Posted on 11/24/2005 11:01:14 PM PST by Hadean
The Thanksgiving Day meal meant a helping of tabbouli, a traditional Middle Eastern dish, and lentils for 80 anti-war protesters in Crawford on Thursday. The group celebrated the holiday with a relatively quiet Iraqi meal a day after a dozen of their members were arrested for defying a county ordinance near President Bush's ranch where he is spending the holiday.
“The idea is that it's an Iraqi-style meal to eat in solidarity with the Iraqi people who are dying there,” said Linda Foley, a protester from Azle. “We're not having the traditional indulgent American dinner.”
With plates piled high with rice, fish, lentils, feta cheese and salad, protesters ate and talked at the site known as Camp Casey II, where Cindy Sheehan's supporters camped in August on private property leased by a local landowner. Although smaller in number from this summer, protesters were resolute in their opposition to the war in Iraq.
“There needs to be a stand taken against this war,” said Spencer Crowl, a University of Texas at Austin student. “The reasons for this war have been well documented as false. I just think it's important to stand up.”
Many of those who participated in the August protests were unable to come, having chosen to focus on relief efforts in New Orleans with Veterans for Peace. The group is aiding relief efforts in the Algiers district and the Ninth Ward, areas nearly destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Protest leader Cindy Sheehan was also absent from the dinner due to family illness but she was expected to arrive Thursday night. Sheehan became involved in the anti-war movement after the death of her son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Baghdad on April 4, 2004. Sheehan gained national attention during the summer as she staged a protest near the president's ranch, demanding an audience with Bush.
Dede Miller, Sheehan's sister, came to Thursday's meal after being arrested Wednesday as a member of the group arrested for defying a new McLennan County ordinance prohibiting anyone from parking or residing along the country roads leading to the ranch. Along with solidarity for the Iraqi people, Miller said the protesters and her family were still waiting for the president to answer Sheehan's questions about the war.
“We're just here to let the president know we're still waiting for an answer,” Miller said. “I don't think he'll ever answer. Just by judging the Democrats last week, others are listening. I think he's a hopeless case, but we need to reach Congress and the American people.”
Another protester arrested Wednesday was Daniel Ellsberg, the government official responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam war. Ellsberg, along with other protesters, said the protest in Crawford will not bring a quick resolution.
“I think even with this demonstration, we aren't going to end this war quickly,” Ellsberg said. “But we're doing the right thing.”
Protesters say they will come to Crawford every time the president visits his ranch.
“We will come down every time he comes,” Foley said.
President Bush's supporters feel the same way. Across the road from the Yellow Rose gift shop in downtown Crawford, Vietnam veteran James Vergauwen of Windthorst stood under a white tent bearing the words, “The price of freedom is not free.” Set up in the parking lot of a gas station, Vergauwen, 60, said he spent August in Crawford in support of Bush.
“I don't want these troops to come home to what (Vietnam veterans) came home to,” Vergauwen said. “I'm glad they're having an Iraqi Thanksgiving. This is America. They can do what they want.”
Waco resident Steve Harlan, 56, said as long as protesters were in Crawford, Vergauwen and others would be there supporting the president.
“As long as he's able to breath air, he'll be here,” Harlan said about Vergauwen.
Protesters' other plans for the holiday week include the dedication of the Camp Casey Memorial Garden at the Crawford Peace House on Friday, an anti-war rally Saturday and an interfaith service Sunday.
President Bush's supporters will also be staging a pro-Bush rally Saturday in Crawford.
How about showing some solidarity with the grateful living?
Funny how they are eating traditional "Iraqi meals" in "solidarity with the Iraqis who are dying" when...they opposed removing Saddam, who was slaughtering more Iraqis than we ever could, and they are campaigning for us to leave the Iraqis in the hands of Al-Sadr or Zarqawi.
Hey you, stop that thinking! Right this instance!
Otter: No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part. Bluto: We're just the guys to do it. D-Day: Let's do it. Bluto: LET'S DO IT!
“The idea is that it's an Iraqi-style meal to eat in solidarity with the Iraqi people who are dying there,” said Linda Foley, a protester from Azle. “We're not having the traditional indulgent American dinner.”
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
How's this for solidarity with the Iraqi people - have a 'freedom fighter' from the 'noble Iraqi resistance' blow the whole thing up.
.......who is PAYING for all this?????
I'm serious. These people obviously have NO JOBS but they drive around in limos, fly around in private jets and eat expensive meals????
I would really like to know who is backing these people.
And they can hand out booby-trapped toys for Christmas while they're at it, just like their "heros."
Far cry from their usual roots, leaves, twigs or berries...
I'm glad that they're brave enough to protest. Another thirty odd innocent civilians were killed today at a hospital bombing, and it's good to know that these acts are recieving the condemnation that they deserve.
(They are protesting Al Qaida in Iraq, right?)
I guess it never occurred to them that all Iraqis can now eat meals free of the fear of starvation by an evil dictator.
“I think even with this demonstration, we aren't going to end this war quickly,” Ellsberg said. “But we're doing the right thing.”
... as if they actually mattered.
The delusion levels are hitting brain explosion levels. Oh wait... that already happened last election... oooo. Too bad.
The worst part about this is that these protestors spit on the very freedom that our military men and women are serving to protect for them.... How many dirty bomb attacks in the U.S. have been twarted. How many subway Sarin attacks or tunnels and bridges blown up in the U.S. at the hands of Al-Quida have been defeated. Thankfully we will never know because we have a strong leader in the White House. Where are the pundits who predicted multiple strikes by terrorists post 911. Pointing fingers and blame at the man who stood by this nation when it was wounded. How embarassing for America. We fight in Iraq so our children can go to school everyday and be safe. We fight for the very freedoms that give these liberal hypocrites the right to protest.
Their time would be better spent studying the history of our own country. If they want true solidarity, they should pack their bags and go to Iraq. I believe they would be in for a rude awakening that the average Iraqi would not feel the least bit of kinship toward them. While Cindy "grieves" her own loss, perhaps it would be eye-opening to her to go visit some of the families that were brutally murdered by the previous regime.
Better yet, perhaps there are Iraqis in this country that have families that lived under the oppression of Sadaam and the Bathist party. Maybe they should be flown to Texas and shatter the misconception of "solidarity" with the Iraqi people. Maybe they can do a reenactment of men, woman, and children dying with chemical weapons. Perhaps a reenactment of the Iraqi citizen put through a tree grinder.
This was no peace demonstration. The media needs to get it straight. This was a demonstration of fools. These are hateful people that work under the guise of peace. They ignor the good fortune of their right to protest due to the loss of many lives in history. Casey Sheehan was one of many who died to keep our world safer. He died to give the Iraqi people the chance to enjoy the freedom that we all do. It's sad that his mother just doesn't get it.
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