Posted on 08/17/2005 9:52:02 PM PDT by kristinn
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - Hundreds of candlelight vigils calling for an end to the war in Iraq lit up the night Wednesday, part of a national effort spurred by one mother's anti-war demonstration near President Bush's ranch.
The vigils were urged by Cindy Sheehan, who has become the icon of the anti-war movement since she started a protest Aug. 6 in memory of her son Casey, who died in Iraq last year.
Sheehan says she will remain outside the president's ranch until he meets with her and other grieving families, or until his monthlong vacation there ends.
Bush has said he sympathizes with Sheehan but has made no indication he will meet with her. Two top Bush administration officials talked to Sheehan the day she started her camp, and she and other families had met with Bush shortly after her son's death.
More than 1,600 vigils were planned Wednesday from coast to coast by liberal advocacy groups MoveOn.org Political Action, TrueMajority and Democracy for America. A large vigil was also planned in Paris.
As the sun set in Crawford, about 200 protesters lit candles and gathered around a wooden, flag-draped coffin at Sheehan's growing camp, about a mile from the Bush ranch.
``For the more than 1,800 who have come home this way in flag-draped coffins, each one ... was a son or a daughter, not cannon fodder to be used so recklessly,'' Sheehan told the crowd.
After the names of some of the dead soldiers were read, the crowd sang ``Amazing Grace'' as people stepped forward to place flowers on the coffin.
Before the vigil, Gary Qualls, of Temple drove to Sheehan's camp site and removed a wooden cross bearing his son's name. He said he supports the war and disagrees with Sheehan.
``I don't believe in some of the things happening here,'' Qualls said. ``I find it disrespectful.''
Near Philadelphia's Independence Hall, a few hundred people strained to hear the parent of another soldier killed in Iraq. ``This war must stop,'' said Al Zappala, 65, whose 30-year-old son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, died in an explosion in Baghdad in April 2004.
Karen Braz, 50, held a pink votive cup and a sign reading ``Moms for Peace'' as she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with about 150 other people outside the New Hampshire statehouse in Concord.
``My son is 26. It could've been him,'' she said
Some critics say Sheehan is exploiting her son's death to promote a left-wing agenda. They say scores of Americans, including relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq, support Bush and his plans to keep troops there.
FreeRepublic.com, which holds rallies to support troops and to counter anti-war demonstrations, held a pro-Bush rally Wednesday night with about 20 people at the same time and same Washington park as a candlelight vigil that drew about 300, said Kristinn Taylor, co-leader of the group's Washington, D.C., chapter.
``For us the organizers of the vigil are phony-baloney, betraying the sacrifices that those men and women make in Iraq, by demanding that we pull our troops out now and leave Iraq to go to hell,'' Taylor said. ``This is a publicity stunt.''
Some 200 people joined a peace vigil in Cincinnati's Fountain Square. Demonstrators softly sang ``Give Peace A Chance'' and lined one side of the square with signs, drawing honks of support from some passing motorists.
A banner bearing the name, age, rank, hometown and date of death of all Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan was unrolled at a vigil in Charleston, W.Va. - stretching the length of a city block.
``Our pastors and preachers need to hear from us,'' said one of the speakers in Charleston, Mary Ellen O'Farrell. ``Ask your pastor to preach it from the pulpit. This war does not meet the criteria for a just war.''
Along with candles and flags, some of the 300 people who gathered at a park in Nashville, Tenn., brought banners of protest and support for Sheehan. One read: ``Thank you for your courage Cindy.''
About 200 people attended a rally and candlelight vigil on the steps of the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. Marie Evans said it was a chance for those opposing the war to let their voices be heard.
``There was no question in my mind that we needed to make a statement in Oklahoma, which is a very conservative state,'' said Evans, who carried a sign that read ``Their blood is on your hands.''
In Hawaii, Kalihi Valley resident Charmaine Crockett invited scores of people to her hilltop house to light candles in sympathy for Sheehan. ``I'm very moved by one person making a difference,'' Crockett said.
