No, I have not forgotten Cindy Sheehan. I probably never will. I know this is long, but someone said it far better than I have yet. This is the best article I've ever read on the Cindy mania. Take a look:
Cindy Sheehan's mistakeBy Dennis Forslund
Cindy Sheehan, the lady from Vacaville, Calif., who lost a son in the Iraq war, is clueless. She camped out along the road by President Bush's Crawford, Texas, home in protest and/or to grieve her loss. There are other mothers and fathers who are also grieving.
In Baghdad, Pakistan or Afghanistan, a mother dressed in black robes watches as members of the jihad fasten a bomb to her teenage son. They tell him of his future as a hero of Islam. She cries as other women try to comfort her. This son is her pride and joy.
She sees the scared look on his face and the fear in his deep, dark eyes. Her son will die, she knows it, but as a woman in an Islamic country, she cannot stop it. She is powerless against the fanatical leaders of the jihad.
Islamic men with the same warped minds hijacked four American passenger jets full of fathers, mothers and children also went on a suicide mission, crashing those aircraft into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. For the most part, America was living in peace that Sept. 11, when our world exploded in flames. Fanatical Muslim jihadists who strap bombs to their own care nothing about fathers, mothers and little children in jetliners.
Cindy Sheehan blames President Bush for her son's death. Was he not of legal age when he signed and enlisted? It was his choice. He swore to defend his country and she probably approved. "His country." America. The foremost defender of democracy and freedom. Freedom of speech and liberty to worship. America. With our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. America. The envy of the world.
The men who booby trap their schoolboys in Iraq know nothing of civilization and democracy. Cindy Sheehan should know--and what the Dixie Chicks, Susan Sarandon and Barbra Streisand should be aware of--is that women have the biggest stake of all in this war.
If Cindy Sheehan wants to honor her son's memory and his heroic sacrifice, then she should quit her grandstanding and speak to the black-robed women in the Middle East. Tell them they have the power to save their children by becoming spies and secret agents. Report information to the coalition forces as to the whereabouts of stored weapons, of where the next explosive device is planted and of where vicious leaders like Abu al Zarqawi are hiding. If your husband is a jihad member, stop him, even if it is as he sleeps.
Turn your hatred of Arab males who started this mess into action and destroy radical leaders like Osama bin Laden. Stop this insane cult.
These women, unlike Cindy Sheehan, would have to be willing to die for their efforts and they probably would, for they live in the most male-dominated society in the world!
The real irony of this whole Cindy Sheehan story is that other family members disagree with her efforts. Her son's grandparents and other relatives have stated that she "appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the expense of her son's good name and reputation."
Her husband, Patrick Sheehan, disagrees with her, too. He is quoted as saying, "I know President Bush is sorry and feels some pain for our loss." "I know he's a man of faith." "I now know he is sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqi people."
That is freedom, Cindy. You can go on doing what you're doing, even though you and your husband disagree. You won't be beheaded in the town square of Vacaville! That's what soldiers like your son are dying for in Iraq.
Dennis Forslund lives in Fairbanks.
