Posted on 08/18/2005 9:25:42 AM PDT by smoothsailing
August 18, 2005, 9:20 a.m.
The Real Meaning of the Cindy Sheehan Vigils
Yes, the protesters oppose the war in Iraq. But they opposed war in Afghanistan, too.
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA — Jim Douglass is against war, period. As a young Catholic activist in the 1960s and 1970s he protested the war in Vietnam, once organizing a "resistance Mass" at the University of Notre Dame in which, according to an account in The National Catholic Reporter, he and a few other men "ripped up draft cards and placed them in the chalice as part of the presentation of the gifts."
In the 1980s, Douglass moved to the Seattle area, leading protests at the U.S. Navy's Trident submarine base. When he and his wife Shelley found a house close to the railroad tracks that led into the base, they chose to live there, amid the rumbling and the noise, so they could protest as so-called "white trains" brought nuclear warheads to the subs.
Douglass founded an organization called the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, and for years he was a leader in anti-Trident demonstrations. But then, in 1989, after a Trident base opened in Kings Bay, Georgia, Douglass left the Pacific Northwest. He found another house hard by the railroad tracks — this one in Birmingham, Alabama, along a route that weapons traveled on the way to Kings Bay. There, in Birmingham, he became involved in a variety of causes but continued to protest the Trident program, which he once wrote "seemed to epitomize all the violence of our society."
In 1991, Douglass headed to Iraq, just after the end of the Gulf War. As part of the Catholic peace organization Pax Christi, he went three more times in the 1990s, opposing the sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations. In 2001, he protested against the war in Afghanistan. And in 2003, he fasted in St. Peter's Square before heading back to Iraq with a "Christian peacemakers team" to be in Baghdad during the "shock and awe" attack. After each protest, he returned to Birmingham.
And it was there, on the city's south side, by a fountain in the Five Points neighborhood, that Douglass stood Wednesday night, a candle in his hand, in yet another antiwar vigil, this one in support of Cindy Sheehan, the woman who is protesting outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. For Douglass, it was routine; he has organized hundreds of vigils in Birmingham. He used to hold them once a month, but ever since the September 11 terrorist attacks, he has been holding them twice each week — Wednesdays at noon and Saturdays at 5 P.M. "We felt the urgency of peace and justice work because of the attacks on 9/11," he explained Wednesday night. "I personally oppose all war."
The Sheehan vigil, officially sponsored by MoveOn.org, along with the liberal groups TrueMajority and Democracy for America, was part of a nationwide series of protests Wednesday night. According to MoveOn, there were 1,627 such meetings, with a total attendance of at least 50,000 people. The Birmingham crowd — in the heart of one of the nation's reddest states, where George W. Bush defeated John Kerry 63 percent to 37 percent last year — was significantly larger than the attendance at Douglass' usual vigils. Although 50 people had signed up to come, it appeared that the crowd actually numbered between 60 and 75.
On its website, MoveOn offered protesters what amounted to a pre-fab vigil kit, including talking points, a "sample media advisory," and pre-designed signs — placards that read MOMS FOR PEACE and MEET WITH CINDY and, apparently for pet lovers, DOGS FOR CINDY. But the Birmingham protest appeared a bit more homegrown. People carried signs that said WE ARE ALL SISTERS AND BROTHERS: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. And as they stood around — there were no speeches — they expressed opposition not just to the controversial war in Iraq, but also to the war in Afghanistan, which polls indicate was overwhelmingly supported by the American people.
Several felt that in the days after September 11, the United States went too far by attacking Afghanistan. "It was the Taliban and Osama bin Laden," said one woman. "So why didn't we just go after him? Why did we attack the whole country?"
"I didn't like us doing that," said another woman. "I'm opposed to war generally," added a third woman. "I believe that both of those wars [Afghanistan and Iraq], but Iraq especially, are wrong."
Their statements echoed the words of Cindy Sheehan herself, who on Monday was asked by MSNBC's Chris Matthews, "If your son had been killed in Afghanistan, would you have a different feeling?" Sheehan answered, "I don't think so, Chris, because I believe that Afghanistan is almost the same thing."
"But Afghanistan was harboring the Taliban, was harboring al Qaeda, which is the group that attacked us on 9/11," Matthews said.
"Well, then we should have gone after al Qaeda and maybe not the country of Afghanistan," Sheehan said.
Sheehan's words, in turn, echoed statements made by the leaders of MoveOn opposing the war in Afghanistan. What that suggests is that the vigils across the country last night were only partly about the war in Iraq. Yes, that is the focus of the protesters' passions today. And yes, they support Cindy Sheehan. But the antiwar movement is also about opposition to the very foundation of the war on terror — the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. response to the 9/11 attacks. Last night, the signs and the slogans were about Cindy Sheehan. But the protest was about much more than that.
