Introduction by Shara Esbenshade

Gargoyle contributor

Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007, The OG, opinions

Cindy Sheehan outside the White House on

Nov. 7, 2006. This photo is licensed under the

Creative Commons. (photo by Ben Schumin)

(click to enlarge)

CINDY SHEEHAN'S SON Casey died in Iraq on April 4, 2004. After that day, Sheehan became an anti-war activist and dedicated 27 days of every month to that cause.

She is most famous for her action in August 2005 when she held a four-week long demonstration at Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, outside of George W. Bush's ranch, where the president was vacationing. She had been demanding a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Bush, but never got one.

This week Sheehan announced that she would step down as “the face of the anti-war movement,” as journalist Amy Goodman put it.

“It was not an easy decision, and it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision or a quick decision,” she told Goodman in an interview on “Democracy Now!” “We will retool … and come at it from a different direction.”

Camp Casey made Sheehan a prominent if not representative figure for the anti-war movement in America, and she gained international renown. She was in town earlier this year as the keynote speaker for a local student activist conference on campus and gave her talk on the evening of March 1 at the University YMCA.

To hear Cindy Sheehan speak brought me back to earth at a time when I felt frustrated and helpless with this war and disappointed with the movement against it. Sheehan must be the most honest person I have ever met. Her words are matter of fact. She does not sound like some politician trying to persuade and brainwash you. She does not sound like propaganda. She candidly explains her conclusions: action and action and action. This war must end now. That is her logical conclusion from knowing people, loved ones, who have died in this war, seeing this war destroy her own country, and from meeting with people all over the Middle East. People think it is a radical opinion to want to end the war now. Cindy Sheehan reminds you that an end to the war is simply logic.

Her honesty plays another role in this speech. She is a modest woman, but as she says, she does what she feels she has a duty to do. She knows that each person has passion for others, and she understands that each person's passion lies somewhere else. She urges each of us to get up, “take an axe” to our TV, and work for that passion — whether it be the environment, social justice, political rights, or ending war. Her most important message is that one person can make a difference — and she is proof of that.

ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

By Cindy Sheehan

Co-founder, Gold Star Families for Peace and the Camp Casey Peace Institute

[Note: Cindy Sheehan gave this talk on March 1. She was the keynote speaker at the University YMCA Student Activist Conference. This speech is reprinted with her permission, which Shara Esbenshade obtained.]

MY TALK TONIGHT is about how one person can make a difference. And I would like to have anyone dispute the fact that one person can make a difference. I'd like someone to stand up here and say, “You're wrong, one person can't make a difference! Cindy, you gave up your son when he was 4 years old! Cindy, your son doesn't have a gravestone! Cindy, whatever!” Whatever lies they want to tell about me — I hear it all the time.

But I am here to talk to the young people and encourage them and to motivate them to go outside of themselves. To pick something that they care about — it doesn't have to be what I care about. Although I think peace is the most important thing. But it's just a chance to make the world a better place. To make the world a better place in whatever you care about. And as long as it is something that is positive, not something that is killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, then that is something that should be honored. Say you care about working for homeless people. What if you find one person a place to live, in your activism? You have made the world a better place for that one person, and that means the world to that person.

Before my son was killed, I disagreed with the war and I disagreed with George Bush — never voted for him. I never was for the war — that's another one of those “reich-wing” lies. My son was not for the war; he said he did not want to go but he had to go. He never voted for George Bush because you know what? He was in the Army for the 2000 and 2004 elections — they never gave him the time off to go vote! How do you like that? They say they're spreading freedom and democracy to Iraq but the soldiers can't go vote!

But he wouldn't have voted for George Bush, if he could have. He disagreed with him. He disagreed with the war. But he knew his duty. Not like George Bush, who went AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard. Not like Dick Cheney, who got five deferments from going to Vietnam. And I don't think it's wrong for anybody to have gotten out of Vietnam and I don't think it's wrong for anybody to get out of Iraq because it's a nightmare of an illegal and immoral war, but when you get to be in power and you start your own illegal and immoral war and then other people's children are dying — that's what I have a problem with.

So Casey knew his duty. He went over there, and he was there five days and he was killed. And it wasn't his second deployment, Mr. Reich-wing. That's what they like to say too: that he went over there once and he loved it so much he went back — that's more “reich-wing” bullcrap. So when Casey was killed in a war that I disagreed with, in a war that his father disagreed with, in a war that his brothers and sisters disagreed with and that he disagreed with, I knew that I had to do something. It was too late for Casey, but it was not too late for millions of other people in harm's way. It was not too late for our soldiers. It was not too late for the people of Iraq, who had no intention to harm us.

They did not have weapons of mass destruction. They did not have anything to do with 9/11. In fact, they were a country decimated by 12 years of devastating sanctions. Some of the soldiers I talked to have come back and told me they were met with Iraqi soldiers that were wearing flip-flops and had rusty weapons. This is the army that the mightiest army of the world, the United States, went to conquer. This is the country that George Bush lied us into an invasion of and the occupation of. I want to tell you something: It has not proven how strong America is; it has proven how weak America is. An insurgency in a small country that was already harmed by 12 years of U.S./UN-led sanctions is holding off the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy.

