See here, where she refers to the foreigners who are coming to Iraq to join the insurgency as "freedom fighters," a term that I take it is a term of approbation for a person and his cause. (The statement is in an interview off the bus with a bearded interviewer — I'm told it's Mark Knoller of CBS — I'm about 1/4 of the way into the file; I wish I could give a minute/second mark, but I can't seem to get it to appear for me when the file is in this format.) I haven't been following the Cindy Sheehan story much, since I'm not sure that there's a lot of there there. But this particular item really struck me in a way that her attacks on President Bush did not.
Needless to say, I sympathize a great deal with Ms. Sheehan's loss, but when she's voluntarily made herself into a political figure, it seems to me that her views are legitimately open to criticism. Thanks to WorldNetDaily for the link, but I've checked it myself.
Prepare for many comments to the effect that she was "explaining" and not "justifying". So I'm curious about this "explanation", who exactly does she think would be so free if the "freedom fighters" won?
Do you believe she supports the killing of American soldiers?
This is exactly why this war is failing - the inability to empathize and recognize the humanity of our enemies. When you lack this ability you're unable to predict and prepare for any other outcome than the one you wished for.
The very least you owe to us as mothers of soldiers is an explanation of why we're fighting this war. I don't see that as too much to ask, and every day that she demands an explanation is a day that Bush is ducking the answer.
I highly doubt Ms. Sheehan is really all that broken up about her son's death.
Her son committed his life to fighting folks that Ms. Sheehan is now referring to as "freedom fighters." Does this disgusting woman despise her President more than the vile trash that murdered her son? She stands as a very useful example to the entire country as how depraved the Left has become, and how willing the media is to propagandize for it. All we need now is John Kerry holding a joint press conference with Sheehan, explaining what a war criminal her son was, and the Left will have hit rock bottom.
Sorry to add this unecessary rant. This woman just makes my blood boil. I didn't even know her son, but something tells me the man deserves better than what his own mother is doing to him.
It is apparent that your purpose here is to distract other posters into responding to attempts to hijack threads .
You owe your son or daughter an apology.
Nick
Then, you know, maybe I wouldn't mind so much....
The problem isn't that he hasn't told people that he believes in bringing freedom to the oppressed and eliminating terrorism on its home turf. The problem is that you simply don't agree with him. No one has been dishonest, you have just reacted like a two year old with his fingers in his ears, chanting "nanananananana" so you don't have to hear the President.
Mr. Sheehan heard. And that man gave his life for the ideas the President is committed to. He deserves better than what his own mother is doing to him. Shame on all of you.
Mark Poling, I won't make the obvious joke.
INTERVIEWER: You know that the President says you're wrong. That the central
SHEEHAN: Uh, no, because it's not true. You know, Iraq was no threat to the United States of America and we invaded. I mean, they're not even a threat to the United States of America. Iraq was not involved in 9/11. Iraq was not a terrorist state. But now that have decimated the country, the borders are open, freedom fighters from other countries are going in and they have created more terrorism by going to an Islamic country, devastating the country and killing innocent people in that country. The terrorism is growing and people who never thought of being car bombers or suicide bombers are now doing it because they want the United States of America out...out of their country.
INTERVIEWER: Do you want America to withdraw from Iraq immediately?
SHEEHAN: Immediately, as soon as possible. It is fueling the insurgency. That's what's killing innocent Iraqis, that's what's killing innocent Americans. You know, my son was a war victim. Now we have over 1800 war victims...over 1800 families in our country that shouldn't be going through what we're going through. It's a travesty, it's a monstrosity. It would save some lives, and, like, um, since it was based on a lie, why are people still dying every day? For lies. That's what they're dying for, and as soon as we get them out of the country, people...the insurgency will go down. They might have a little trouble at first, but, you know what, every Iraqi tells me, "We're a civilization that's been around for thousands of years. We can handle our own problems."
Sorry if I've made errors in transcription; I've tried my best. --Carol Anne
I'm amazed at the amount of indignation about Sheehan's choice of language. Granted, she said something awfully ignorant, but it's not completely without argument to call people "freedom fighters" who we might otherwise like to call terrorists. Not so long ago, the U.S. was pretty fond of "freedom fighters" who conducted terrorist activities against invading foreign nations. In fact, we used to supply them with weapons and advice when it suited our purpose.
According to whom? Yes, we see Saddam Hussein as a "ruthless dictator," but what if the Iraqis, from their perspective, saw G. W. Bush as a "ruthless dictator?"
