Cindy Sheehan to chain herself to White House

**Grimmlok** · October 24th, 2005, 04:36 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cindy Sheehan, the military mother who made her son's death in Iraq a rallying point for the anti-war movement, plans to tie herself to the White House fence to protest the milestone of 2,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq.

"I'm going to go to Washington, D.C. and I'm going to give a speech at the White House, and after I do, I'm going to tie myself to the fence and refuse to leave until they agree to bring our troops home," Sheehan said in a telephone interview last week as the milestone approached.

"And I'll probably get arrested, and when I get out, I'll go back and do the same thing," she said.

The death toll among U.S. military forces since the March 2003 invasion stood at 1,996 on Sunday.

The milestone's approach prompted plans for hundreds of other demonstrations across the United States, but for Sheehan, each military death in the Iraqi war has been a tragedy.

"To me, every single member since Number One has been tragic and needless and unnecessary," she said. "My son was somewhere around 615, and I've been working so hard for peace since my son was killed and now almost 1,400 more soldiers have been killed since Casey died."

Army Specialist Casey Sheehan was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004.

Beyond Sheehan's plans, a candlelight vigil is planned at the White House to mourn the 2,000-death milestone. Hundreds of other demonstrations are scheduled for the day after the milestone number is reached.

"I hope that this milestone marks the point when the American people realize the U.S. military is not going to stop the violence in Iraq, and they instead start demanding a political solution to this problem," Sean O'Neill, a U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, said in a statement.

'HUMAN COST OF A LIE'

The American Friends Service Committee was helping coordinate activists to protest the Iraq war.

"On the day after the 2,000th reported U.S. military death in Iraq, people will gather in communities across the U.S. to say that the countries pro-peace majority wants Congress to stop the deaths by stopping the dollars that are funding the war," a coalition of anti-war groups said online at www.afsc.org.

"The clock has stopped ticking for 2,000 Americans in Iraq, and once again there is a media craze, another reason for people to pay closer attention to the human cost of a lie, but for how long this time?" said Camilo Mejia, an Iraq combat veteran who served a year in prison for refusing to return to the war in Iraq.

"Perhaps it's time for the American public to realize that each death counts, American, Iraqi or otherwise," Mejia said in a statement.

Another anti-war group, Peace Action, called on Congress to pull troops out of Iraq.

"Bush's insistence on continued military occupation feeds the insurgency. Congress must now take the leadership role in bringing our troops home," said Kevin M. Martin, executive director of Peace Action.

At the White House, demonstrators plan a quiet vigil.

"We ask that people do not bring signs or posters, just candles and perhaps pictures of soldiers," the notice for this event read. "No megaphones or speeches. Quiet mourning, prayer and song. No opportunities to offend or exclude."

An early October survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press of U.S. attitudes toward the war in Iraq found only 9 percent of respondents thought the war was going very well; by contrast, 22 percent thought it was going not at all well.

Half of all respondents said the United States made the wrong decision in using military force against Iraq; 44 percent said it was the right decision. The survey had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

**buttmunch** · October 24th, 2005, 04:38 PM

Yeah, ok, she's a bit off the wall, but it only makes her more endearing. I love someone who gets to the point where they don't give a flying fuck.

'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!'

**alltoofamiliar** · October 24th, 2005, 05:20 PM

The woman needs to learn how to mourn a different way. While I have sympathy for her situation, I think that she has become obsessed with the media attention. It is as if she feeds off of all the attention.
I realize that she is sad and frustrated with the events that have occurred, but she had to have known that this was an occupational hazard.
Like I have stated, I feel for her but I think she has gone a little over the edge.

**Grimmlok** · October 24th, 2005, 05:23 PM

MEdia attention is what she wants.. that's why she's doing it. More attention on the subject.

**alltoofamiliar** · October 24th, 2005, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

MEdia attention is what she wants.. that's why she's doing it. More attention on the subject.

I believe that she is feeding off all of the attention for her own gratification. I think that she may be grieving and she is coping with it by occupying all of her time on this cause. I really do think that she needs medical attention.
I am not making fun of her, I seriously think she needs professional help.

**Mr. Authority** · October 24th, 2005, 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by buttmunch

Yeah, ok, she's a bit off the wall, but it only makes her more endearing. I love someone who gets to the point where they don't give a flying fuck.

'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!'

I agree. She may have gone a little out there, but hey kudos to her for not giving up.

**buttmunch** · October 25th, 2005, 02:45 AM

I don't think she's feeding off the media or using this as some way to grieve. I think she feels the war is inherently wrong and refuses to back down to all those who say that they 'have sympathy but she needs to mourn in a different way'. This has gone beyond her son dying. It's now about a corrupt government that has dragged this country into a huge quaqmire in the middle east, with no understanding of how to get us out. Go Cindy!!

**Elise** · October 25th, 2005, 03:02 AM

Ugh. Make this woman GO AWAY. She is making the anti-war side look so bad!

**alltoofamiliar** · October 25th, 2005, 06:45 PM

Originally Posted by buttmunch

I don't think she's feeding off the media or using this as some way to grieve. I think she feels the war is inherently wrong and refuses to back down to all those who say that they 'have sympathy but she needs to mourn in a different way'. This has gone beyond her son dying. It's now about a corrupt government that has dragged this country into a huge quaqmire in the middle east, with no understanding of how to get us out. Go Cindy!!

That argument might be more valid if she protested before her son died---we only heard from her after her son's death.
Please don't get me wrong---but I think her protests are more about her own sons death.

**buttmunch** · October 26th, 2005, 05:36 AM

Maybe no one was listening or thought her protests had any validity until she went from being a soldier's mother to a fallen soldier's mother.

**alltoofamiliar** · October 26th, 2005, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by buttmunch

Maybe no one was listening or thought her protests had any validity until she went from being a soldier's mother to a fallen soldier's mother.

You are probably right.
She has every right to protest and I don't know... if it were my son, I would probably do the same thing???
I don't know how her son felt about the war but I wonder what he is thinking?

**britlitgal** · October 26th, 2005, 07:23 AM

hopefully she accidentally gets run over by the white house garbage truck while she's there.

**buttmunch** · October 26th, 2005, 08:19 AM

Now why would anyone want a mother who is protesting a war that killed her son to die? Compassionate conservatism my ass.

**Elise** · October 26th, 2005, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by alltoofamiliar

That argument might be more valid if she protested before her son died---we only heard from her after her son's death.
Please don't get me wrong---but I think her protests are more about her own sons death.

I completely agree w/ you. Where was she before his death?? & she already met w/ the president once--why didn't she state her concerns then?? I feel like all her publicity stunts are ways for her to deal w/ her grief.

**buttmunch** · October 26th, 2005, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by alltoofamiliar
That argument might be more valid if she protested before her son died---we only heard from her after her son's death.
Please don't get me wrong---but I think her protests are more about her own sons death.

I completely agree w/ you. Where was she before his death?? & she already met w/ the president once--why didn't she state her concerns then?? I feel like all her publicity stunts are ways for her to deal w/ her grief.
__________________
A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror. -Ken Keyes Jr.

Well, according to your quote, you live in a closed, cold and unsympathetic world and are just such a person as a result.