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Cindy Sheehan, in a TV commercial released by Gold Star Families for Peace in August 2005

Cindy Sheehan (born circa 1957) is an American anti-Iraq War activist who attracted international attention in August 2005 for her extended demonstration outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch. She is sometimes referred to by the media as the "Peace Mom."

Background

Cindy Sheehan speaks at a peace protest outside of Fort Bragg, North Carolina on March 19 2005. (Photo: Jeff Patterson)

Sheehan is the mother of the late US Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, who was killed in action at age 24 on Palm Sunday, April 4 2004, just five days after his arrival in Sadr City, Iraq during the Iraq Occupation.

The family was active in the Roman Catholic church in Norwalk, and then in Vacaville, California where Cindy Sheehan worked as a youth minister at St. Mary's Church. [1]

Political activism

Sheehan and other grieving military families met with Bush in June 2004 at Fort Lewis, near Seattle, Washington, two months after her son's death. While expressing concerns about the President's justifications for war, as well as the way the war had been handled, Sheehan came away from the meeting feeling President Bush was sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqi people, and sorry for the loss of their son. [2] In interviews about this meeting given more than a year later she states that she was offended by how Bush behaved at the meeting. She states that Bush acted is if the meeting were a party, rather than a somber meeting with families of slain veterans, that he kept calling her "Ma" or "Mom," and that he didn't seem to know the gender of her child, referring to him only as "your loved one." [3][4]

Sheehan is also one of the nine founding members of Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization founded in January 2005 that seeks to end the occupation of Iraq and provide support for families of fallen soldiers. As of August 2005, at least 63 other relatives of fallen soldiers are listed as members.

Although she had spoken publicly against the Iraq war and occupation since 2004, Sheehan gained national attention in early August 2005 when she traveled to President George W. Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch just outside Crawford, Texas, during his five-week summer vacation there. Demanding a second meeting with the President and an explanation of the "noble cause" for which her son died [5] [6], she pitched a tent by the side of the road and announced her intention to stay, day and night, for the full five weeks or until such a meeting is granted. She has also promised that if not granted a second meeting with the President she will return to Crawford each time Bush visits there in the future.[7] Sheehan's actions have led supporters such as Rev. Lennox Yearwood, leader of the Hip Hop Caucus, to describe her as "the Rosa Parks of the antiwar movement." [8]

Along with criticizing the Bush Administration and the War in Iraq, Sheehan has been vocal in her attacks on Israel and US foreign policy. Concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict she has said, "you get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism." [9] There is controversy over an e-mail that Sheehan sent to ABC's Nightline, stating that her son "was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel" and that he "joined the Army to protect America, not Israel." [10]. Sheehan has since stated her email had been altered, that she did not write the statements concerning Israel, and that the comments do not reflect her opinion on Israel,[11] even though a copy of her letter from March 17, 2005 was posted to the "bullyard" Google group long before the current controversy. [12] In an interview with Chris Matthews, Sheehan stated that she would feel the same anger if Casey had been killed fighting in Afghanistan. She also said her divorce proceedings with her husband Patrick are "another personal tragedy due to this war."[13]. She believes that the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars are merely part of "a neo-con agenda that only benefits a very chosen few in this world." [14] She has also referred to President Bush as "Führer" in an editorial relating her experience on a recent Larry King Live show. [15]

Reactions

The White House

On 6 August 2005, Sheehan met with two high-level Bush administration officials, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and deputy White House Chief of Staff Joe Hagin. According to The New York Times (August 6, 2005) the meeting lasted 45 minutes. The Times also reported that Ms. Sheehan told the two officials she appreciated their meeting with her. After the interview she said, "I think they thought I'd be very impressed and intimidated that these two high-level officials came to talk to this little grieving mother, and that I'd leave."[16]

There had been reports, disseminated by Sheehan, that the police had threatened to arrest all protesters on site on Thursday, August 11th, 2005 when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be at the president's nearby ranch. However, no arrests in connection with the protest were made. President George W. Bush did speak to reporters at his ranch saying:

