Cindy Sheehan, anti-war mother, quits citing 'hopelessness' with gov.

[Grimmlok]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has announced she no longer wants to be the public face of the movement against the US-led invasion of Iraq, a cause she spearheaded following the death of her soldier son.

Sheehan, best known for camping out at President George W. Bush's Texas ranch, said she has become disillusioned with the struggle, which has ravaged her bank account, wrecked her marriage and strained her relationship with her surviving children.

"This is my resignation letter as the 'face' of the American anti-war movement," Sheehan wrote in a blog entry posted Monday titled "Good Riddance Attention Whore."

"I am going to take whatever I have left and go home. I am going to go home and be a mother to my surviving children and try to regain some of what I have lost."

She said she made the decision to abandon the movement after about a year of deliberating.

"The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing," she said in reference to her son, who was killed in Iraq in April 2004.

"I have tried every (day) since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.

"It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most."

She said she had lost faith in the anti-war movement's ability to make change and even in Democrats, who are largely opposed to the war and who took control of the House and Senate last year.

"Bush will never be impeached because if the Democrats dig too deeply, they may unearth a few skeletons in their own graves and the system will perpetuate itself in perpetuity," she said.

"I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither.

"Goodbye America ... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I cant make you be that country unless you want it," she concluded.

Sheehan camped near Bush's Prairie Chapel ranch in August 2005 while he was on summer holiday there and spent much of that time asking in vain to meet with him to ask why her son had to die.

She also protested near the site after purchasing a five-acre plot near the president's Texas homestead, and led numerous other anti-war demonstrations across the country.

Prominent US anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan abandons campaign - Yahoo! News

No doubt the Rethuglicans are crowing about it

[McJag]

I think she owes it to herself-heck with them! She has shaved off 10 years of her life with this. She needs to rest.

[western]

I have tried every (day) since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.

That should be the obvious solution right there. "American President", anyone can audition and the viewers choose the new President. It'll get more viewers than all the debates combined and the majority of the country will vote.

[msdeb]

i dont care what she says, i'm sure her son has a completely different idea about why he died. while i will NEVER agree with Bush, i support our troops. She picked the wrong way to go about her 'battle' .
she's so unAmerican ....she says I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither.

"Goodbye America ... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I cant make you be that country unless you want it," she concluded.

as i've said before i've lost a cousin in December to this war, and his parents are NOT abandoning America. They are two very classy people who are very upset at the loss of their son, but they support the troops, and are using their energy to help the soldiers that need help here (injured, surviving families, etc)
oh and lets not forget that she sided with HUGO CHAVEZ at one point about the war. she's a misguided soul

[Grimmlok]

I'm trying to remember how Hugo Chavez was WRONG about the war?

[msdeb]

I'm trying to remember how Hugo Chavez was WRONG about the war?

because he's hugo chavez.

[Grimmlok]

.. that's not an answer, how was Hugo Chavez wrong about the war? What did he say about the war that was incorrect?

[msdeb]

.. that's not an answer, how was Hugo Chavez wrong about the war? What did he say about the war that was incorrect?

she was with Hugo Chavez. She should have been with an American. There are plenty of people that are beloved in America that Cindy could have 'befriended'. instead she chose hugo? not a popular choice. maybe sided wasnt the best of words to use.

[Grimmlok]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure she was glomming onto anybody who opposed the war at that point, even crazy ol Hugo.

Not exactly a shining moment in public relations history.

[crumpet]

She did a lot to damage her rep by associating with him. I think she's a nutjob, grief or no grief and I think she allowed herself to be a political tool. Her son voluntarily signed up for not one, but two tours of combat. Regardless of her opinion of the war, he had been there and knew what it was like, and wanted to go back. Maybe she really is angry with him but chanels it all towards the Pres (who I also despise) because , how can you be angry at your dead son? In the end she just turned out to be an ideological one trick pony who would have aligned herself with Stalin if he were living and opposed Bush.