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Of the Many Deaths in Iraq, One Mother's Loss Becomes a Problem for the President
The New York Times
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: August 8, 2005
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 7 - President Bush draws antiwar protesters just about wherever he goes, but few generate the kind of attention that Cindy Sheehan has since she drove down the winding road toward his ranch here this weekend and sought to tell him face to face that he must pull all Americans troops out of Iraq now.
Ms. Sheehan's son, Casey, was killed last year in Iraq, after which she became an antiwar activist. She says she and her family met with the president two months later at Fort Lewis in Washington State.
But when she was blocked by the police a few miles from Mr. Bush's 1,600-acre spread on Saturday, the 48-year-old Ms. Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., was transformed into a news media phenomenon, the new face of opposition to the Iraq conflict at a moment when public opinion is in flux and the politics of the war have grown more complicated for the president and the Republican Party.
Ms. Sheehan has vowed to camp out on the spot until Mr. Bush agrees to meet with her, even if it means spending all of August under a broiling sun by the dusty road. Early on Sunday afternoon, 25 hours after she was turned back as she approached Mr. Bush's ranch, Prairie Chapel, Ms. Sheehan stood red-faced from the heat at the makeshift campsite that she says will be her home until the president relents or leaves to go back to Washington. A reporter from The Associated Press had just finished interviewing her. CBS was taping a segment on her. She had already appeared on CNN, and was scheduled to appear live on ABC on Monday morning. Reporters from across the country were calling her cellphone.
"It's just snowballed," Ms. Sheehan said beside a small stand of trees and a patch of shade that contained a sleeping bag, some candles, a jar of nuts and a few other supplies. "We have opened up a debate in the country."
Seeking to head off exactly the situation that now seems to be unfolding, the administration sent two senior officials out from the ranch on Saturday afternoon to meet with her. But Ms. Sheehan said after talking to the officials - Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and Joe Hagin, a deputy White House chief of staff - that she would not back down in her demand to see the president.
Her success in drawing so much attention to her message - and leaving the White House in a face-off with an opponent who had to be treated very gently even as she aggressively attacked the president and his policies - seemed to stem from the confluence of several forces.
The deaths last week of 20 Marines from a single battalion has focused public attention on the unremitting pace of casualties in Iraq, providing her an opening to deliver her message that no more lives should be given to the war. At the same time, polls that show falling approval for Mr. Bush's handling of the war have left him open to challenge in a way that he was not when the nation appeared to be more strongly behind him.
It did not hurt her cause that she staged her protest, which she said was more or less spontaneous, at the doorstep of the White House press corps, which spends each August in Crawford with little to do, minimal access to Mr. Bush and his aides, and an eagerness for any new story.
As the mother of an Army specialist who was killed at age 24 in the Sadr City section of Baghdad on April 4, 2004, Ms. Sheehan's story is certainly compelling. She is also articulate, aggressive in delivering her message and has information that most White House reporters have not heard before: how Mr. Bush handles himself when he meets behind closed doors with the families of soldiers killed in Iraq.
The White House has released few details of such sessions, which Mr. Bush holds regularly as he travels the country, but generally portrays them as emotional and an opportunity for the president to share the grief of the families. In Ms. Sheehan's telling, though, Mr. Bush did not know her son's name when she and her family met with him in June 2004 at Fort Lewis. Mr. Bush, she said, acted as if he were at a party and behaved disrespectfully toward her by referring to her as "Mom" throughout the meeting.
By Ms. Sheehan's account, Mr. Bush said to her that he could not imagine losing a loved one like an aunt or uncle or cousin. Ms. Sheehan said she broke in and told Mr. Bush that Casey was her son, and that she thought he could imagine what it would be like since he has two daughters and that he should think about what it would be like sending them off to war.