In general, national sovereignty should be largely respected, and the U.S. (IMHO) should have waited for the U.N. to take action (and, yes you can argue that they wouldn't've). But, by going it alone, with token support from ostensible allies (who are now abandoning the cause), it seems to me that we've done grevious harm to international relations, and made it more "legitimate" for other nations to invade nations of whom they disapprove.
But, for some reason, no one is interested in how Mr. Sheehan's other survivors feel about his mother pissing all over everything he gave his life for.
Shame on you.
Also, I've noticed a steadily increasing troll count since the discussion has focused on these topics. It's hardly worth reading the comments anymore.
Interesting assumption that the "insurgents", with all their "humanity", are Iraqis. In your scenario of an Iraqi occupation of America, would the Mexicans (and south Americans) be streaming across the border to blow themselves up for the cause? It seems that the "freedom fighters" have killed more Iraqis than anyone else.
Honestly, government by emotionalism is a frightening idea, but that is what's being espoused by Cindy Sheehan and the Merry Pranksters. The army of professional "activists", socialist rejects, and various other disturbed individuals that are surrounding her at the moment will milk her dry and drop her as soon as they find someone else to add to their cast of victims. I would feel sorry for her, but she knows exactly what she is doing.
Carol Anne, I think your transcription is pretty accurate.
I'm amazed at the amount of indignation about Sheehan's choice of language. Granted, she said something awfully ignorant,
First of all, thanks for the compliment.
And, about "...she said something awfully ignorant." Actually, I think I can identify several things she's said that were "awfully ignorant." On the other hand, she is a mother who lost a son, not a specialist in international affairs or modern history. Personally, I cut her some slack about that.
I also agree with your point about the "freedom fighter/terrorist" definition, which is clearly in the eye of the beholder. The label one chooses conveys more about the speaker's mindset than the parties being described.
It appears you have taunted the deranged folk from Anti-War.com et al. to come over to the Volokh Consipracy. Those types of sites often urge their barely coherent flock to swarm much more intelligent sites on their behalf.
By the way, speaking from experience, they REALLY hate it when you just delete their posts. Not that I'm suggesting you stir up the hornet's nest.
She say's the "freedom fighters" are responsible for the terrorism. What is the the problem with this statement? How does this show support for the insurgency?
Perhaps there is no manifest destiny for the United States to promote republican and Western values around the world. But when faced with the prospect that failing to promote our values creates a vacuum that other promoters can fill, and considering the vibrance of militant Islamic fundamentalism, we appear damned if we do, and are certainly damned if we don't.
If abandoning all of our interests in the Middle East would prevent terrorism against Americans, I think that cost is too high. Abandoning Israel (which is a key component in Islamic terrorist demands) is not an option.
If all one has to say is, "she's a jerk," or "He's a jerk," I'd really prefer not to see it. I'm capable of making up my own mind, as are other contributors to this thread.
By doing this, she has somewhat successfully innoculated herself against criticism. Unfortunately for her, when she makes outrageous statements like this one it becomes harder and harder for her to hide behind her role of grieving parent. Even the media will eventually realize this, and drop her from their daily agenda. It will probably happen shortly after Labor Day.
Personally, I think she wasted a perfectly good opportunity to advance the cause of the anti-war left by keeping her comments within the bounds of mainstream liberalism, but she seems to be an extreme left-winger at heart and unable to control herself. It is ironic indeed that her statements lately have tended to support the very people who killed her son - something I never actually expected to happen.
I wonder what she will think of all this 20 years from now?
If you're unable to recognize your enemies as human beings, you're unable to predict with any kind of reliability how they would react in a given situation. The reason Robert E. Lee was a great general was because of his ability to put himself in his adversary's place. When he began to lose was when he was finally matched with someone with the same ability. Recognition of another person's humanity isn't approval of their actions, it's a tool in planning.
Secondly, I'm not making any assumptions about insurgents in Iraq. Not enough is known about the movement to make any assumptions about them. Our own military doesn't have enough intelligence to say with any confidence who they are or where they come from.
I personally do not take seriously any woman who asserts cultural equivalence with Muslim fundamentalism. She is either not taking her audience seriously, or is an empty-headed fool. Ad hominum? Maybe. Then again, a wise man once said that stupid is as stupid does.
I still mean it. Shame on all of you for pissing on what Mr. Sheehan gave his life for. Shame on you for ignoring the wishes of his family. But most of all, shame on you for thinking for a moment that you are somehow morally superior to the grown-ups trying to actually make this world a better place.
