Sheehan and company get face time with senators Clinton, Reid, Lieberman. McCain’s next.
by Sarah Ferguson
Cindy Sheehan and the other members of the Bring Them Home Now tour hit the halls of Congress on Thursday, knocking on the doors of more than a dozen legislators to demand their position on the war—including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.
The activists were bringing Camp Casey, named for the 24-year-old son Sheehan lost in Iraq, to Capitol Hill. The first Camp Casey was set up this summer outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.
On Thursday, Sheehan sat down with Clinton and Reid, two of the highest-profile Democrats, to pose the same question she has posed to President Bush: “What noble cause are our loved ones fighting and dying for?"
“I asked them, ‘Are you going to be willing to lead us out of Iraq? Because if you do, the rest of the nation will follow you,’ ” Sheehan said.
Neither Clinton or Reid, who both voted for the war, were willing to reverse tracks and push for a U.S. withdrawal now. Nevertheless, Sheehan reported feeling “fabulous coming out of the meeting.”
“I know their offices are going to be working with us; all we have to do is keep up the pressure on them,” Sheehan said, adding, “Now it’s up to the people of New York to put pressure on Clinton.”
New Yorkers who oppose the war might not feel so encouraged, given the hawkish stance our junior senator has taken thus far.
Asked afterward about the meeting, Clinton noted that she had met earlier in the day with about 20 moms from American Gold Star Mothers, the pro-military group that President Bush has glommed onto in an effort to deflect the criticism by Sheehan and other military families. Bush has proclaimed this Sunday National Gold Star Mothers' Day to honor America’s fallen heroes—just a day after Sheehan and other military families are to speak out at Saturday’s anti-war demonstration.
Clinton noted that those moms have voiced “different positions” on the war from the one held by Sheehan’s group, Gold Star Families for Peace.
“It’s just a painful experience because of their loss,” Clinton said of her meeting with Sheehan, who was accompanied by her sister Dede and by Lynn Bradach, whose 21-year-old son, Corporal Travis Bradach-Nall, was killed clearing a minefield outside Karbala two years ago.
But Clinton added: “My bottom line is that I don’t want their sons to die in vain.”
Asked when she thought those soldiers’ mission might be complete, Clinton responded: “I don’t believe it’s smart to set a date for withdrawal. I don’t think you should ever telegraph your intentions to the enemy so they can await you.”
“I’ve been very critical of the president’s policies and also supportive of the Iraqis who are trying to move forward and form a new government,” Clinton told the Voice.
“I think it is a much more complicated situation,” she continued. “I don’t think it’s the right time to withdraw, but we also have to stand up and send a message that we’re not going to be there indefinitely. We need to tell the Sunnis that they have to do their job and that we won’t be there forever. Because if you don’t, then what incentive is there for them to ever participate in the political process?”
Clinton cited two key upcoming moments: October 15, when the Iraqis are slated to vote on their new constitution, and December 15, when Iraqis are expected to elect a new government.
Responding to a question of whether Sheehan and the anti-war crowd are premature in demanding an immediate withdrawal of troops now, the presidential hopeful was nothing if not diplomatic.
“No, I think they’re playing a very important role,” Clinton said. “This is a democracy, thank God, and people should be speaking out. It helps keep the debate flowing and creates the conditions for better decision-making, which makes for better policies, so it’s very important.
“Nobody has a greater right to make that criticism,” Clinton said of Sheehan and the other military families who feel betrayed by the war. “But I happen to think that fighting for freedom is a noble cause. There are lots of things wrong with how Bush did it. I believe we should have gone through with the inspection process and acted through the UN. But I believe that standing up against someone as dangerous as Saddam was a good goal.”
Clinton was noncommittal when asked whether she still supports sending more troops to Iraq. “We’ll see,” she said, then disappeared into the Russell Senate office building.
At least Clinton was willing to hear Sheehan and the other military family members’ plea. Republican representative Bill Thomas of Bakersfield, California, wouldn’t let them in the door, while Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s staff told the group they would have to fill out a written form if they wanted a meeting. When told they had already called and e-mailed several times, Frist’s chief of staff relented and spent about 15 minutes with the group, which included Iraq war veterans and members of Military Families Speak Out.
“She didn’t take any notes, but hopefully the emotions we evoked in that meeting will say more than any notes would,” said Al Zappala of Philadelphia, whose son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed in Baghdad last year.
Sheehan and the other members of the Bring Them Home Now tour say they won’t give up until they get every member of Congress to take a stance on U.S. withdrawal.
They’ve launched a new campaign, Meet With the Mothers, to mobilize other military family members to go to every member of Congress and ask them what noble cause their loved ones are fighting and dying for. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, has agreed to meet with Sheehan on Tuesday, after refusing earlier requests.
“If the politicians don’t answer, there will be constituent Camp Caseys on their doorstep, just like in Crawford,” vows Jonathan Read, the former chair of Park Plaza Hotels and Resorts, who helped launch the campaign after camping out in Crawford with Sheehan for three weeks.
Earlier in the day, Sheehan and several other military moms held a press conference to announce a $1 million campaign of TV commercials and print ads.