"I said, 'Trust me, you don't want to go there'," Ms. Sheehan said, recounting her exchange with the president. "He said, 'You're right, I don't.' I said, 'Well, thanks for putting me there.' "
Asked about Ms. Sheehan's statements, Trent D. Duffy, a spokesman for the White House, said Sunday: "The president knows one of his most important responsibilities is to comfort the families of the fallen. That is why he has personally met with and grieved with hundreds of families who have lost a loved one who made the ultimate sacrifice. We can only imagine how painful and difficult it must be for a mother to lose her son. Our hearts and prayers are always with the moms and dads and spouses and children of those who have fallen."
It is not clear how the White House will handle Ms. Sheehan. Mr. Bush usually comes and goes from the ranch by helicopter, but he might have to drive by her on Friday, when he is scheduled to attend a Republican fund-raiser at a ranch just down the road from where Ms. Sheehan is camped out. She will no doubt get another wave of publicity on Thursday, when Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice join Mr. Bush at the ranch to discuss the war.
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YOU LYING COWARD, COME OUT AND FACE EVERYONE HERE!!!!!!!! READ THE LETTERS, SEE WHAT I WROTE TO YOU AGAIN GEORGE, YOU LIAR!!!!!!!
"Dear Mr. President,
It is time for this war in Iraq to end as it has been based on complete fiction. Mr. President, you said that Iraq and 9/11 were linked together. You have later admitted that was a lie. Why do you continue to foster this lie upon the American people?
We're not stupid. We see through the bullshit, and further understand why you are lying. Why don't you come out of your delusion in that ranch on Texas, and see Cindy Sheehan directly?
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com
Sir this proves you are a very bad liar, and that the Vice President has been actively promoting these lies. You nonetheless stated 6 days ago that our people have died for a noble cause.
Why don't you come out of your Texas house and tell the American people, including Cindy Sheehan what that noble cause is?
Her son would like to know what he died for, and so would she. My entire close knit group of friends went to Iraq because they thought it was going to defend freedom, but evidently that was a complete lie and now they are dead.
Did you know they can not come back to life? What are you hiding Mr. President? America asked you for answers, so honor the dead and honor those who have gone on. Tell them what they have really died for.
Tell them all that they died in order for your second in command to get his oil. I not only dare you, I strongly ask you now!!!!!!!!!
Stop being a coward and confront us, give us the truth!!!!!!!! The lives of all demand it, and they demand it right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who are these deceitful evil greedy people that you keep around you?
http://www.newamericancentury.org/
Why do they want a NEW WORLD ORDER? Mr. President, if you are a criminal then admit it to America!!!!!!!!! Hang your head in shame for selling yourself out, and being blackmailed by these traitors to our American soil!!!!!!!!
You said your mission must be for god, then wake UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The fundamentalist teachings of christ, teach us we must follow one road and never falter. We must stay true to what we believe, and never question. This is WRONG!!!!!!!! The real teachings of christ tell us that we must follow our own gut, and our internal feelings of what god really wants. God does not really want the Iraq war, and you know this!!!!!!!!!!!!! So stop the lies, stop the game, it is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Give up this horrible twisted belief that has consumed you, and turn yourself over so that the truth can be known!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They have taken our flag Mr. President, and spit upon it. These traitors in Project For New American Century do not represent any type of god!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are angry, hateful vengeful people who only know greed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They have stripped you of your powers, and made you into a foolish gambit. Get out of this delusional fantasy of theirs, and stand up for yourself!!!!!!!!!!!! It is time to come clean with the American people, and tell everyone in Texas what has happened so that we can heal this country and stop the bigotry and hate in its tracks for good now.
Read their mission statement:
"Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership.
Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their consequences for today. Here are four consequences:
• we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global
responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;
• we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;
• we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;
• we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.
Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next."
http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm
Mr. President, they wanted you and the USA to become police for the entire world and take over as the world's only superpower. They did not care whatsoever about whether it was in God's interest, neither whether democracy was brought about or not. Their only concern has been to take over the entire world's economic policy, and have control of all of its resources to suit its interests.
Mr. President, freedom will never be spread this way. They are full of hate and greed, and a twisted form of Israel policy. You must come clean with the American people!!!! Reject their form of government and tell us the truth and admit what you have done!!!!!!!!!!! Come out President Bush, we're here until the end!!!!!!!!!!!