(BevD, of course I laid the trap for you. You almost -- but not quite! -- managed to avoid it.)
Even if I were to grant the supposition that the current administration is doing a lousy job, that doesn't imply that its opponents would do any better. The cohort rallying behind Cindy Sheehan, I believe, would do far worse, for reasons well-stated by many above in this thread.
The logical vaccuum that lies at the heart of the Left's opposition to the war is truly disheartening. Fine, I'm convinced that the Left hates Bush. Got that. What I'm looking for are solutions. Pardon me, Cindy doesn't look like a solution.
I think it's interesting that you and other supporters of the Bush policy spend so much time convincing yourselves and others that Cindy Sheehan isn't a serious person. As if discrediting her personal views somehow allows you to ignore the utter incompetence of this administration in the conduct of affairs in Iraq and to convince yourselves that all is well.
Do you think that is actually what Prof. Volokh is doing, Steven?
She may be serious in intent, but her from a consistency standpoint she seems like a flibbertigibbet. How can one take her seriously as a critic of the war when her statements are often wildly illogical to the point of infirmity? It is much easier to take her seriously as a mother who's grief has made her even more irresponsible than she was prior to Casey's unfortunate demise. Grief can do that to a person.
I think almost everyone is willing to, and in general has, cut her a great deal of slack. Even so, there is only so much slack available in any given rope, and in my opinion, her rope is now as taught as a piano string.
2. The media made Cindy Sheehan, in a summer with little interesting news and low Bush ratings (40% in latest Gallup), as a "human interest" story to illustrate the displeasure with Bush. The "left" did not create her, but leftist activits definitely took advantage of her.
3. I agree with Daniel Chapman. There are lots of interesting legal issues I come here for to read. These sorts of topics are well covered on the more partisan, less legal blogs.
4. Cindy definitely messed up if she said "freedom fighters." But it is accurate--they are fighting for freedom of muslim lands from Americans. I don't think we should be there, but the word "freedom" is useless in this context on both sides. They are not fighting for "freedom" and we are not fighting to bring "freedom." They are fighting out of spite, for power (freedom for self but not for others), for their idea of religion, and other reasons. We are fighting for vengeance (misplaced or not for 9/11), for geopolitical resource security, for our own protection against WMDs (that turned out to be non-existent), and for global pride and PR. Anyone who actually believes we are fighting for their freedom (not just trying to convince fools) is a fool.
John Stuart Mill
Of his own free will
On half a pint of shandy
Was particularly ill
Do the opinions of the people buried in the mass graves count? I'm pretty sure they had opinions about which would have been the lesser of two evils, at least before the 9mm slugs hit their skulls.
And of course, the Kurds are naming streets after W. as I understand.
Carol Anne, I find it a little ironic that you can argue that those of us who support the war aren't "able to see the world through other people's eyes" while you blithely ignore all the factors that might produce perspectives different from your own. By all means, ask me to walk a mile in someone elses shoes; I'll ask you to do the same, and imagine the guy behind you might be with the Secret Police.
Steven: you on the left can't have it both ways. Not only has voluntarily stepped into the public arena for the purpose of influencing public policy, she is being held up by anti-war forces as a symathetic figure whose "moral authority" entitles her to a louder, more influencial voice than the rest of us. Should we not point out exactly what that voice is saying? Do we not have the right to let it be known that she blames our nation's government for the death of her son more than the "freedom fighters" who actually killed him. Does the public not have the right to know that she wrote that her son died for Israel, then lied about writing it, before determining whether or not to be swayed by her highly personal, emotional arguments? I think so. Oh, and I dare you to say I can't back up what I've said about her with proof.
If you on the left want to debate us on the war, debate us on the war. Our side didn't make her a superstar; your side did.
I have no doubt about that. But that doesn't prevent me from trying to understand their motivations.
I learned a long time ago that if I asked to help a drunk become sober, it does no good to say, "Well, when you've finally reached sobriety, I can help you." That's the very outcome they want. It also does no good to say, "Well, lets both go down the bar and talk about it over a pint." What's much, much harder, is to try to enter into the drunk's reality...without giving up your own, and help them in their own terms and language how to see a better way to live life without hiding behind a drunken haze.
(And, for those of you who don't understand metaphor, please don't bother responding; all metaphors are inherently false, but if you understand how they're constructed, this one makes sense.)
Are the insurgents in Iraq being paid? If so, by whom? I'd sure like to know (some suggest Iran is the paymaster).