The hard-hitting TV <A href="hotlink:" www.gsfp.org http:>ad was funded by donations to Gold Star Families for Peace. It features four women challenging the president for taking the country to war, including Melanie House, a former supporter of invading Iraq, whose husband, Petty Offficer John House, was killed when his helicopter was shot down earlier this year.
“How many more soldiers have to die for your mistake? My husband never got to hold his baby. What will I tell our son his father died for?” House asks in the commercial, which is set to run nationally on the Fox News Network and on CNN in Washington, D.C., over the next 12 days. The print ads were paid for by Win Without War. They feature the banner headlines, “They lied. They died,” and juxtapose the faces of Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice with a full-page list in tiny fine print of the more than 1,900 American soldiers killed in Iraq. The ads are running in 14 papers, including USA Today. A two-page spread appeared in Thursday’s Washington Post
Buttonholing Joe Lieberman
On Thursday, the anti-war activists with Bring Them Home Now also succeeded in ambushing Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, who was downstairs in the Senate office building for a photo shoot.
“This is my nephew, and we really need to know from you what he died for,” announced Beatriz Saldivar of Fort Worth, Texas, holding up an enlarged picture of Dennis Torres, who was killed in February when his unarmored Humvee was blown up outside of Baghdad. In her other hand, she held a photo of his pregnant fiancée weeping over the coffin.
“My heart goes out to you and everyone who’s lost somebody in the war,” said the former presidential hopeful, doing his best to smile kindly.
Noting that he had traveled to Iraq three times, Lieberman said: “I have supported this war and I still do. I’m not a big fan of Bush’s foreign policy and believe we could have done much more to win the support of other countries before we went in. But I do think the world is safer without Saddam Hussein.”
Lieberman pointed out that in 1988, he and Senator John McCain called for the overthrow of Saddam after Iraqi troops massacred more than 100,000 Kurds and attacked Iran with chemical weapons,
“But the evidence? The whole reason we went over there?” demanded Hart Viges, a 29-year old Army specialist who filed for conscientious objector status after serving a year in Iraq. “We never found any weapons of mass destruction. The whole reason we went was a lie.”
Lieberman said he thought the idea that Saddam possessed WMD’s had been “overplayed” by the Bush administration and wasn’t the only reason for invading in any case. Sounding very much like Bush, who defended the war again Thursday, Lieberman said: “If it doesn’t end well, that country will go into a civil war and the whole Middle East will be destabilized. And the terrorists who are there now … they’ll claim it as a big victory and then they’ll go on to the next country.”
“But you know they’re only there because we’re there,” Viges pressed, speaking of the foreign insurgents who have flocked to Iraq since the U.S. invaded.
“I believe these people have given their lives in a cause that will make your lives and your children’s lives safer,” Lieberman insisted.
Saldivar wasn’t having it. “My nephew will never see his daughter, who was born just 72 hours ago.”
Noting that the next time Lieberman travels to Iraq, his Humvee will likely be fully armored, she demanded: “What makes your life—or Donald Rumsfeld’s life—more valuable?”
To which the senator could only respond: “I’m glad you’re doing it, and I respectfully disagree.”
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Letter Delivered to the White House on September 21st, 2005
Dear President Bush,
We are veterans, families of active-duty military service people, and parents of soldiers who died as a result of the war in Iraq. We have been traveling the country from your vacation ranch in Crawford, TX, speaking to the American people about the true cost of your war based on lies. We have brought this nation a precious gift -- the truth. It is a truth that you have tried so hard to hide, as you banned the media from photographing flag-draped coffins as they come in to Dover Air Force Base. We brought the anguish of military families whose loved ones are and will be in harm’s way for no good reason. We brought the determination and the pain of Iraq Veterans, who all took a vow to defend the Constitution of this country, but were betrayed by being sent off the fight an unjustifiable war. And we brought the voice of veterans from the Vietnam War who know so well about physical and psychological damage from a war that should never have happened.
In 51 cities, 28 states and over 200 venues, we carried the message: Bring Our Troops Home Now, Take Care of Them of When They Get Home and Never Again Send Them Off to a War Based on Lies.
President Bush, we are outraged by the arrogance you displayed on May 1, 2003 when you declared “Mission Accomplished” while the killing and dying continued; when you said on July 2, 2003, “Bring ‘Em On” in response to a question about the armed Iraqi resistance; and when you refused to meet with the families of the fallen and with military families in August of this year in Crawford, Texas. We have come across this country, to Washington, D.C. to once again ask you to meet with us.
We still have questions for you:
What is the “noble cause” for which you sent our country to war?
How many more lives are you willing to sacrifice?
What are you going to do to end the war?
As the President, we expect you to listen to the voices of those who know the real cost of this war. We expect you to listen to the voices of those who truly support the troops. We expect you to answer our questions about this war. We expect you to hear us as we say, bring them home now.
We will not cease until all of our loved ones are brought home from a war they should never have been sent off to fight, until they get the care they need, and until we are sure that they are never again sent off to a war based on lies.
Sincerely
Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace
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