who says their deaths are not noble, but meaningless.

Ralph Peters is a writer for the New York Post. Writing about the attack he said: "Yet those Marines were not the terrorists' primary target. You were. Our enemies know the Marines won't quit. But they hope you will."

Cindy Sheehan is doing her best to convince America to quit. Her son joined the military, and re-enlisted to fight in Iraq. He gave his life defending his fellow soldiers. She has debased his sacrifice, and those of many other soldiers, for her own political purposes.

Charles Reichley has been a Prince William County resident since 1981. He can be reached at: criticallythinking@msn.com

Copyright © 2005

[CharlesWayneCT]

A column I published in my local newspaper this week.

[whershey]

Well said.

[wingnutx]

Bravo.

She has blamed Israel for her son's death on a few occasions, too.