Doug Eldritch"
NO MORE WAR. It is over, just like VIETNAM. END THE WAR NOW, and for the last time, give up being a crook!!!!!!!!! THE WHOLE CHENEY CRIME GAME SYNIDCATE IS OVER, YOU HEAR ME, OVER!!!!!!
PNAC IS OFFICIALLY THROUGH!!!!!!!!
Explosive DOCUMENTS reveal the PNAC coverup!!!!!!
GET OUT AND FACE US!!!!!!!!
Doug E.
other than that, you have written a PNAC and Bushco primer for the novice searcher for TRUTH that has tripped (luckily or divinely) upon this site and , hopefully, your above post. You articulated everything that a new seeker of truth could succinctly learn from your letter including one VERY significant "statement of principles" page from PNAC website with appropriate links to Downing Street Memos, Project of New American website and their link to PNAC Statement of "Principles" (yuk, I gag on their mis-use of word definitions). I do not know if you intended to teach the newbies with your above post, because you wrote it to the "president" (again I gag), but what you wrote is a very useful tool > thank you for reaching out to the ignorant but good people of OUR American brothers and sisters.
I don't care what groups are behind him or, in front of him for that matter, this is much bigger than that. He is what he is, a TRAITOR pure and simple just like his father and his grandfather, all the History PROVES that this is a plan to DESTROY the Poor and decent people of the world. HE KNOWS IT, there is nothing he won't do to make his friends more powerful. And all that stand in front, behind or beside him are TRATIORS, and should be in JAIL...NOW...
LOOK, do the digging, Here is a start... GOOGLE..
PRESCOTT BUSH and IG Aushwitz and IG Farben and OTTO AMBROS.
ALFRIED KRUPP and JOHN Jay McCLOY and Landsburg Prison Feb 3, 1951'
then look up brothers, MARVIN PIERCE BUSH, NEIL MALLON BUSH,
JOHN ELLIS(jeb)BUSH, and uncle JONATHAN J.BUSH.
Find the History of BASF and Bayer, The Ford Foundation, The World Bank. Krupp Steel. These are just a start of some of the EVIL they ARE. and if your a New Age Republician, GOD FORGIVE YOU BECUASE I WON'T....
So go ahead and wave your hands, Bob your heads and repeat your LIES, some of us know you for what you are.
Finally look up BERT WALKER BUSH, Great Grandfather and the History of LYNNE CHENEY and WILLIAM BENNET, JAMES WOOSLEY, FRANK GAFFNEY and DICK CHENEY.
Wonder why the Supreme Court gave away our Country in 2000'...
Because he's too much of a COWARD!!!!!!!
HAHAHA BIG BAD DUBYA!!!
HE HARBORS TRAITORS, LIARS, PEDOPHILES AND CRIMINALS AND HE CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT EVEN FROM ONE PISSED OFF MOM!!!!!!
HAHAHAHA GEORGIE RAN AWAY WITH HIS TAIL BETWEEN HIS LEGS, TOOK OFF TO "NEW MEXICO"
ROFL!!!!!! Will the MOM follow him and go get arrested!!!!!!!
Doug Eldritch
Well, I have to say the information available through the last link in your post concerning 9-11 is simply amazing. It is also simply scary. Other folks should take a gander at it. Yikes!
Again... did Bill Clinton Lie?
Yes, Clinton made a human error, many people make unwise decisions that create a cause and effect that can cause problems in their lives. I always have thought that this matter with Clinton was a problem to be handled between the President and his wife. It really was not our business. Shameful that the government spent so much time and money on a families personal trouble! Clinton did not take us into a war that we may never resolve. THAT IS THE CRIME!
Hang in there Cindy,there are alot of others standing behind you.