"I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan. She feels strongly about her position, and she has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America. She has a right to her position, and I thought long and hard about her position. I've heard her position from others, which is: Get out of Iraq now. And it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so." [17]

In an August 13 interview with Cox News, Bush defended his decision to not meet with Sheehan, stating:

"I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life ... I think the people want the president to be in a position to make good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy. And part of my being is to be outside exercising. So I'm mindful of what goes on around me. On the other hand, I'm also mindful that I've got a life to live and will do so."[18]

Sheehan later issued a statement, which among other things outlined the purpose of the protest [19].

The Congress

At least sixteen Democratic congressmembers signed a letter on 9 August 2005 asking that Bush meet with Sheehan and the other relatives of fallen soldiers, as well as calling on Bush to ensure that no one will be arrested for having a peaceful demonstration. [20]

Support

MoveOn.org announced on 10 August 2005 that it was gathering signatures and comments to place in a two-page newspaper spread in a Sunday newspaper local to Crawford in support of her and her efforts (Since then MoveOn has gathered more than 500). Tom Matzzie of MoveOn said:

"In her grief and bravery, Cindy has become a symbol for millions of Americans who demand better answers about the Iraq war. Though right-wing pundits have attacked her personally, her honesty is unimpeachable. Now more and more mothers (and fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, sons and daughters) are standing up with Cindy. Please join us, and together, we'll make sure that President Bush can't escape the reality of this war—even in Crawford, Texas."

Supporters point out that the Crawford protest highlights the Bush administration's belief in selective violence and the claim that the President fails to take responsibility for the deaths of those he commands. [21]

On the week of 8 August 2005 several other groups were reported traveling to Texas to join the protest. Sherry Bohlen, field director of the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), is one person traveling to Crawford, and says this of the protest:

"We'll be sleeping in a tent in the ditch along the roadside (the only place that the authorities will allow us to be). I spoke with Cindy by phone again yesterday. She said that local authorities have told her that if we're still there by Thursday we'll be arrested as "national security risks"... She could well be the Rosa Parks of the movement against the Iraq War. Just as Rosa refused to leave the bus, Cindy is refusing to leave the roadside. She's the spark that is igniting the anti-war movement."

Nine of her blogs, from August 9 to August 17, have been published on websites including The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Michael Moore.com. She has spoken at the laissez-faire Ludwig von Mises Institute, whose founder and president, the free market capitalist Lew Rockwell, regularly features Sheehan's columns on his website.

Criticism

Sheehan has been criticized by Matt Drudge, Michelle Malkin, Bill O'Reilly, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, Christopher Hitchens, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, one of Casey's paternal aunts, and a few parents of other soldiers killed in Iraq.

Criticism from media pundits

On August 9, Bill O'Reilly said that Sheehan would "appear on The Factor tomorrow." During that same show he said various things about her, including, "I think she has been hijacked by some very, very far left elements," "She has thrown in -- there is no question that she has thrown in with the most radical elements in this country," "Other American families who have lost sons and daughters in Iraq, who feel that this kind of behavior borders on treasonous," and "There are some people who hate this government, hate their country right now, and blaming Bush for all the terrorism and all the horror in the world."[22]

On August 10, O'Reilly wrote that,"Ms. Sheehan told us she would appear on “The Factor” this evening, but she backed out a few hours ago, saying I lied about her."[23]

That same day she told a blogger, via telephone:

"Well, I’m not going to go on his show because, you know I don’t like it when people lie about me and attack me for exercising my freedom of speech. You know, it’s one thing for Bill O’Reilly to disagree with my politics and my view on the war, but it’s absolutely another thing that he attacked me personally about it. And he actually asked me to go on the show again today, and I said - my first reaction was all right I’ll go on it if he publicly apologizes for lying about me but then my second reaction was no, I’m not going on it, I’m not going to dignify his show by my presence because I believe his show is an obscenity. It’s an obscenity to the truth and it’s an obscenity to humanity."[24]