Are the insurgents lashing out in frustration, in anger, in hunger, in religious fervor (or many of these, including some I've not listed)? If so, who's contributing to those motivations? I'd sure like to know, because it would begin to give us a "handle" on how to deal with them by offering them something they would value.
Do you have fact- andevidence-based answers to these questions? If not, what are you doing to find out?
As BevD points out, If you're unable to recognize your enemies as human beings, you're unable to predict with any kind of reliability how they would react in a given situation. Irrespective of whether you agree with BevD's other posts, that statement is valid.
The fact is that, whether they're wrong or right, Iraqi insurgents at least think they are fighting for their freedom.
And as long as we will look like we're building a permanent presence over there (which seems to be the case), we will only legitimate that feeling.
So What can we do about it?
We need to make it clear we are not on their turf forever, which we haven't made clear (probably because we are planning to stay...).
There are initiatives in that direction, you can support them.
Don't just complain, take action!
No, I do not. I may not agree with them, or with the people who hold those perspectives, but I'm not attacking them. I've offering my own view and experience for those who might want to consider an alternative.
I'm not interested in trying to change your opinion. I'm interested in putting yet another viewpoint out for view, which you're free to accept or reject as you see fit.
You assume you know that I "...blithely ignore all the factors that might productive perspectives different from your own." If those "perspectives" are yours, I don't generally agree with them, that's true. However, the broad claim that I "...ignore all the factors..." is one for which, I believe, you do not have sufficient evidence. Unwarranted generalization seldom leads to productive perspective change.
My point is this: Cindy Sheehan is not a serious political figure and everyone knows it. She is a symbol of opposition to the Iraq War. As such, I agree with Eugene that it is fair to criticize her views and statements. But to what end? My guess is so that she can be ignored as a symbol and the position for which that symbol stands dismissed, without ever having to deal with the merits of the underlying position.
In today's WaPo, for example, Wesley Clark has an op-ed on the conduct of the Iraq war and a plan for how it should be conducted. Like him or not, Clark is a serious political figure and is quite critical of the conduct of the Iraq War. Now it's Eugene's blog and he can write about whatever he wants, but if he's going to venture out of legal matters and into public policy, why not take on Clark rather than Sheehan?
Ronald Reagan (or his speechwriters) translated that as 'freedom fighters.' I do not recall specifically if Bush I continued to use the term, or used the term when he was Reagan's veep. So that this won't look partisan, I'll point out that Carter reinstituted draft registration to support the "freedom fighters" in afganistan, which is when I became a draft resister. And Clinton bombed al Quaida, and missed, shortly before 9/11. If EV has a beef with CS using term freedom fighters, take it up with the GOP.
Red Dawn was a movie about insurgent teenagers taking on foreign invaders. I'm not pro al-Quaida, but I'm not pro-Bush either. Saddam was bad, very bad. But it doesn't seem that Bush is doing much to promote freedom either in Iraq or in the US. I was personally disillusioned by the Iranian revolution circa 1980. The shah was bad, very bad, but what came after was worse. It isn't clear when or if things in Iraq will return to the 'good old days' (which were awful) under Saddam, of if things in the US will return to the 'good old days' (which were awful) under Clinton.
I am a fan of this blog and agree strongly with EV on many topics, but respectfully disagree with his support for Bush's war. Neither side is fighting for freedom. It doesn't even seem to be about oil. The gulf conflict seems more to resemble, on a larger scale, the drunken frat boy brawls that break out after sports events. I suspect if the US and Iraq had had women leaders, they would have sat down, had tea, and worked things out. Cindy, like Lysistrata or the Trojan Women, is a small voice crying out that to women, and people, all this violence just looks crazy. That's not the only possible perpective, but it's one which should be part of the debate.
I don't think suicide bombers blowing up children is really the same thing as tar and feathering a loyalist in New Jersey who openly claims his allegiance to the crown.
Another unwarranted generalization. I, for one, do not know that. You may legitimately claim that "Cindy Sheehan is not a serious political figure," but I don't know that for sure.
I don't know it because I can't see whether her behavior will endure; she might, in fact, become one; would that discount her existing behavior? At what point would she become "serious?"
Clearly, today, she is a "political figure," and she is (to my view) "serious" about her intentions. Her politics may not agree with mine, but casting aspersions does not advance the argument.
Is it now conventional wisdom to decide that any citizen who's views we don't like should be ignored?
Just because we disagree doesn't mean that you (or I, or Sheehan) is to be summarily dismissed. Creativity comes from those disagreements, for as long as we cling to our own beliefs as unchallengable, we stop learning.