Thank you for finding strength threw your pain to help others!
nt
This just occurred to me, after reading more about Cindy Sheehan, about how sad and perverse this really is. It took a minute for it to sink in, but then it hit me, George Bush is a real, big coward! As we all know, bullies are cowards in disguise and Bush fits the profile perfectly! Let me explain:
He stated that Saddam Hussein was a threat to our national security because he had weapons of mass destruction. Of course, we all know that is not true and Bush knew it was not true, also. Even after he was told repeatedly, Saddam was seen as "nonthreatening to his neighbors",by the CIA. Bush attacked him (Saddam) anyway.
For a man that was such a threat to national security, why did we find him (Saddam) cowering in an underground spider hole? But, that did not stop Bush, in thought, direction or perpetration of huge war propaganda lies! He bullied ahead and stated “bring ‘em on!
Why wasn't it a problem when Clinton said all the same things about Saddam??? The only problem was Bush didn't cower to Saddam like Clinton did.
Hypocrits, that is all you lefties are.
YOU STUPID FOOL, Your leader is busted, the snakes like you will run from the thunder of TRUTH as it gets LOUDER AND LOUDER..
Friend,
Your behavior is absolutely consistent with your President. If you do not understand, let me spell it out to you: I am not surprised that you do not know how to spell the most important word in the sentence you posted on this website. Ha ha ha!
Always remember that the devil is in the details. Because your President has ignored many details during his tenure, it is finally coming back to haunt him. His aides (Condy), his dick (Dicky), and his brain (Karly) can only help him to a point! That the President is responsible for the key details is what the one-person protest in Crawford is about, and what this website is predicated upon.
About Clinton, it is my recollection that he had the tenacity, with the help of his friends from the U.N., to purge the actual WMD's your 'righties' helped Sadddam get. Remember that part of the Iran-Iraq war? The WMDs arrived only after the 'righties' provided all sorts of good stuff to Iraq 'cause they were not doing so well! Seems to me that Clinton also protected the people of Iraq from Saddam by creating a no-fly zone. Golly, this Clinton guy managed to keep Saddam in check without the cost of major money, or more importantly, the lives of soldiers who get shot or bombed during street warfare!! Yep, I'd take a ‘leftie’ like Clinton over a ‘rightie’ like a Bush any day of the week.
Someone said the truth will set you free, and I think the truth will win the day on the reality of the G. W. Bush legacy. This President definitely needed a second term to reveal his true colors and confirm he is likely the worst ever at his job!
It impresses me that you take the time to read the postings on this website. I encourage you to keep reading, as it will likely reveal another side of your President, and identify the choices he has made for the American people. This website will also reveal to you the consequences of these choices for the American people.
The main difference between Clinton and Bush is that Bill didn't find it necessary to LIE to America, Congress, or anyone else in order to bomb civilians, invade and occupy countries, or steal little old ladies' retirements. Clinton had an affair with an employee (as if that's something a Republican politian has never done). Your boy George is screwing EVERYBODY. Your comment is flawed in it's basics -- suggesting that Bush is eligible to be compared to Clinton on veracity is at the very least foolish, and at worst a self-deception on your own part.
You should be ashamed of yourself, even commenting in this way to a report about a brave mother of an equally brave son...both of which exemplify the true values of Americans everywhere. One volunteered and gave his very lifeblood for his country, and the other wants to make sure, using no more than the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of these United States, that if the way he, and thousands of other brave servicesmembers have already died was based on lies, deceptions, and delusions of world domination, the criminals responsible should see their day in court, and that no more mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, or children, American or Iraqi, cry themselves to sleep every night mourning the unjust dead.
Jesus wept.
Proud NOT to be Anonymous, and proud as hell of Cindy Sheehan,
Melanie Lane
Here is another "leftie" hypocrite (correct spelling Mr. X) chiming in for the pursuit of the truth.
What is the truth that you are pursuing? It appears to we "lefties" that you and your ilk see anything which emanates from the Bush administration as the "gospel truth". We "lefties" look for evidence which supports the "truth" which the Bush administration speaks. However, we find only evidence that repudiates the words of Bush. There was no WMD, there was no Niger yellowcake uranium, there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, an so on and so on.