On 11 August 2005, during Fox News Channel's Special Report with Brit Hume, Fred Barnes compared Cindy Sheehan to Joe Wilson and Bill Burkett. He then remarked that she was just a crackpot. Barnes stated, "Is there any left-wing publicity hound who the media won't build up? You have Joe Wilson, you have Bill Burkett, you know, the guy who sold CBS on the story about Bush last fall, and now you have this woman. This woman wants to go in and tell the President that the war is about oil, because the President wants to pay off his buddies. She's a crackpot. And yet the press treats her as some important protester."

On the 15 August episode of The Rush Limbaugh Show, host Limbaugh compared Sheehan to Joe Wilson and Bill Burkett as well.

Paternal aunt's email

In an email conversation with Matt Drudge, Casey's paternal aunt Cherie Quartarolo is quoted as saying,

"We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect."

Quartarolo signs the email, "Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins." Quartarolo does not mention the individual names of the aunts, uncles, or cousins, but Cindy Sheehan has acknowledged that the letter is authentic.

During a series of interviews published on several websites, she said: "My in-laws sent out a press conference disagreeing with me in strong terms; which is totally okay with me, because they barely knew Casey,” she writes. “We have always been on separate sides of the fence politically and I have not spoken to them since the elections when they supported the man who is responsible for Casey’s death." [25]

Sheehan also told Salon.com: "They didn't even know Casey. They didn't spend any time with him in his life, and now they're using his death for political reasons, I think." Sheehan clarified that "my immediate family, Casey's dad and my three children and my sister, we're all on the same page. And I really think that some of my husband's siblings are with us too." [26] Dede Miller, Sheehan's sister and Casey's aunt, is supportive of Sheehan's actions and joined her at Crawford early in the protest.[27] Patrick Sheehan, Casey's father, has declined to comment publicly on his wife's actions[28], and has since filed for divorce.[29]

Parents of other Iraq War soldiers killed in action

On 15 August 2005 the parents of Matthew Matula, a Texas Marine killed in Iraq, requested that the white cross representing their dead son as a victim of the war in Iraq (part of the Arlington West display installed by Veterans for Peace near Sheehan's camp) be removed, stating that they did not wish their son's name to be part of an anti-war demonstration.[30]

Chronology

Casey Sheehan

29 May 1979 Casey Sheehan born.

May 2000 Sheehan joins the United States Army.

March 2004 Sheehan's division, the First Cavalry Division is sent to Iraq.

19 March 2004 Sheehan's company, Charlie Battery, arrives at F.O.B. War Eagle in Sadr City.

4 April 2004 Sheehan killed in action.[31]

Activism

7 May 2004, Mother's Day, Cindy Sheehan visits her son's cross at the "Arlington West" memorial in Santa Barbara, California; while there she states, "I'm finished crying for Casey. I'm crying for all the other mothers." [32]

18 June 2004 Cindy Sheehan talks with President George W. Bush at Fort Lewis near Seattle, Washington.[33]

22 December 2004 Cindy Sheehan responds to Time magazine's choice for "Man of the Year".[34]

January 2005 Gold Star Families for Peace is founded.[35]

19 March 2005 Cindy Sheehan speaks to three thousand people who had converged on Fayetteville, North Carolina to mark two years of war and occupation in Iraq. [36]

16 June 2005 U.S. Congressman John Conyers, Jr. presides over a hearing or forum on the so-called Downing Street memo in a basement room in the Capitol where Cindy Sheehan among others testifies.[37][38][39]

4 August 2005 Bush starts his five-week vacation.[40]

4 August 2005 Bush delivers a speech in Grapevine, Texas, in which he said that the sacrifices of U.S. troops were "made in a noble cause" and reiterated that he will not set a timetable for withdrawal. [41]

