Posted on 04/24/2006 9:23:42 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Cindy Sheehan said that before her son was killed in Iraq, she didn't buy into the idea that one person could make a difference. Now, she does.
Young people should resist the American military war machine and instead fight for global peace and prosperity, Sheehan told a receptive audience of about 200 at the University of Hawaii-Hilo on Monday, before another appearance across the island in Kailua-Kona.
After her son, Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan, was killed April 4, 2004 in Iraq, Sheehan began traveling the world speaking out against the war.
"I need to stop this war," she said. "They are not doing this in our name, not in my name. I am working for peace, justice and freedom."
The Berkeley, Calif., peace activist said speaking on college campuses is an important part of her mission. "We need the young people in this movement right now," she said. "The peace movement comes from the bottom up, not the top down."
She encouraged teens and young adults to resist fighting a war she called illegal, unlawful and immoral.
"I encourage you not to join this war machine. I encourage parents to hide their children from this war machine. I encourage young people already trapped in this system not to go," she said.
Sheehan said her son was against the war before he deployed, believing it was an irresponsible use of force.
"But my son was an honorable man and his buddies were dying, so he went," she said. "I wish I had kidnapped him and run to Canada, or run over his legs with the car so he couldn't go."
"I wish he had spent that year in jail rather than spend the rest of his life in his grave. But he didn't and I will regret that for the rest of my life."
Sheehan said she will not stop speaking out until the American and British military presence in Iraq is removed.
"I'm not advocating abandoning the Iraqi people," she said, "but the military presence fuels the violence and insurgency."
She called for multinational peacekeepers and an army of diplomats to help Iraqis build a country they want.
Finally, she urged people to fight for something that will have a positive impact on society, such as access to better education for poor students so they will have career choices beyond the military.
Following the speech, Sheehan posed for photographs, shook hands and signed copies of her book, "Not One More Mother's Child."
Not all members of the audience shared Sheehan's views.
"I'm interested in what she has to say and I'm interested in what kind of crowd shows up," said Tate Cole, a psychology major.
"Fundamentally, I disagree with her position, but I'm open to hearing her arguments."
But the audience interrupted her remarks more than two dozen times with applause.
Gay Barfield, a Hilo psychotherapist and former director at the La Jolla, Calif.-based Carl Rogers Institute for Peace, said she found the talk inspiring.
"She reflected the latent and emerging longing in the United States for a return to our principles," she said. "Her educated and informed voice models the ways we need to become informed to mobilize for peace."
Political science major Lee Gibbons said he just wanted to hear Sheehan for himself. "I've seen her on the news and some of her issues I don't think get true reporting," he said. "I wanted to hear it straight from the horse's mouth."
Gibbons, who grew up near Fort Rucker in Alabama, said he hates the war, but supports the troops.
Sheehan's appearance was sponsored by Big Island advocacy group Malu Aina Center for Non-Violent Education and Action and the University of Hawaii-Hilo student group Global Hope.
:-D )))
Wonder what these people add to their Kool-Aid. With the Clintons, Pelosi, Kennedy,and Kerry's leadership in returning "to our principles" how can we lose?
"I wish I had kidnapped him and run to Canada, or run over his legs with the car so he couldn't go."
________
Isn't that child abuse, Cindy?
Right. Just in time for summer break.
She's workin' Casey's death hard. Typical boomer baby maggot. It's all about Cindy. Only Cindy. She could care less about Casey. It's all about Cindy. What a hag.
If she loved her son so much, why did she give him up? She loves the limelight, doesn't she?
She gives gals named Cindy a reason to maybe consider changing their names,, I have a niece and sis in law named the same..
I guess the Easter Ditch visit to Crawford didn't play too well.
"She reflected the latent and emerging longing in the United States for a return to our principles," she said. "Her educated and informed voice models the ways we need to become informed to mobilize for peace."
There are so many things the matter with this guy's quote. I'm speechless.
Mighty powerful ditch dweller we have there - "I" need to stop . . .. But then it has always been about her hasn't it, it never was about Casey. How pathetic - I hope he doesn't have the ability to look down and see what has happened.
I've got a daughter in law by that name too. LOL! Well, maybe she has a middle name she can start using.
more like a mid-intellect fourth-grader.
Isn't that Patty Murray? Or her lookalike?
Only Osama bin Laden gets more direct quotes from the AP. Mamma Shehadi is a close second. There's little doubt that the AP wants everyone to know what the neurotic thinks.
If the U.S. pulls out of Iraq, the Baathist thugs will unleash a bloodbath as they try to re-enslave the Shiites and the Kurds.
Sheehan, however, only thinks about her next media fix.
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