Actor Richard Dreyfuss attended a vigil in the Studio City area of Los Angeles with his son and about 500 others.
``Cindy Sheehan is making a starting point with the questions she is asking and it's not unpatriotic to ask them,'' Dreyfuss said. ``It's actually a higher form of patriotism.''
And at a vigil in Madison, Wis., Tammy Markee had some simple advice for Bush on how to handle Sheehan: ``Be a man. Give her the respect she deserves. Sit down and talk with her.''
On the Net:
http://www.moveon.org/
http://www.freerepublic.com/home.htm
a freeper by the name of StoneGiant posted it a couple of weeks ago.
BTT!!!!!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>How many of our soldiers have to die before we go after the real person/persons behind the attacks? <<<<<<<<<<
Ah, and exactly WHO killed our soldiers?
FYI..a little noticed quote that, IMHO, is exceptionally spot on. Brad Carson, the Dem congresscritter who lost the Senate seat to Tom Coburn in 2004, at a post-election forum on C-span, said that ( paraphrasing here) he doesn't "think the Dems can ever win a national election until the LAST Vietnam era Dem/lib has died.."
Anybody who tells me I'm disrespecting the troops over there I will punch square in the face without thinking twice about it!
Okay, just as long as you make sure to maintain the integrity of free speech.
You're disrespecting our troops. And if you really did serve, I sincerely thank you... for getting out of the military.
I don't believe any FReeper who went to Crawford did so in support of President Bush. This is about supporting our troops, defending our country and celebrating freedom.
She was too busy working on Kerry's campaign in Florida.
You're funny....as for messing up here, I did too...I thought out loud with a stupid comparison on one thread and found out fast:
no psycho babble allowed
no nuancing
LOL
grandma mac
That's nice. I wish we had 300 people last night. Maybe we'll do better come September.
Yet I haven't seen one of the anti-war folks wonder about it, or issue a warning of some sort. They have obscured their hearts by hate.
Change your name to clueless.....for the ignorance and naivety displayed by your simplistic thinking will lead to millions of deaths.....Iraq was far mor than a war to find WMD's - IT NEVER WAS DEFINED THAT WAY.....than again, you are living in a fictitious world of your own making....reasoning will never penetrate your cloud of make beleive....you truly deserve the title of DUmmie......
Your first allegiance should be with our folks in uniform. I applaud you for that. However, I find your above statement unfair.
Sniff?
In that regard she really isn't much different than the Palestinian mother who raises her children to die as human bombs. By that I mean that her relationship to her son appears to be or have become *solely* that of the greiving mother. A state of motherhood that cannot be acheived without a dead son. Even, I suspect it is possible, that kind of mother, who for the sake of that state of grieving motherhood, welcomes the death of her son. Like the Palestinian mother of a bomber, she is famed and lauded in her community for raising a son who dies. No mothers to living sons are they, but only "so-righteously greiving" mothers.
Not for the lifes of their sons are they lauded -- but for the deaths.
The reality of her soldier-hero son she callously forgets, ignores, even demeans. Yet that heroism in a good war is HIS real legacy. That is HIS LIFE. She completely denies it, for the sake of a label, for the sake of being called a "greiving mom".
Yes, Casey is dead, but it is tragic that he is most dead to his own mom, the one to whom -- in sacred, cherished memory -- he should be most alive.
There were WMDs, old and new. Old ones and the ability to make new ones. 500 tons of uranium, and some signficant number of tons of that refined to low-grade, yet weapons grade stuff. Chemical weapons and delivery systems.
"And at a vigil in Madison, Wis., Tammy Markee had some simple advice for Bush on how to handle Sheehan: ``Be a man. Give her the respect she deserves. Sit down and talk with her.''
This is emblematic of how the MSM has covered this charade. This UW twit obviously is unaware that the President has already met with Sheehan, it's on the record. What do you expect from a bastion of left-wing lunacy?
I believe she is a antisemite. That picture isn't real... :D
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