5 August In a speech given at the 20th annual convention of Veterans for Peace in Dallas, Sheehan calls Bush a "lying bastard" and a "maniac," and states that she hopes he is tried for war crimes. She also claims that she refuses to pay taxes for the year 2004 and states the "Israel out of Palestine" demand.[42]

Demonstration - Week 1

6 August 2005 Cindy Sheehan starts her demonstration. She makes a makeshift camp in a ditch by the side of the road leading to the Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas and announces her intention to stay (sleeping in a pup tent at nights) until she is granted a face-to-face meeting with Bush.[43]

6 August 2005 National security adviser Stephen Hadley and deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin meet briefly with Cindy Sheehan. Sheehan later calls the meeting "pointless."[44]

8 August 2005 Cindy Sheehan states that she has been informed that beginning Thursday, 10 August 2005 she and her companions will be considered a threat to national security and will be arrested. [45] [46]Later there was a retraction of the story by the Daily Kos. [47] Sheehan's camp is first referred to in the media as "Camp Casey."[48]

9 August 2005 Democratic congressmen request that Bush meet with Sheehan and the other relatives of fallen soldiers. The congressmen call on Bush to ensure that no one will be arrested for having a peaceful demonstration.[49]

10 August 2005 Bush holds a press conference, during which he mentions Sheehan's right to her view.[50]

11 August 2005 Cindy Sheehan writes an open letter to President Bush in response to his press conference statement. [51] In this open letter, she demands to know the "noble cause" behind the war in Iraq, as well as the reason why, if the cause is so noble, Bush's daughters are not volunteering in the war effort.

12 August 2005 Gold Star Families for Peace releases a TV commercial featuring Cindy Sheehan, broadcast on Crawford and Waco cable channels near Bush's ranch.[52]

12 August 2005 Camp Casey protest draws hundreds of supporters (including actor Viggo Mortensen), with a constant presence of just over 100.[53][54][55].

12 August 2005 California members of Veterans for Peace install Arlington West, a memorial consisting of nearly 1,000 white crosses (as well as stars and crescents), each bearing the name of a fallen U.S. soldier in Iraq, along the side of the road near Sheehan's camp.[56]

12 August 2005 Bush's motorcade passes within 100 feet of Sheehan's roadside encampment en route to a nearby ranch to attend a fundraising barbecue expected to raise US$2 million for the Republican National Committee; Sheehan holds a sign reading "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?"[57]

12 August 2005 Patrick Sheehan files for divorce from Cindy Sheehan in a California court, citing "irreconcilable differences". Mr. Sheehan was the father of Casey Sheehan.

Demonstration - Week 2

13 August 2005 Cindy Sheehan makes front page news in the Washington Post. [58]

13 August 2005 A morning counter protest is reported to bring over 250 people, who shout pro-Bush slogans for several hours. Sherry Bohlen, National Field Director for PDA, estimates that 1000 to 1500 people gathered at a park in Crawford for a peace demonstration, and that 500 cars ferried these people to Camp Casey. (Source: Email from Bohlen to PDA members) [59][60]

13 August 2005 Activists in Chico, California found "Camp Casey Chico," in solidarity with Cindy Sheehan and supporters in Crawford, Texas.

14 August 2005 Larry Mattlage, who owns a cattle ranch across where Sheehan has set up her protest site, fed up with traffic near his home, fires a shotgun several times into the air. He later claims to have been practicing for dove hunting season but also hints to reporters that the shots may also have been meant to drive off the protestors.[61][62] [63] [64]

14 August 2005 News first breaks regarding Sheehan's husband's filing for divorce.[65][66][67].

15 August Late in the night, a pickup truck driven by Waco, Texas resident Larry Northern tears through the rows of white crosses stretching about two-tenths of a mile along the side of the road at the Crawford camp, each bearing the name of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. Several hundred of the crosses are damaged but no one is injured. Larry Northern is later arrested and charged with criminal mischief by police.[68][69]

