minus said:
Just to add to your thoughts, Im also curious who these Americans are that want us to fail?
I mean sure there are plenty of Americans who want us out of Iraq or never wanted us their to begin with (I include myself with the later) but this notion that there are Americans out there who want to see other Americans die just to prove that the war was wrong is just plain nonsense. Yeah Im sure theres some teenage anarchist kid out there bloging away about how much he(or she) wants us to fail, but that nut doesnt even represent a fraction of one percent of the Americans who are opposed to the US occupation of Iraq.
Pulling out of Iraq is failure, so by default those who want us to pull out want us to fail regardless if they realize it or not. The activists specifically want the administration to fail because they buy into the message that the war is based on lies and destortions, not to mention they simply hate the Bush Administration.
I try and push aside the rhetoric from both sides and get the facts. The facts in this case are pretty clear to me, and should be to everyone else as well. Cindy Sheehan is, and has been, an anti-war activist first, and a grieving mother second.
Casey Sheehan enlisted in 2000, and reinlisted in 2003 with full knowledge of his battalions deployment to Iraq. As a mechanic, Casey was not ordered into the fight that took his life either. He chose to do the honorable thing and went to help his friends that were being attacked. It sounds to me that Casey not only knew what he was doing, but believed in what he was doing
Cindy Sheehan's own family does not even support her. Her husband filed for
divorce because of the stress, and the family has sent
letters disavowing Cindy.
Evidence of her hate for Bush before Casey died, and that words are not her own but those of left wing extremist groups can be found in statements such as the one she made after the Presidential Election
"George, in 2000 when you stole that election and the Democrats gave up, I gave up, too. I had the most ironic thought of my life then: Oh well, how much damage can he do in four years?
Cindy states that the Downing Street Memo is what really sparked her protest, and this is probably true since shortly after this she planned her protest. But does she understand the truth about the memos? Or is she just listening to the anti-war extremists?
The truth is that the Memo is nothing new. It was published in an article in the London Journal right after it was released in 2002. Since Many were Pro-War in the U.S. then nobody cared, but it is a convenient thing to bring out now. Specifically, this paragragh is lifted most often, and by Cindy to explain her anger.
C [Richard Dearlove, Head of MI-6] reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.
This is no more then the impressions of an aid to the British Parliament meetings, about what the President of the U.S. was thinking at the time. There are no quotes or direct statements to be found.
But even if this was true it really means very little. In 2002 the Bush Administration was obviously leaning towards war with Iraq as they planned their foreign policy in the wake of 911. They had been planning for the war on terror since two months after 911, which also means nothing because war must be planned, even if you end up not going. You can't decide to go to war on a Tuesday and deploy troops on Wednesday.
Colin Powell January 2002
"With respect to Iraq, it has long been, for several years now, a policy of the United States government that regime change would be in the best interests of the region, the best interests of the Iraqi people. And we are looking at a variety of options that would bring that about."
Tom Daschle April 2002
"There is broad support for a regime change in Iraq. The question is how do we do it and when do we do it."
Covert operations were already in place before the Downing Streat memo, and supported by leaders on both sides of the aisle.
Senator Joseph Biden June 2002
"If the covert action doesn't work, we better be prepared to move forward with another action, an overt action, and it seems to me that we can't afford to miss."
The other message that Cindy often talks about, that was put into her head by groups like MoveOn.org in accordance with the Downing Street Memo is that Bush Lied about WMD's and therefore her son died for nothing.
However, the statement "
But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" Does not have to mean that Bush made it up, and in fact nothing could be farther from the truth. It simply means that evidence was being gathered based on what Intelligence already knew from the last 12 years. The
Senate Intelligence Committee report said that there was no attempt based on their investigation to change intelligence to support war. One can say that some of the evidence turned out to be shaky, but that is not the fault of the Bush Administration, nor does it make the war something based on lies.
So Cindy did not like Bush or the war from the start, yet GWB makes a good enough impression on Cindy for her to make approving comments such as these after their first meeting from the
Vacaville Reporter.
"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis, I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."
"That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together"
This does not sound like things I would tell reporters after the President acted like he id not care, and actually seemed jovial when talking with her, refusing to see pictures of Casey and referring to him impersonally, which is what Cindy claims now. Would the Cindy Sheehan that we know now leave her first meeting with Bush and say those nice things about him if he was not nice to her? I think not.
Finally, a comment I read in one of Cindy's rants really struck me.
"I will never be able to look at an American flag without thinking of the uniform my son wore proudly that displayed that same symbol and the evil ones who desecrated and defiled the stars and stripes by lying us into the invasion of Iraq"
Cindy's son died for the freedom that the Flag represents, and now Cindy can't look at the flag because she is convinced that George Bush lied in order to kill US soldiers and thousands of innocent people in his Imperialistic quest for power.
How unfortunate for Cindy that she feels this way, it must be awful to be her and have to wake up every morning hating the country she lives in. But this is what the organizations like Code Pink and MoveOn do to people like Cindy Sheehan. Does anyone think that she came up with her rhetoric on her own based on the facts?
Maybe Cindy should take the blinders off and read some of the Quotes that President Bush really did say, and then determine for herself whether or not he lied.
President George W. Bush
"Do I forget the lessons of September 11th and take the word of a madman, or do I take action to defend our country? Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time."
"With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got."
"History has called America and our allies to action, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight."
"Across the generations, we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security and the calling of our time."
"And I have met with parents and wives and husbands who have received a folded flag, and said a final goodbye to a soldier they loved. I am awed that so many have used those meetings to say that I am in their prayers to offer encouragement to me. Where does strength like that come from? How can people so burdened with sorrow also feel such pride? It is because they know their loved one was last seen doing good. Because they know that liberty was precious to the one they lost. And in those military families, I have seen the character of a great nation: decent, and idealistic, and strong."
"When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive."
"Our strategy in Iraq has three objectives: destroying the terrorists, enlisting the support of other nations for a free Iraq and helping Iraqis assume responsibility for their own defense and their own future."
"America is a nation with a mission, and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace -- a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman."
All lies? I don't think so. It is for all these reasons that I do not support Cindy's protests, even though I support her right to protest.
I hope one day that Cindy can find some peace