I just got back from Turkey yesterday. I travel around the world, and I want to tell you one other thing George Bush has done to us. He has made us pariahs in the world. The world hates us. They do not only hate George Bush, but they hate Americans. And I say, “You know we are trying to get him out of office, we are trying to end the war.” They say: “Why did you vote for him in 2004? Why did you elect him again? It was bad enough in 2000, but why did you elect him again?” So we have to end this war and the Bush presidency to get some credibility back in the world.

I was appalled at this meeting with two Iraqi gentlemen who were telling the true story of what was going on there. Not the Green Zone story; they were telling the true story of what is going on in Iraq. Turk after Turk after Turk got up and said: “We are proud of the insurgency. We are proud, and you people in Iraq give us hope.” And that broke my heart because we are so hated and our soldiers are so hated and the only reason they are is because of George Bush. The only reason they are is because we invaded an innocent country, and recent studies show we have killed over 700,000 people.

And the men from Iraq told me that is more like a million. And if that is not genocide then what is? The man just said, “You know Saddam was a bastard, but at least he kept that country in line.” And I said, “Yeah, and we got that bastard out by becoming bigger bastards ourselves.” And that is not the America that I love. That is not the America that I want to be part of. I do not want to be part of an America that tortures people. That is why I have sacrificed my entire life to work to make this country a better place.

Mr. Reich-wing will say, “Well, if you don't love America, why don't you leave it?” I don't leave America because I love it. I know America has the potential to be the greatest country on Earth, not to be the bullies of the world. Not to go and invade countries that are weak to just make us look weaker. That's why I travel 27 days out of the month. I travel all over the country, all over the world to try to motivate people to help the people of Iraq, to help our soldiers, to bring them home.

Now we know that 70-something percent — I've seen anywhere from 67 to 73 percent of this country disagrees with the war and wants the troops to come home. When I sat down in Crawford, Texas, it wasn't even 50 percent. So that's how one person can make a difference. But what we don't see — we don't see 70 percent of America out on the streets. I see a very small percentage of America out on the streets. If just 1 percent of those people got out on the street demanding all of those troops home, Congress would have to listen to us. George Bush will never listen to us. We told him on Nov. 7, “We disagree with you, and we disagree with your war.” And what did he do? He turned around and sent more troops. He will not ever listen to us. But we have to make Congress listen to us.

It is so much easier for you and your congressional district to go to your congresspeople and demand that they end the war by cutting the funding. As long as there is money in the pipeline to support the troops on the ground, then that money is to bring them home. You know what? Everyone says, “Well, you have to vote for the funding to support the troops.” Well, I have some troops here — is it supporting the troops when you send them over to fight without their body armor? [“NO” from a member of the audience.]

The 21,500 troops they're sending for the troop surge will not have body armor until summer. What are they supposed to do? Dodge the bullets and the shrapnel until summer? Is it supporting the troops when a Marine unit has to go from door to door of the people they're oppressing begging for food because they do not get enough food — is that supporting the troops? Is it supporting the troops sending them into a country without the armor, or is it supporting the troops when we pay Halliburton to clean their water and Halliburton does not clean their water?

Is it supporting the troops when Walter Reed Hospital is falling apart? Over 100,000 Vietnam vets have committed suicides, and they are not taking care of the vets that are coming back from this war. Walter Reed is a hellhole. And is it supporting the troops when you cut back on VA benefits? That's not supporting the troops. The ultimate not-supporting-the-troops is sending them to Iraq in the first place. The only way we can support them is to bring them home. And if we bring them home, they don't need body armor, they don't have to beg for food, and they don't have to drink contaminated water, and they don't have to be contaminated with depleted uranium, either. So the only way to support them is bring them home.

George Bush does not need 100 billion more dollars to fight this war. That would last through his presidency. That would give him enough money to keep killing people through 2009. The only way to stop this war is to go to your congressperson's office and demand that they vote no on this next supplemental funding bill and to bring the troops home. That's what I care about. I care about the people in the Middle East. Every day our troops stay there it becomes more unstable, and the hope for putting it back together again gets farther and farther away. It's not going to happen when our troops are there. It's only going to happen when our troops get out of there — when they are going to start rebuilding the Middle East, Iraq, the way the people of Iraq want. Eighty-seven percent of the people of Iraq in the last poll said they wanted the troops out. I want to tell you something: It is their country. It is not our country.

People always ask me, “What would you do with Iraq?” It does not matter what I would do with it; I am not an Iraqi. What do the people of Iraq want? They want our troops out. Seventy-two percent of our troops want to come home. Seventy-two percent of Americans want them to come home. What is democracy? You know, our troops say that they are spreading freedom and democracy, and they barely have time to sit at home.