Mr. X, show we "lefties" that you are not a "chicken hawk" by telling us your identity and that you have just come back from your local Armed Forces Recruiting office where you signed up to fight for Bush's "noble cause".
You make a good point. Clinton did not take us into a horrible den of vipers that may change world history forever. This war is a crime .
The info we had about wmd were invalid. Bush knew that Iraq had no wmd. He lied to the world, he lied to his wife and children.I find myself so sad about all the events that are unfolding. This site allows you to express your views and that is great but please all you republicans who do not agree with our views be respectful.
Your are right on target. Remember that "W" was AWOL...he, who couldn't be bothered to even attend National Guard drill, and his evil side-kick, Dick (who had "other priorities" during the Vietnam conflict),are happy to send others, many still teenagers, to be blown to bits...WHY do we let them get away with it? I just put a new bumper sticker on my car: STOP THE WAR/IMPEACH THE LIARS Ordered 100, would you like one?
Yeah,
I'd love to have bumper sticker!
My favorite ones I have seen so far:
"Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing its idiot!"
&
"George Bush; often quoted, seldom questioned, never right!"
Yeah,
I'd love to have bumper sticker!
My favorite ones I have seen so far:
"Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing its idiot!"
&
"George Bush; often quoted, seldom questioned, never right!"
You have the support of many people, including myself, in your battle to get some answers about your son's death!
Don't let Bush off the hook. He is inflicting self-indictment by refusing to meet with you!
An article by Matt Drudge quoting anti-war mother Cindy Sheehan whose son was killed in Iraq grossly took Sheehan out of context, RAW STORY has learned.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Drudge_Report_grossly_misquotes_antiw_0808...
http://www.thereporter.com/search/ci_2923921
Check out this website...Cindy's gone international!! You Go girl!!!
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/mr-president-theres-someone-waiting-and...
I AM CINDY SHEEHAN.
We can ALL be Cindy in our own towns if we can't get to Crawford.
Alert the media. I am Cindy Sheehan.
One women makes a huge statement but thousands of women and men who have had a child killed in this illegal war make a bigger statement. We need to find a way to help parents of Children killed in this war get to Crawford.
What a bunch of lunitics you communist 'useful idiots' are.
You are all cordially invited to leave the USA, go to anywhere else and never return.
Please. I was nice, I said please.
Hahahaha, go join your "SAVIOR" DUBYA!!!!!!!!!!! Go ahead and flee to MEXICO, that's what you're really worth, isn't it?
You make us all LAUGH!!!!!!!!!!! PATHETIC, LITTLE, LOSER!!!!!!!!
:)
Doug Eldritch
How dare you! This is about debate and the right to be heard. This government has lied to us. We the people have the right in this country to disagree, to debate, to speak what we believe. If you do not like that, then you move to another country!
It is always interesting that species of your ilk, always think that those who don't share your lockstep vision of the world should leave. Maybe you should consider packing up, and taking the rest of the folks who dwell in the shallow end of the gene pool with you.
And while you're at it, go ahead and read the Constitution again. While a little of it still exists. You do seem randomly literate.
Don't kid yourself. You're not nice. And I'm betting you've been rude to a Girl Scout selling cookies.
(all you commies out there like me, just keep humming 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' to yourself when confronted with a nimrod like this...drives 'em hog-wild).
Jesus loves you,
Melanie Lane
Now that you are here, read everything about Downing Street Memos.
All of these people are not lunatic communist, but you and whole Bush administration are Nazi dictators. This country was created on God and his Word, and God said: "Thou shall not kill." There are no exceptions, not for you, Bush, or no one else. So if any one needs to move out of USA it should be you and murderess minds like yours that makes the rest of us ashamed. There is only one problem, no one want's ugly, sick minded Ted Bundies ( I am sure you share his DNA) like you.
as you don't care about the Democracy and freedom of this country - just like this outlaw administration. Why don't you leave and go to a country more to your liking - you know like Saudi Arabia
We are all useful and very smart. All humanity is useful at some level, so please do not insult humanity. Why do you insist on name calling, we all could have great debate, When you insult others you insult your self.
