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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1146174637123&call_pageid=970599119419
`Peace Mom' urges support
Activist backs war resisters, media access to mourn fallen
Sheehan's Toronto visit is part of three-city Canadian tour
Apr. 28, 2006. 01:00 AM
NANCY J. WHITE
LIFE WRITER
Cindy Sheehan deeply regrets not coming to Canada sooner. Before her son Casey, a U.S. soldier, shipped off to Iraq, she offered to drive him north across the border. He didn't believe in the war, she says, but felt he couldn't let down his army buddies, that it was his duty to go.
"I definitely wish I'd knocked him out and taken him to Canada instead of the airport," says Sheehan. Casey, 24, a Humvee mechanic, was killed in Iraq two weeks after he got there in 2004.
This Wednesday, Sheehan — better known as the "Peace Mom" who pitched camp outside U.S. President George W. Bush's Texas ranch last August — makes her first visit to Canada, preaching a message of peace. She hopes Canadians will help U.S. war resisters.
"We need to energize people to work for peace," says the controversial anti-war leader who will speak at the University of Toronto. "Don't allow your new government to back the Bush regime."
She says the government policy of barring media from airbases when dead soldiers return is wrong. "My country does that, too. It's a way to not let us see the human cost of war."
To some, Sheehan is a hero, a grieving mother who galvanized the latest U.S. peace movement. Her Crawford, Texas, stakeout — she wanted a meeting with the vacationing president that never came — grabbed headlines and drew thousands of supporters. She's been called the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement triggered by the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Others call her traitor, celebrity-seeker. Some families of fallen soldiers made it clear she didn't speak for them. Right-wing commentators slammed her as a dupe of the left, a fraud.
Still others aren't sure what to make of this middle-aged woman who doesn't distinguish between Iraq and Afghanistan — she calls for all foreign troops out of both — and who's already been arrested for civil disobedience four times.
A California mother of four married to her high school sweetheart, she was a Catholic youth minister for eight years and worked for the Napa County human services department. Then Casey died.
Some people grieve privately. Others go public with their pain, needing action. Sheehan and several other parents of slain soldiers founded Gold Star Families for Peace. (It also runs bake sales to raise money for body armour troops need.)
"I didn't want another family to go through what we did," says Sheehan, 48. "My son died for lies."
Last August, after 20 U.S. Marines died in Iraq in two days, she heard Bush on television speak of the "noble cause" they died for. "I snapped." That's when she took off for Texas with a pup tent to try to talk to Bush.
"The importance of Camp Casey was enormous," she says. "It let Americans know an anti-war movement existed. Generals have spoken out against the war, as have congressional representatives. They tell me the grassroots peace movement gave them the courage to do so."
The crowds, the publicity, the support, her weeks camped out did something for her, too. "I feel more joy there than anywhere else. Before Camp Casey, I was depressed, frustrated. My son was dead and it was so painful. I didn't care if I lived or died. Now it's good to be alive."
Since Camp Casey, she's been in perpetual motion — from her "Bring Them Home Now" bus tour to speeches in England and Ireland, an anti-globalization forum in Venezuela, and talks at U.S. college campuses.
She was taken into custody at Bush's State of the Union speech for wearing a T-shirt that read: "2,245 dead. How many more?" Charges of unlawful conduct were later dropped. But Sheehan plans a lawsuit. "I never thought I'd also become a First Amendment crusader."
Touring Canada matters.
"During the Vietnam War, Canadians accepted our soldiers and we want to encourage that," says Sheehan, who'll also visit Ottawa and Vancouver. "We want to encourage the war resisters who are already there."
Twenty are here publicly and about 200 other war resisters are underground in Canada, according to the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War. It and U of T's Students' Administrative Council are sponsoring her visit.
She is recently divorced from her husband of 28 years. "He agrees that the troops should be brought home (but) doesn't support the intensity I put into it." Her other children, all in their 20s, have their own lives but join her when they can.
False rumours were spread that they divorced years ago and that he raised Casey. Matt Drudge publicized criticism from her former in-laws who support Bush.
She dismisses such criticism: "I'm the perfect person to be out front. I can take the heat."
This Easter, Camp Casey was visited by 100 "Bikers for Bush." There have been death threats, she says.
"I'm not spooked."
She and others vow to be there whenever Bush is in Crawford. "We're planning a great summer at Camp Casey," she says, sounding like an enthusiastic head counsellor. There will be peace training for young activists and a war crimes tribunal, with a petition to Bush to attend. Singers Willy Nelson and Richie Havens will come.
All this "proves one person can make a difference," she says.
And Casey? "I know he's very proud of me."
She's so crazy even her husband couldn't take her **** anymore!! During this crucial time when we need to garner all the support we can for our soldiers, this dipsh*t decides to pay us a visit. She may only strengthen the resolve of all the other ignorants out there. I like how she uses that too often used catch phrase "we must stop the wars and work for peace". Just how are we going to achieve this peace with people who have never willingly experienced it? Then she proceeds to explain that there is no difference between the war in Iraq and Afghanistan- eventhough the later is UN sanctioned. I guess she doesn't care about the well being of women and children, living under the Taliban was much better. Some Christian she is! Why help these poor oppressed people in A-stan, we should just ignore it , like the West ignored Rwanda, or Hitler over 50 years ago. 50 years isn't that long that people would forget about what happened during WW2 is it?