So that is what I care about, about saving lives. About saving the lives of soldiers and about saving the lives of the people of Iraq and that region that is becoming more and more unstable. Dick Cheney, “Doomsday Dick,” went all over the world saying, “No options off the table.” So they're saying to stop Iran from getting one nuclear bomb, they might nuke them! And who has the most nukes out of anyone in the world? And who is the only country that has ever used a nuclear bomb on innocent people? America. And now we are talking about it again. We are a rogue state. We need to be strong.

But before my son was killed, on Feb. 15, 2003, I saw millions of people all over the world go out and protest the invasion of Iraq. And what did George Bush say? “Well, that's nice, but I don't have to listen to ‘focus groups.'” I thought if he calls millions of people a focus group, what is he going to call me? A flea on his butt? So I thought my voice was not going to make a difference. Why should I go out? Why should I go out and hold signs in the rain and the cold? Why should I go out of my little sphere of influence? Because I did not believe that one person could make a difference.

But when Casey was killed, I thought to myself, I have to try to make a difference. And if I do not make a difference, at least I can die trying. And I just thought how could I face my grandchildren, Casey's nieces and nephews, and say, “You know your grandma she just gave up, she didn't try.” I want to be able to say, “Your grandma did everything she could to rectify the problem that killed your Uncle Casey.”

After that point, I couldn't not do something. So I started working soon after Casey was killed, and that was about 16 months before I went to Crawford, Texas. I decided one day on Aug. 3, 2005, that I had had enough. Fourteen marines were killed in one incident. And I often think, what is everybody's breaking point? If you are not out on the street, what would be the one thing that would get you out on the street? I do not know what else it could be.

After the wire tapping, torture in Guantanamo, torture in Abu Ghraib, taking away our right to habeas corpus, the troop surge, hundreds of billions of more money … now we find out they are funneling money to Sunni groups connected with Al Qaida in Iran. You know, what is going to be the tipping point that is finally going to make someone say: “I can't take this anymore. I am going to get out on the street”? I do not want it to be the same tipping point I had. That's why I am doing this.

I don't want another mother to have to fall on the floor screaming for her son before she decides she is going to get out on the street. So on Aug. 3, 2005, 14 marines were killed in one incident. And George Bush said they died for a noble cause and everybody has died for a noble cause. And I thought, “You know what, I am going to drive down to Crawford, Texas, and I am going to ask him what noble cause.” And I did not even have a plan after that.

I was at the Dallas Veterans For Peace convention the day before I went, and someone said, “Cindy, what if he doesn't meet with you, what are you going to do?” I said, “Well I guess I'll just sit there until he does meet with me.” And that spurred — it did not start an anti-war movement in America, because we had a vital one before the occupation, but after all the hard work and Bush invaded anyway, and especially after the elections in 2004 when we worked so hard to beat him (and like a vampire he can't be defeated) with the power of the voting machine, the movement really deflated. So I think what that did is it sparked the movement, and it sparked the movement worldwide.

It was such a simple thing to do. Anybody knows how to sit down. That's what I did — I just went there and sat down. And so from this talk tonight, I hope that you, if you are not already — I met some amazing kids at dinner tonight working on the environment, with young people in tutoring, so they have already found their passion and I suspect many of you young people in here are the same, and many of you older people are probably the same, too. It would just be really inspiring to find your passion.

When my son was killed I found my passion. I would give anything to go back to April 3 and have my son back, but I can't. So we can only go forward. And we can go forward hoping our actions will make the world a better place, even if it just makes our close world a better place or the whole world a better place. And I want to tell you that I am so excited that they are working on the environment here because we only have a short time, and it is the young people who are going to have to pay for that. It is the young people who are going to have to pay for the trillions of dollars George Bush is getting us into debt because of this. I think my great-grandchildren are going to have to be paying for his mistakes.

So it is time. The tipping point has occurred. It has occurred over and over and over again. It is the tipping point for the world, it is the tipping point for your neighbor, it is the tipping point for our country. It has occurred, and it is time that we get out of our comfort zone and get off of our couches, turn off Fox News or “American Idol” or “Dancing With the Stars” or whatever else and get out. In fact, know what? Just unplug that TV. Take it out in the backyard and take an axe to it.

The people and the gentlemen I've met from Iraq — and I've met a lot of people from Iraq, I've been to Jordan and met with parliamentarians from all different sects: female, male, Sunni, Shia, secular, religious — they all have the same thing to say: Get the troops out of Iraq.

When I met with them, they said: “What is wrong with the world? It is like the world does not care. It is like the world does not care that hundreds of thousands of us are being killed. It is like the world does not care that we have no clean water, that we do not have electricity. It is like the world does not care that we are being oppressed.”

So it is time the world starts caring, but the world has to start with you.

RELATED

— External link: Cindy Sheehan Steps Down as the Face of the Anti-war Movement

— External link: Cindy Sheehan's “resignation letter”