KIA Soldier's Mom to Confront Bush in Crawford

AfterDowningStreet.org

Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, and mother of a soldier killed in action in Iraq, plans to confront President Bush with questions at his Crawford ranch on Saturday morning, August 6, 11 a.m. CT. Accompanying Sheehan will be members of Veteran's for Peace (VFP), Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), CODE PINK, and Crawford Peace House, all members or allies of the AfterDowningStreet.org Coalition.

On Wednesday, Bush said (speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in August): "We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission." and "The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause."

In response, Sheehan wrote:
"We want our loved ones' sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from the travesty that is Iraq IMMEDIATELY, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions. Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation that we are? We would like for him to explain this 'noble cause' to us, and plan to ask him why Jenna and Barbara are not in harm's way, if the cause is so noble. If he is not ready to send the twins, then he should bring our troops home immediately. We will demand a speedy withdrawal."

Sheehan said today that she plans to stay "until we are arrested or satisfied with the answers."

Sheehan will be carrying with her a collection of signatures on a petition asking that the troops be brought home, including 25,000 signatures collected at OutOfIraq.org.

Below are statements from participants in tomorrow's events, as released today by the Institute for Public Accuracy:

DIANE WILSON, WilsonAlamobay@aol.com, Co-founder of the women's peace group CodePink, Wilson is a Texan now on her way to Crawford. She said today: "I totally sympathize with Cindy. The Army tried to recruit my autistic son. They tried to get my daughter to join too, they led her to believe she would be joining the Coast Guard when it was actually the Army. My daughter was needing money, we make our living fishing and have trouble making ends meet, so the military can be tempting. If George Bush really thinks this is such an honorable battle, let me send his twins over there." Wilson wrote the just-released book "An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas."

HADI JAWAD, shadijawad@aol.com, Jawad is spokesperson for the Crawford Peace House and will be accompanying Sheehan from Dallas to Crawford on Saturday.

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

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AfterDowningStreet.org is a rapidly growing coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which launched on May 26, 2005, a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.

Cindy Sheehan scindy121@aol.com