(Cindy Sheehan) Mom Protesting Iraq War Meets Bush Aides

Associated Press via WTOP Radio ^ | 8/6/2005 | DEB RIECHMANN

[markomalley]

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - The angry mother of a fallen U.S. soldier staged a protest near President Bush's ranch Saturday, demanding an accounting from Bush of how he has conducted the war in Iraq.

Supported by more than 50 demonstrators who chanted, "W. killed her son!" Cindy Sheehan told reporters: "I want to ask the president, 'Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?'" Sheehan, 48, didn't get to see Bush, but did talk about 45 minutes with national security adviser Steve Hadley and deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin, who went out to hear her concerns.

Appreciative of their attention, yet undaunted, Sheehan said she planned to continue her roadside vigil, except for a few breaks, until she gets to talk to Bush. Her son, Casey, 24, was killed in Sadr City, Iraq, on April 4, 2004. He was an Army specialist, a Humvee mechanic.

"They (the advisers) said we are in Iraq because they believed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, that the world's a better place with Saddam gone and that we're making the world a safer place with what we're doing over there," Sheehan said in a telephone interview after the meeting.

"They were very respectful. They were nice men. I told them Iraq was not a threat to the United States and that now people are dead for nothing. I told them I wouldn't leave until I talked to George Bush."

She said Hagin told her, "I want to assure you that he (Bush) really does care."

"And I said if he does care, why doesn't he come out and talk to me."

Sheehan arrived in Crawford aboard a bus painted red, white and blue and emblazoned with the words, "Impeachment Tour." Sheehan, from Vacaville, Calif., had been attending a Veterans for Peace convention in Dallas.

The bus, trailed by about 20 cars of protesters and reporters, drove at about 15 mph toward Bush's ranch. After several miles, they parked the vehicles and began to march, in stifling heat, farther down the narrow country road.

Flanked by miles of pasture, Sheehan spoke with reporters while clutching two photographs, one of her son in uniform, and the other, a baby picture, when he was seven months old.

She said she decided to come to Crawford a few days ago after Bush said that fallen U.S. troops had died for a noble cause and that the mission must be completed.

"I want to ask the president, `Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?" she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Last week, you said my son died for a noble cause' and I want to ask him what that noble cause is?"

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said response that Bush also wants the troops to return home safely.

"Many of the hundreds of families the president has met with know their loved one died for a noble cause and that the best way to honor their sacrifice is to complete the mission," Duffy said.

"It is a message the president has heard time and again from those he has met with and comforted. Like all Americans, he wants the troops home as soon as possible."

The group marched about a half-mile before local law enforcement officials stopped them at a bend in the road, still four to five miles from the ranch's entrance. Capt. Kenneth Vanek of the McLennan County Sheriff's Office said the group was stopped because some marchers ignored instructions to walk in the ditch beside the road, not on the road.

"If they won't cooperate, we won't," Vanek said.

[firebrand]

It is sad that this woman does not have the staunch patriotism and heroism shown by so many American parents. But it is also sad that she lost her son--that can be an overwhelming loss. My prayers are with her.

[God luvs America]

this women is sick...no two ways about it....she was a speaker at the Conyers hearing on the Downing Street Memo with Joe Wilson and claimed that her son's demise was "a premeditated death"....

Then this:

Mom, Who Lost Son In Iraq, Talks About 'Disgusting' White House meeting with Bush

---

His eyes were empty, hollow shells and he was acting like I should be proud to be in his presence.....

Cindy Sheehan has already had her heart ripped into a million pieces by the illegal Iraqi war, losing the son she loved more than life itself only five days after he arrived in Baghdad in April 2004.

There is nothing more painful or more heart breaking than a parent losing a child.

And for Sheehan to lose her 24-year-old son, Casey, must have been like someone taking her very own heart and soul and, without warning, ripping them out and throwing them into the depths of hell.

No one should have to experience such pain, but the cold reality of war is that someone’s child actually dies and there are actual parents left living with the hopeless task of trying to cope with the pain.

And anyone with any semblance of a heart and soul knows a mother coping with such a loss needs all the help and understanding she can get.

Anyone with the slightest bit of compassion knows a kind word or a shoulder to cry on helps a mother, who experienced the ultimate loss, get through another day when every day feels like it could be the end of the world.

