"That lying
bastard, George Bush, is taking a five-week vacation in time of
war," Cindy Sheehan told 200 cheering members of Veterans For
Peace at their annual convention in Dallas last Friday evening.
She then announced she would go to Bush's vacation home in nearby
Crawford, Texas and camp out until he "tells me why my son died
in Iraq. I've got the whole month of August off, and so does he."
Sheehan left
the VFP meeting on Saturday morning and is now in Crawford with
a couple dozen veterans and local peace activists, waiting for
Bush to talk with her. She said in Dallas that if he sends anyone
else to see her, as happened when national security adviser Steve
Hadley and deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin did later
that day, she would demand that "You get that maniac out here
to talk with me in person."
She told
the audience of veterans from World War Two to today's war in
Iraq, that the two main things she plans to tell the man she holds
responsible for son Casey's death are "Quit saying that U.S. troops
died for a noble cause in Iraq, unless you say, 'well, except
for Casey Sheehan.' Don't you dare spill any more blood in Casey's
name. You do not have permission to use my son's name."
"And the
other thing I want him to tell me is 'just what was the noble
cause Casey died for?' Was it freedom and democracy? Bullshit!
He died for oil. He died to make your friends richer. He died
to expand American imperialism in the Middle East. We're not freer
here, thanks to your PATRIOT Act. Iraq is not free. You get America
out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism,"
she exclaimed.
"There, I
used the 'I' word - imperialism," the 48-year-old mother quipped.
"And now I'm going to use another 'I' word - impeachment - because
we cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on
war crimes and go to jail."
As the veterans
in Dallas rose to their feet, Sheehan said defiantly, "My son
was killed in 2004. I am not paying my taxes for 2004. You killed
my son, George Bush, and I don't owe you a penny... you give my
son back and I'll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes)
and we'll put this war on trial."
The co-founder
of Gold Star Mothers for Peace objected to hearing that her son
was among the soldiers lost in Iraq. "He's not lost," she said
tearfully. "He's dead. He became an angel while I was sleeping."
She railed
against the notion expressed by officials in the Bush administration
that bringing the troops home now would dishonor the sacrifice
of those who have died. "By sending honorable people to die, they
so dishonor themselves. They say we must complete our mission...
but why would I want one more mother to go through what I have,
just because my son is dead?"
The Vacaville,
California resident said she first heard of Veterans For Peace
in early May last year, during a CNN report about an exhibit of
white crosses arranged in rows in the Santa Barbara beach. The
exhibit was organized by VFP Chapter 54 to memorialize each U.S.
soldier killed in Iraq. Her son had died the month before. "I
decided there was only one place I wanted to be on Mother's Day
that year, and it was Santa Barbara," she told the VFP members
in Dallas.
Retired Special
Forces Sgt. and VFP member, Stan Goff, today initiated a "Talk
to Cindy" campaign to get Bush to meet with Sheehan. Contact information
for the White House is: (202) 456-1111 or comments@whitehouse.gov.
Note:
Mike Ferner is a writer in Toledo, Ohio and a member of Veterans
for Peace. He can be reached at mike.ferner@sbcglobal.net
Click here for Casey's Story, by Cindy
Sheehan.
Cindy Sheehan calls for mass demos at Bush's Crawford Ranch
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