[Peace-discuss] Cindy Sheehan on how to end the war

[C. G. Estabrook]

    ...During the Vietnam War, Senator George McGovern stated
the following on the Senate floor in September of 1970:

    "Every senator in this chamber is partly responsible for
sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave. This chamber
reeks of blood ... It does not take any courage at all for a
congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in
the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not
our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those
young men and their lives and their hopes."

    The lack of courage of America's present Senate is
partially responsible for my son's death and the deaths of
tens of thousands of innocent people. Dianne Feinstein is one
of the senators who expediently gave her Constitutional
obligation to George Bush to invade an innocent country.
Dianne Feinstein continues to vote to give George Bush more
money to fund what she calls a "mistake." George Bush has been
proven to be irresponsible with our young people's lives and
with our tax dollars, but the senator keeps giving him more
money and more power to prolong the murder and mayhem in Iraq.

    I am standing here today to say "enough." It is not enough
to "criticize" the President's policies while you are handing
him more money to fund his policies. It is like giving an
addict more money to purchase drugs when you would like him or
her to quit.

    It is not enough to criticize the President's policies
when more and more flag-draped coffins are coming home each
day and more families are being devastated by these policies
while other people are putting food on their tables and
becoming fabulously wealthy off of Casey's flesh and blood and
the sorrow of scores of others.

    I am here today to call on not only Senator Feinstein, but
our other senator, Senator Boxer, who heroically did not
abrogate her responsibility to declare war to the President,
to quit "figuring out" ways to bring our troops home and start
sponsoring legislation. The last Senate vote for increased
funding for the killing was 99-0. How about cutting off the
President's means for killing? It is not that difficult. There
is not one piece of legislation in the Senate currently in
opposition to Iraq.

    It is not "enough" to say that one is critical of the war
in Iraq. I and The Nation magazine have called on every
Democrat of good conscience in America to oppose "pro-war"
Democrats in the upcoming elections. If an elected official
voted for the war, votes for the funding of the war, and
doesn't call for an immediate withdrawal of the troops, then
that official is "pro-war," no matter what he or she says. We
in America are fed up with rhetoric, and if the actions don't
match the rhetoric, then we are not buying what they are
selling anymore.

    I have been weighing my decision to run for Senate here in
California carefully, even before Camp Casey. My entire being
since Casey was killed has been immersed in trying to end the
occupation of Iraq before any other mothers have to fall on
the floor screaming for their child who should not have been
in harm's way in the first place. In making my decision
whether to run or not, I had to decide which course of action
would bring the troops home sooner. Is my being on the
outside, putting pressure on the inside more effective, or
would a Senate campaign help bring our kids home sooner? If I
thought that running for Senate would bring our young people
home more quickly, I would do it in a minute, but I am not
convinced that that would be so.

    I have decided not to run, but I am calling on all
Californians and Americans to support all anti-war candidates
to promote a paradigm of peace in the world, and I will be
supporting and working for dozens of anti-war candidates all
over the country. Our emphasis will be holding all of the
pro-war candidates accountable for their tragic mistakes, and
voting in representatives who will hold George Bush and his
administration accountable for all of their mistakes in Iraq
and here in America.

    We Americans are looking for ways to become involved in
our political process. We are tired of being complacent and we
are so tired of business as usual.

    Gold Star Families for Peace and Code Pink are sponsoring
an International Women's Day for Peace on March 8 th. We are
holding rallies and events all over the world that day.
Specifically, we are trying to bring two Iraqi mothers whose
children have been killed over from Iraq to speak at our event
in Washington, DC, and they are being denied visas from the
State Department. My freedom of speech and my civil rights
were violated last week for wearing a t-shirt; now these Iraqi
women who have paid the ultimate price for our leaders'
stupidity and greed are being denied the right to come to
America and tell their stories. We are urging America to call
the State Department and demand that these two women be given
visas.

    We are also encouraging grass roots Americans to demand
that the Senate start doing something to end the travesty in
Iraq. We believe that it will be the women who lead our nation
to peace and we are especially calling on America to put
pressure on Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, and Barbara
Boxer to be the leaders that our nation so desperately needs.
It is time.

    It is too late for me. My life and the lives of nearly
2300 American families have been tragically altered by the
ennui of the Senate and the callousness and incompetence of
this administration. I will never get to see my son or hear
his voice again. His future was robbed needlessly from him.
The complicity of the Senate has guaranteed that my future is
one of pain and longing for my son's presence. It is not too
late for the millions of people still in harm's way.

    I, as an American, and as the mother of a hero, pledge to
do what I can as a citizen to end the occupation of Iraq. I am
not running against Feinstein, but I will continue to be a
thorn in the side of the senator and anyone who is not
stridently working for peace. That is my promise.

    To get information to pressure the State Department and
our senators and for information on the International Women's
Day for Peace, go to: WomenSayNoToWar.org.

    Thank you and God Bless America ... Please!!!

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020906Y.shtml