So when Sheehan received an invitation to meet privately with President Bush at the White House two months after her son died, the least she could have expected was a bit of compassion or a kind word coming from the heart.

But what she encountered was an arrogant man with eyes lacking the slightest bit of compassion, a President totally "detached from humanity" and a man who didn’t even bother to remember her son’s name when they were first introduced.

Instead of a kind gesture or a warm handshake, Sheehan said she immediately got a taste of Bush arrogance when he entered the room and "in a condescending tone and with a disgusting loud Texas accent," said: "Who we’all honorin’ here today?"

"His mouth kept moving, but there was nothing in his eyes or anything else about him that showed me he really cared or had any real compassion at all. This is a human being totally disconnected from humanity and reality. His eyes were empty, hollow shells and he was acting like I should be proud to just be in his presence when it was my son who died for his illegal war! It was one of the most disgusting experiences I ever had and it took me almost a year to even talk about it," said Sheehan in a telephone conversation from Washington D.C. where she was attending a July 4th anti-war rally.

Sheehan said the June 2004 private meeting with the President went from bad to worse to a nightmare when Bush acted like he didn’t even want to know her name. She said Bush kept referring to her as ‘Ma’ or ‘Mom’ while he "put on a phony act," saying things like ‘Mom, I can’t even imagine losing a loved one, a mother or a father or a sister or a brother.’

"The whole meeting was simply bizarre and disgusting, designed to intimidate instead of providing compassion. He didn’t even know our names," said Sheehan. "Finally I got so upset I just looked him in the eye, saying ‘I think you can imagine losing someone. You have two daughters. Imagine losing them?’ After I said that he just looked at me, looked at me with no feeling or caring in his eyes at all."

Sheehan said what really upset her about the meeting is that Bush appeared to become annoyed and even angry at her daughter Carley, 25, who also attended the White House get-together.

"My daughter said to him directly ‘I wish I could bring my loved one back’ and he said something like ‘so do we.’ Later she told me that after he made his remark he gave her one of the filthiest looks she had ever had gotten in her life.

"I just couldn’t believe this was happening. It was so surreal and bizarre. Later I met with some of the other 15or 16 families who were at the White House the same day and, sure enough, they all felt the same way I did.

"It’s interesting that they put us each in separate rooms. I heard this was done to prevent any type of group outburst and since it’s easier to control a situation when people are separated. Looking back, all I can say is that the meeting with Bush was one of the most disgusting experiences in my life.

"And I even asked him: ‘Why did you even bother to bring us here when I didn’t vote for you and don’t support the illegal nature of your war?’ He said it wasn’t political but I know it was just another one of his lies, as he probably wanted to be able to say out on the political stump that he wasn’t afraid to meet with families who lost loved one’s in the war."

Although Sheehan was opposed to the illegal nature of the war from the outset, it wasn’t until January that she began to become politically active.

Besides speaking at rallies and becoming known in Washington for her outspoken criticism of Bush, Sheehan formed a group called Gold Star Families For Peace, joining together families who lost loved ones in an effort to expose the illegal nature of the war and to hasten the return of troops still fighting in Iraq.

Her involvement with the anti-war movement also led her recently to join forces with the After Downing Street movement, a civic, political and activist group seeking to open a Presidential impeachment inquiry based on the release of damaging British intelligence documents showing Bush doctored WMD intelligence reports to justify his war policy.

"Americans need to wake up and we need to put public pressure on our leaders to end this illegal war," said Sheehan, adding that if the public remains passive, recent statements by Donald Rumsfeld that the war may last another 12 years will come true. "We can’t let these people continue to murder our children and also continue murdering innocent Iraqi citizens, now totaling more than 100.000.

"This is an immoral war based on a false premise. Iraq was never an imminent threat and the Downing Street Memo proves Bush went to war for oil, greed and all the wrong reasons.

Commenting on Bush’s recent speech at Ft. Bragg intended to rally America behind an unpopular war, she said:

"He never mentioned the WMD threat and repeatedly brought up 9/11 in an attempt to scare and frighten everyone again. People have characterized the speech in many ways, but if I had to pick a few words, I would say hypocritical, manipulative, condescending, meaningless drivel."