16 August 2005 Sheehan announces plans to move her camp closer to the Bush ranch after being offered the use of a piece of land owned by a supporter, Fred Mattlage, who also happens to be a third cousin of Larry Mattlage, the rancher who had fired a shotgun on his property near the demonstration site several days earlier.[70]

16 August 2005 MoveOn.org announces a nationwide "Vigil for Cindy Sheehan" to take place Wednesday, August 17.[71]

16 August 2005 Move America Forward announces a "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy" caravan ending in Crawford, on August 27. [72]

17 August 2005 More than 1,500 anti-war candlelight demonstrations in support of Sheehan are held around the United States, including one outside the White House.[73]

External links

Video

Gold Star Families for Peace
Democracy Now interview - 12 August 2005
Democracy Now interview - 21 March 2005
Democracy Now interview - 21 January 2005
crawfordorbust.com From Air America website: Ernest Hancock and Mari Connor report from Crawford, Texas.

Interviews

News articles about Cindy Sheehan

Criticism and Support

Michelle Malkin's Coverage of the Story
Cindy Sheehan - Programmer's Wiki
Drudge Report takes anti-war mom out of context
Conservative Catholic blogger accuses Sheehan of being liberal mouthpiece
Right Equals Might Article criticizing Sheehan
MeetWithCindy.org
Crawford Peace House
Media Matters - Cindy Sheehan "changed her story on Bush"? Tracking a lie through the conservative media
Nation-sponsored TomDispatch.com "Cindy Sheehan's War"
Post Cards For Cindy
Food Not Bombs
Peace In Pink Shoes
StandWithCindy.com
Cindy Sheehan's Sinister Piffle
Bedlam At Bush's Ranch - Alex Jones Goes To Crawford & Supports Sheehan
Memorials for Dead Soldiers Violently Destroyed by Bush Worshippers - Infowars.com
David Duke - Why Cindy Sheehan is Right!
FBI Whistleblower to join Cindy Sheehan to protest Bush Patrick Condon Associated Press, Aug. 16, 2005
Mother in Texas should go home Opinion Arizona Republic, Aug. 17, 2005
US right targets anti-war mother Gary Younge The Guardian, Aug. 17, 2005
http://crawfordpeace.nfshost.com/ Crawford Peace House Community
The Exploits and Exploitation of Cindy Sheehan James Lileks Newhouse News Service, Aug 17, 2005

Articles by Cindy Sheehan

[74] An archive of Cindy Sheehan's articles posted on LewRockwell.com
An Open Letter to George W. Bush by Cindy Sheehan, 4 November 2004
Rewarding Incompetence by Cindy Sheehan - Whose Son Died in Iraq - Responds to Time Magazine's Choice for "Man of the Year", 22 December 2004
Guest column for Buzzflash by Cindy Sheehan - 24 January 2005
Letter to ABC Nightline - March 15, 2005
Casey's Story Cindy Sheehan t r u t h o u t | Perspective 8 April 2005

Reference

The Vacaville Reporter, June 24, 2005, Bush, Sheehans share moments, David Henson.

@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 On [[11 August]] 2005, during [[Fox News|Fox News Channel's]] [[Special Report with Brit Hume]], [[Fred Barnes]] compared Cindy Sheehan to [[Joseph C. Wilson|Joe Wilson]] and [[Bill Burkett]].  He then remarked that she was just a crackpot. Barnes stated, "Is there any left-wing publicity hound who the media won't build up?  You have Joe Wilson, you have Bill Burkett, you know, the guy who sold CBS on the story about Bush last fall, and now you have this woman.  This woman wants to go in and tell the President that the war is about oil, because the President wants to pay off his buddies.  She's a crackpot.  And yet the press treats her as some important protester."
-On the [[15 August]] episode of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', host Limbaugh opined that Sheehan's story is "not real," comparing it to "forged documents."[http://mediamatters.org/items/200508160009]
+On the [[15 August]] episode of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', host Limbaugh compared Sheehan to [[Joe Wilson]] and [[Bill Burkett]] as well.
 ===Paternal aunt's email===