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— Byron York, NR's White House correspondent, is the author of the book The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President — and Why They'll Try Even Harder Next Time.
http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200508180920.asp
Hey now she is speaking for me.....grrr.
Don't forget that Soros is a convicted criminal.
MAN! The USA will be SO MUCH BETTER OFF when all of these hippie/yuppie scum leftover from the 60's take their dirt nap. They've stood for nothing and have accomplished nothing, other than stand in the way of progress.
They will NOT be missed.
And that personifies the liberal mindset - taking an absolute position which filters out facts and reason. These people aren't serious about examining or solving anything in life - instead, they gain satisfaction in maintaining what they perceive to be a morally-superior stance - the consequences to anyone else be damned.
This nitwit fought the Trident program in the name of opposing all war. But Reagan's military build-up led to the fall of the Soviet Union and the liberation of millions of people from totalitarianism. If this idiot had his way, those people would still be enslaved and he wouldn't give a sh**. Which tells you all you need to know about him.
They will line up their replacements. These people have been working aginst us for generation. It will not end when the 60's bunch are in their gaves. Don't kid yourself. we are on the fourth generation of these creeps.
"What a bunch of maroons" bump.
(There is no shortage of idiots.)
Um, the Taliban was Afghanistan's government -- from a geopolitical sense, it was the country.
http://soldiersagainstcindysheehan.blogspot.com/
There has been much in the news lately on Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Spc. Casey Sheehan who was killed in action. According to a website affiliated with her, her organization is related to Code Pink who has raised money for terrorists and apparently is involved in attacks on military recruitment centers in the US.
No one knows better than we do the cost on families that military services brings. We all have families who, for many of us, wait at home in fear while we are deployed. We know first-hand the trauma it causes to families and loved ones when one of us is killed in action. Spc. Sheehan was our brother and he will be missed. He voluntarily went to Iraq to help keep his fellow soldiers safe. He served with distinction and honor in the highest traditions of military service.
That being said, what Cindy Sheehan is now doing has descended beyond disgraceful. We can understand a grieving mother lashing out at the President. We all have had our doubts. What we cannot understand is a mother standing on the flagged-drapped coffin of her son and using his grave as a pulpit to, among other things, support organizations that fund the other side in this fight. We cannot understand violence and vandalism against the offices of the very soldiers that Spc. Sheehan went to Iraq to help protect. We cannot understand why you use this to denounce Israel. We are flabbergasted that you dishonor his service by suggesting his death allows you to speak for us. You do not speak for us. Much to the contrary, apparently.
Some of us are in Iraq and wondering what country the media is covering. Yes, there are casualties. Yes, there are setbacks. However, there are a great deal many more successes uncovered by the media. There are plenty of soldiers who have a variety of complaints about the way the war is prosecuted, whether we should be here, and the quality of food. Yet, for a majority, we understand that we are fighting what have become mostly foreign forces seeking to prevent a people from ruling themselves. It’s hard enough on those of us who are deployed without the likes of the fringe anti-war movement making the job that much harder.
Mrs. Sheehan, we’re sorry for your son, we really are. But please be quiet and stop undermining our efforts here. Your support for organizations that give money to the very people who killed your son is outrageous. And please stop using the grave of an honorable soldier as a soapbox.
Memo: To translate from MSM to English, for "Democratic Activist" sub "professional troublemaker".
(Or stripey pole-cat/fur-bearin' varmint.)
Me neither.
Yeah!! The war in Afghanistan is just sort of wrong! But man that one in Iraq....that ones just really wrong!
B!tch, go back to your home and stick your head up your ass, as you obviously have no idea what is going on in the world around you! Get a clue you stupid f@#k!
Sheehan in chat room. Try about 30% down the page.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/bullyard/msg/fe750ffd0a87d91f?dmode=source&hl=en
Am I emotional? Yes, my first born was murdered. Am I angry? Yes, he was
killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son
joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. Am I stupid? No, I know
full-well that my son, my family, this nation, and this world were
betrayed by a George Bush who was influenced by the neo-con PNAC agenda
after 9/11. We were told that we were attacked on 9/11 because the
terrorists hate our freedoms and democracy...not for the real reason,
becuase the Arab-Muslims who attacked us hate our middle-eastern foreign
policy. That hasn't changed since America invaded and occupied Iraq...in
fact it has gotten worse.
Cindy Sheehan is a PR gimmick for leftist groups. Simple as that. Since she won't go away, maybe we should discuss more serious matters.
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