MY PARENT'S WERE BORN HERE, I WAS BORN HERE. I WENT TO SCHOOL HERE.
I SERVED TIME IN THE MILLITARY (HERE). I PAY TAXES HERE. I KNOW ALL THE NAMES OF MY NEIHBORS HERE. I DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE! NOR DO I HAVE TO LIKE OR SUPPORT THIS PRESENT ADMINSTRATION HERE! AND I DON'T! AND I WONT! SO BITE ME ASSHOLE!**HUMPHREY**
Some of the young people that join the armed services are joining for that wrong reason (money). They excect to go in and do only part of their job, fighting for our contry is the main part of their job that people forget about. My son is going into the Air Force this month and I am very proud of him. Let us remember that is a volunteer armed forces, they joined on their own free will and now they have a job to do.
And I dearly hope your son comes home alive. Chances are in his enlistment, the plane he's on will fly into harm's way. Wouldn't you feel better if you knew it was for a good cause? I don't want any of our service personnel sent in to fight anywhere unless there is a good reason for it.
As for 17 year old people going into the armed forces for the 'wrong reasons', take a good long look at recruitment practices. Nobody's telling these youngsters to 'jine up and go to Iraq'. They are telling EVERY potential recruit that there is a "minimal" chance they will ever serve as ground combat duty.
Tell that to the 50-year-old Reservists doing their third deployment, or the Air Force mechanics on the ground in Baghdad. In an insurgent war, there are no "front lines".
I also am proud of your son, and praying for him, along with everybody else caught up in this rich man's fight, poor man's war. God forbid you ever have to feel like Cindy Sheehan.
Proud NOT to be Anonymous,
Melanie Lane
To Melanie Lane
I enjoy your posts on Cindy Sheehan. I would be interested in communicating directly with you. You can reach me at bill564@cox.net. My son-in-law is two months away from being deployed back to Iraq for the second time for 18 months. I echo your statements about this administration. During the Vietnam War I took a day off on Oct 15,1969 to protest that war. I almost lost my job. Think about it Cindy Sheehan is willing to face down the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. That takes guts She should run for President! But hey I am getting ahead of myself. I hated Nixon as he stonewalled up to the end, but these people make Nixon look like a choir boy. I imagine Tricky is looking down (or up) and saying "These people are good ....I wish they were around when I was in trouble". " As for Clinton if every public official got impeached for a sexual frolic, I wonder who would be running the country. Hooray for Cindy.
Peace
Keyman12
I FIND IT VERY IRONIC THAT NEO-CONS AND REDNECKS GET SO UPSET WHEN US LIBERALS GET OUR IRE UP! WASN'T THIS COUNTRY FOUNDED THROUGH A REVOLUTION OF DESSENTING VOICES AGAINST THE BRITISH CROWN? WERE NOT OUR FOUNDING FATHERS RANTING AGAINST THE BRITISH EMPIRE THAT DEMANDED COLONY TAXES (AND OTHER GOODS) WITHOUT GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATION?
I BELIEVE IT WAS JEFFERSON WHO SAID THAT THIS COUNTRY WOULD NEED A GOOD REVOLUTION ABOUT EVERY 50 YEARS IN ORDER TO KEEP ANY ONE PARTY OR POWER FROM REPEATING THE ABUSES OF THE EMPIRE.
I THINK WE ARE WAY OVER DUE! IT IS TIME TO TAKE BACK THIS COUNTRY FROM THE CEO/D.C. CORPORATE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT WHO HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO ACTUALLY WORK FOR A LIVING! I AM TIRED OF THEM USING OUR POOR CHILDREN WHO CANNOT FIND LIVING WAGE JOBS TO GO FIGHT THEIR PROFIT MAKING WARS!!! TO HELL WITH THEM! IF DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS ARE DAM SERIOUS TO SEE THIS WAR THROUGH... THEN INSTITUTE THE DRAFT AND GET THEIR OWN KIDS TO DIE ON THE FRONT LINES!!!