After the speech, Sheehan was unexpectedly invited on the CNN Larry King Show June 28, but expressed concern and outright anger over the fact she was only given 82 seconds to be "the token anti-war peace speaker" in an hour show which essentially contained a pro war message from all the other guests.

In a recent rebuttal article placed on the Internet, expressing her displeasure with some of the CNN guests and the short time given for her anti-war message, she wrote:

"My absolute favorite guest of the evening was Sen. John Warner, powerful chair of the Senate Armed (Disservices) Committee. Of course, he fell in lockstep behind his Führer (Bush) and praised the speech…. I sat in the Green Room with Sen. Warner's entourage. I wondered (even out loud) what price they have paid for our administration's misdeeds in Iraq. They all looked like happy, well-fed, well-dressed, well-educated, and well-hydrated Americans.…I sincerely doubt if any of them had a loved one ripped from their lives by a car bomb, IED, or bullet in an ambush.

"I spoke with John Warner after his interview and told him unless he was prepared to sacrifice even a good night's sleep over this senseless and criminal war, then he should work on ending it, not prolonging the carnage. He told me that I was "entitled to my opinion," but he would respectfully have to disagree with me. That was awfully Constitutional of him!

"I finally got to speak for my 82 seconds (all the time Larry King Live could spare for the peace message) about how this war is a catastrophe and how we should bring the troops home and quit forcing the

Iraqi people to pay for our government's hubris and quit forcing innocent children to suffer so we can allegedly fight terrorism somewhere besides America. How absolutely racist and immoral is it to

take America's battles to another land and make an entire country pay for the crimes of others? To me, this is blatant genocide.

"After my brief advocacy for peace, my position was refuted by another mom whose son was killed in Iraq in 2003, saying she "totally disagrees" with me and "feels sorry" for me.

"Well, you know what? I ache for her blindness and for the millions of ‘sheeple’ who have had the wool pulled over their eyes by this bunch of hypocritical, bad shepherds who are running a disastrous herd over the world. I have distressing news for the ‘Soccer Safety Moms’ and the ‘NASCAR Dads’ who are such ardent supporters of this administration and war:

"Your grandchildren and children who will be entering Kindergarten this fall will be fighting George's endless war if he gets his way and is allowed to continue spreading the cancer of imperialism in the Middle-East….

"Think about it when you tuck your child into bed tonight."

you want to her sorry for her loss but she is a lunatic.

[AliVeritas]

Had she not come with a busload, more in cars and followed by reporters...it wouldn't have looked like an agenda instead of a mother wanting to know what he's doing and why. In other words, it was surely announced that she planned to go to the ranch at this function.

I'm sure her son didn't sign up at 7 months, was an adult and knew what he was facing. After 16 months you decide to go? She could have hit one or more of the stumps running up to the election.

[Fawn]

These people are pathetic......copycats. They have no imagination. They look for excuses to use the exact same words we used on Clinton. 'Impeachment' ...and that lady who screamed at Clinton that 'you killed my son'. What total losers they are......

[Avenger]

"I can't even imagine this happening in 1941-1945 when we lost 400,000 men"

Yep, most of these so-called "peace protestors" are too dim-witted to realize that they are only making future conflict more likely by encouraging our adversaries. The leaders of these movements know this, but they aren't really interested in peace; for them its just a recruitment tool (along with racism, the environment, social justice, etc.) to hook the useful idiots.

[Sam Hill]

Who was the idiot staffer who arranged this?

This is no ordinary "mom." She has been helping the anti-American creeps for some time, including appearing with Joe Wilson and Ray "VIPS" McGovern before Conyers pretend hearing:

Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star Families for Peace

 

at Conyer's Hearing on Downing Street Minutes

 

 Ray McGovern, a former CIA agent (R), places a photo of the son of Cindy Sheehan, founder of Gold Star Families for American Peace(C) on the table as Ambassador Joseph Wilson looks on during an unofficial forum on the Downing Street Minutes on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC June 16, 2005. The document, created in 2002 for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that United States President George W. Bush was intent on invading Iraq and that intelligence was being manipulated to support Bushs interests. Sheehan's son, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan was killed in Iraq. REUTERS/Chris Kleponis

[DuckFan4ever]

President Bush should not be meeting with anyone who 'demands' a meeting. I'm fairly certain President Bush did not kill her son, that it was terrorists who did that.