`Peace Mom' urges support
Activist backs war resisters, media access to mourn fallen
Sheehan's Toronto visit is part of three-city Canadian tour
Apr. 28, 2006. 01:00 AM
NANCY J. WHITE
LIFE WRITER
Cindy Sheehan deeply regrets not coming to Canada sooner. Before her son Casey, a U.S. soldier, shipped off to Iraq, she offered to drive him north across the border. He didn't believe in the war, she says, but felt he couldn't let down his army buddies, that it was his duty to go.
"I definitely wish I'd knocked him out and taken him to Canada instead of the airport," says Sheehan. Casey, 24, a Humvee mechanic, was killed in Iraq two weeks after he got there in 2004.
This Wednesday, Sheehan — better known as the "Peace Mom" who pitched camp outside U.S. President George W. Bush's Texas ranch last August — makes her first visit to Canada, preaching a message of peace. She hopes Canadians will help U.S. war resisters.
"We need to energize people to work for peace," says the controversial anti-war leader who will speak at the University of Toronto. "Don't allow your new government to back the Bush regime."
She says the government policy of barring media from airbases when dead soldiers return is wrong. "My country does that, too. It's a way to not let us see the human cost of war."
To some, Sheehan is a hero, a grieving mother who galvanized the latest U.S. peace movement. Her Crawford, Texas, stakeout — she wanted a meeting with the vacationing president that never came — grabbed headlines and drew thousands of supporters. She's been called the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement triggered by the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Others call her traitor, celebrity-seeker. Some families of fallen soldiers made it clear she didn't speak for them. Right-wing commentators slammed her as a dupe of the left, a fraud.
Still others aren't sure what to make of this middle-aged woman who doesn't distinguish between Iraq and Afghanistan — she calls for all foreign troops out of both — and who's already been arrested for civil disobedience four times.
A California mother of four married to her high school sweetheart, she was a Catholic youth minister for eight years and worked for the Napa County human services department. Then Casey died.
Some people grieve privately. Others go public with their pain, needing action. Sheehan and several other parents of slain soldiers founded Gold Star Families for Peace. (It also runs bake sales to raise money for body armour troops need.)
"I didn't want another family to go through what we did," says Sheehan, 48. "My son died for lies."
Last August, after 20 U.S. Marines died in Iraq in two days, she heard Bush on television speak of the "noble cause" they died for. "I snapped." That's when she took off for Texas with a pup tent to try to talk to Bush.
"The importance of Camp Casey was enormous," she says. "It let Americans know an anti-war movement existed. Generals have spoken out against the war, as have congressional representatives. They tell me the grassroots peace movement gave them the courage to do so."
The crowds, the publicity, the support, her weeks camped out did something for her, too. "I feel more joy there than anywhere else. Before Camp Casey, I was depressed, frustrated. My son was dead and it was so painful. I didn't care if I lived or died. Now it's good to be alive."
Since Camp Casey, she's been in perpetual motion — from her "Bring Them Home Now" bus tour to speeches in England and Ireland, an anti-globalization forum in Venezuela, and talks at U.S. college campuses.
She was taken into custody at Bush's State of the Union speech for wearing a T-shirt that read: "2,245 dead. How many more?" Charges of unlawful conduct were later dropped. But Sheehan plans a lawsuit. "I never thought I'd also become a First Amendment crusader."
Touring Canada matters.
"During the Vietnam War, Canadians accepted our soldiers and we want to encourage that," says Sheehan, who'll also visit Ottawa and Vancouver. "We want to encourage the war resisters who are already there."
Twenty are here publicly and about 200 other war resisters are underground in Canada, according to the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War. It and U of T's Students' Administrative Council are sponsoring her visit.
She is recently divorced from her husband of 28 years. "He agrees that the troops should be brought home (but) doesn't support the intensity I put into it." Her other children, all in their 20s, have their own lives but join her when they can.
False rumours were spread that they divorced years ago and that he raised Casey. Matt Drudge publicized criticism from her former in-laws who support Bush.
She dismisses such criticism: "I'm the perfect person to be out front. I can take the heat."
This Easter, Camp Casey was visited by 100 "Bikers for Bush." There have been death threats, she says.
"I'm not spooked."
She and others vow to be there whenever Bush is in Crawford. "We're planning a great summer at Camp Casey," she says, sounding like an enthusiastic head counsellor. There will be peace training for young activists and a war crimes tribunal, with a petition to Bush to attend. Singers Willy Nelson and Richie Havens will come.
All this "proves one person can make a difference," she says.
And Casey? "I know he's very proud of me."
She's so crazy even her husband couldn't take her **** anymore!! During this crucial time when we need to garner all the support we can for our soldiers, this dipsh*t decides to pay us a visit. She may only strengthen the resolve of all the other ignorants out there. I like how she uses that too often used catch phrase "we must stop the wars and work for peace". Just how are we going to achieve this peace with people who have never willingly experienced it? Then she proceeds to explain that there is no difference between the war in Iraq and Afghanistan- eventhough the later is UN sanctioned. I guess she doesn't care about the well being of women and children, living under the Taliban was much better. Some Christian she is! Why help these poor oppressed people in A-stan, we should just ignore it , like the West ignored Rwanda, or Hitler over 50 years ago. 50 years isn't that long that people would forget about what happened during WW2 is it?