VET BRAD
"Let us remember that is a volunteer armed forces, they joined on their own free will and now they have a job to do."
Let us also remember that this war is a violation of international law and the constitution. Therefore any orders in persuant of this illegal war are themselves illegal, and there is no moral obligation to obey an illegal order. Nobody who has voluntarly joined the military, and I do not care what contracts they have signed or commitments they have made, they are under no moral or legal obligation to obey an illegal order!
The Nuremburg trials determined that "just obeying orders" is not a defense for war crimes!
I totally agree. "Just Following Orders" is no excuse for Military,
Intelligence, OR Law Enforcement abuses of Constitutional or International Law.
I liked what someone posted earlier, that "I've got bills to pay"
is no excuse either.
I call them "JAFFOs" (jaf-OZ) rhymes with "hose."
In my years of working with the above agencies, I have always been
amazed and highly disturbed that so many of these people have
absolutley no knowledge of the US Constitution. More troubling and telling to me is that fact that their training teaches them a zillion ways to kill and survive, yet no time is allocated in
their training to teach them the basics of Constitutional law
vs. Patriarchal Fascism. Instead, they are drilled and "conditioned" in the worst Skinnerian (BF Skinner) sense to
blindly obey orders and "policy & procedures" with no reliance
on personal judgment.
One begins to question just whom they are "Protecting and Serving."
peace.
They did NOT join of their own free will. They were LIED to!!!
I wonder... hmmm Did Bill Clinton Lie?
Yes...Clinton lied to a federal grand jury about CONSENSUAL sex he had with a 23 year old intern who knew exactly what she was doing (and apparently did it well). But I'll take Clinton lying about a bl*w job any day of the week than Bush whose lies have destroyed tens of thousands of lives both civilian and military. He is about the most dangerous dumba*s human being I have ever seen in public office. In fact, as a Rhoads Scholar, Clinton had more brains in the head of his di*k than Bush has in his whole body!!!
Vet Brad
like Bush did with Jeffery Gannon/Guckert
You must be a very proud father, how incredable that such a father would send his own son into a land made deadly with Depleted Uranium and destroyed life there for every living creature for thousands of years. The same deadly carp other loving son's did for fathers like you.. And you state your PROUD...
I support Warriors...NOT the War!!!
As long as your son knows when raising his hand when joining that he is entering a war that was totally fabricated on lies by the Bush camp! If he fine with that, then more power to him. And, God forbid, if he should come back in a box, more power to you.
Vet Brad
Little George Bush and Osama Bin Laden are the moral equivalent of each other; they both use god, religion and lies to justify killing people!
Body count to date:
George Bush, 100,000 dead.
Osama Bin Laden, 3,000 dead.
Now tell me again, who is the terrorist? Who is the threat to world peace?
"Support for the al Qaeda freedom fighters is self-defense." ~ President Ronald Reagan, State of the Union address, 1985
July 4th-14th 2001, Osama bin Laden was being treated for kidney infection at the American Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. There, on multiple occasions, he met with CIA station Chief Larry Mitchell. Bin Laden gave Mitchell 'precise information' regarding 'an imminent attack' on the US.
A 2000 presidential executive order was still in effect and mandated that bin Laden should have been killed on the spot. Bin Laden was allowed to leave of his own free will.....after those "multiple occasions meetings with CIA" in the hospital.
Bush signed W199I months before 9-11 ordering FBI not to stop Al-Qaeda..........
Bush should be impeached, arrested and then publically flogged. One lash for each dead American soldier in Iraq.
Cheney should be impeached, arrested and publically flogged, one lash for each dollar he got from Halliburton as VP.
Rice should be given a healthcare package w/dental and get that credibility gap between her lying teeth fixed. Then she should be tried for war crimes.
Rumsfeld should be made to wear the lousy tee shirt he got for flattening Fallujah forever, and then tried for torture and war crimes.
Mr. Rove, the man who makes birds fall dead from the sky, we're gonna hold another contest to figure out what to do with you. You're special. It's going to take some creative thinking to come up with your punishment. Anyone got any ideas?
What fun!