[Thinkin' Gal]

Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., center, whose son died in Iraq, listens to Capt. Ken Vanek of the McLennan County (Texas) Sheriff's Office, left, as he discusses the procedures for a peace protest by Sheehan and others to confront President Bush at his ranch, in Crawford, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2005. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

[ErnBatavia]

Well, it sounds like Bush's aides handled it well.

Better yet to have ignored her instead of meeting with her and giving her credibility. Bonehead move.

[CyberCowboy777]

She can whine all she wants.

She has no more right to personally air grievances with the POTUS than I do.

She has spat upon the graves of those soldiers who believed in what they were fighting for.

Disagree? Fine. Lie, cheat and whine for an agenda, piss on you.

[Michael.SF.]

Cindy Sheehen is from my town, Benicia, California, her and a group of fellow protesters are at the local Benicia park every week. They are all a bunch of nut cases, as I found out if you click on the link.

I have seen Cindy with a sign that claims we have killed 100,000, a lie refuted numerous times.

[MississippiMan]

I get so tired of people who cheapen the sacrifice of their own sons and daughters with such cheesy, selfish theatrics. The people who died understood the concept of sacrifice for a greater good, but these pitiful left-behinds are so myopic that they put themselves above the interests of a third of a billion people.

MM

[AliVeritas]

"Exploited by more than 50 demonstrators who chanted, "W. killed her son!

(in other words, not ours...who are we and why are we here if I nor anyone in my family has sacrificed for their country...why are we riding this woman's coat-tails for our own agenda and using her even more than she has been used previously?)"

Wonder if she thinks about what her son would say?
Much better

[ThreePuttinDude]

Post # 12

Cindy Sheehan: Are Those Crocodile Tears?

Ordinarily I have a great deal of sympathy for the families of soldiers who die in combat defending our freedom. I lose that sympathy, when I see those same family members using the death or injury of their loved one for political gain.

Cindy Sheehan is pursuing a vendetta of hate against the President that predates the loss of her son. She hates George Bush, not because she believes that he is responsible for her son’s death, but because he “stole the election” in 2000 and again in 2004. She is a willing participant in the campaign of hate that the Left has pursued against President Bush since his victory in 2000. She is currently an active participant in Representative Conyers’ impeachment campaign against the President. This is a woman I watched recite an account of her son's sacrifice without shedding a tear, not a catch in her voice, or even a hesitation; no sign of grief whatsoever. His aunt who was also present was in tears as her sister read her son's story. Did she love her son? Certainly she did, all mothers love their sons; the difference is that most mothers don’t exploit the death of their sons for political purposes. They may, as in the case of MADD, use their tragedy to motivate them to pursue moral crusades to have laws passed, but these women have no political agenda prior to their loss. They are spurred to action by their loss. If Mizzz Sheehan was truly motivated by the loss of her son to pursue the ones who caused his death, she would be out for the head of Muqtada al Sadr, not President Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld.
-------------------------------------------------

I knew this sounded familiar, thanks for the refresher.

[RedRover]

Exactly!
The mother says, "Why doesn't he come out and talk to me?" Meanwhile, 70 people are jumping up and down behind her screaming, "W. killed her son!"
This woman is being used by people with no shame.

[armymarinemom]

I can't even imagine this happening in 1941-1945 when we lost 400,000 men

Actually it did happen. During WWII there was a radical group of Mothers who banded together and named themselves similar to other mothers groups then too. The media ignored them.

[CindyDawg]

No. She's a grieving mom. I think we ought to leave her alone. Be angry at the people using her. I hope GB does schedule a private interview with her.

[CyberCowboy777]

She is not angry about her sons death, she is angry because she is not running the world.

Narcissistic at the least, probably egomaniacle.

Her "opinion" is one of self interest and will never be swayed.

[CyberAnt]

I agree with you. I'm sure if one of my sons was killed in a war I would be devastated. However, the son was old enough to make the decision to go .. so as a parent you can't really fault the commanders .. the risk was the child's to make.

It's sad .. and I believe that's why the President sent the aides out to speak with her. I don't agree with that, but I'm sure his heart is broken over the mom's anguish.

But .. showing up in a bus with the words "impeachment tour" on it was a bit tacky and a bit rude. Actually, I didn't think she deserved any attention at all just because of that.