I like that: Descriptive and probably more accurate than the vague "insurgents."
Well, I ignore David Duke and the American Nazi party, whose views on Bush happen to mirror Ms. Sheehan's.
Would you put Sheehan in the same class as Duke &the Nazi party, just because they agree on one thing?
You wrote: "The very least you owe to us as mothers of soldiers is an explanation of why we're fighting this war. I don't see that as too much to ask, and every day that she demands an explanation is a day that Bush is ducking the answer."
Have you seen Scrappleface's explanation, in his mock leaked Bush reply?:
So in short, these aren't "freedom fighters"; they aren't fighting for freedom - they're fighting to get their own way. Sheehan is either blinded by grief, avarice or addiction to transient celebrity, but either way, she is still blind, and I agree with observer that the appropriate response is that "henceforth [we should] ignore everything she says and everything anybody says about her."
Just curious as to who the current jailers are?
Hear, hear
To the person who said that Sheenhan had been cut some slack.... No. Just plain no. She was being viciously attacked on Fox and the usual right-wing talk radio/blogs etc. IMMEDIATELY (she changed her story! and much worse) and WAY before she said any of the more controversial (and again, in my opinion, wrong) things for which she's now being taken to task.
The fact that Bush didn't write this or anything like it demonstrates how tone-deaf the admin. is on this situation. By not meeting with her he is exacerbating the situation - that's just bad strategy.
Mark Poling:
Claiming you set a trap and "I fell into it" is not an answer nor even a coherent argument. I have to say that I choose not to believe that you would passively allow another country to occupy the United States. That's not very reassuring for the future of the country.
Yes, and hundreds of thousands did not. From what I glean from the universe of news is that generally speaking, the average Iraqi people would rather have the "freedom fighters" cut it out, and go about their lives without worrying about some guy from the old Baathi party, Iran or Syria blowing up a car in their neighborhood and killing their children as they try to go about their average Iraqi daily lives.
But just like everywhere else in the world, on every other issue, domestic or foreign, the average peolple are not heard, only the extremists.
Really, if the prople running around blowing folk up were forced to express their views like civilized human beings, rather than savages, they would lose. Thus they have to take the argument to the lowest common denominator of all methods of arguing, they kill the opposition, that way the opposition can't explain its own point of view.
IMHO, the American soldiers are there at the moment protecting the lives and the natural rights of property, security and welfare of the average Iraqi from those that can't convince anyone of their point of view except by violance. Again IMHO, they can not convince anyone, because, at least by the judgement of the norm, they are wrong.
Are you talking about: (1) pre-war Iraq, which was more secular than most of the Middle East and where women were treated better than in Saudi Arabia, for example; (2)post-war Iraq, where GW's administration is apparently setting up an Islamic Republic; or (3) anti-abortionists?
You must ask yourself why a son who has been raised by an anti war, anti military parent, would go to such lengths to distance himself from that ideology.
Of course not. The concept doesn't even make sense. People are innately and naturally free.
The role of force in such matters is to force their oppressors to leave them alone.
Re: your "gut feeling"...
May I humbly suggest that perhaps that's just indigestion talking? In case you were unaware of it, the Iraqi people are now represented by elected officials --- who have formally asked the U.S. to stay, not forever, but for a bit longer.
Unless you have something more than a gut feeling to counter such strong evidence (and no, thousands of demonstrators is not strong evidence placed against millions of voters).... well... the intestinal tract only moves in one direction. When your gut has something to say, we all know which orifice it speaks out of.
Looks like the brouhaha of the last few weeks has been resolved in your favor -- there are substantial political figures out there who support the "insurgents" in Iraq and want them to defeat the United States. Sheehan is being supported wholeheartedly by MoveOn, not only with moral support but with significant dollars. They are not backing away from her one inch since her professed support of the "freedom fighters" in Iraq. There is no doubt that MoveOn represents a significant portion of the left today, indeed a "substantial" one.
Case closed.
I don't mind nitpicks (and I'm guilty of typos too). My first sentence began: "Sheehan is the media's way of finally addressing the fact that a majority of the country (rightly or wrongly) now thinks that the Iraq war was a mistake in the first place, ..."
You say: "--is that the job of the media? they could report on the polls--or are you suggesting this is just a media circus in the dog days of August when everyone is on vacation?"
I hope you didn't take my comment as praise of the media, because I didn't intend that. And while I'm tempted, I'm not going to get into the broader issue of whether the media has been too hard or too soft on Bush in general re this war (I'll bet you can guess my opinion, but let's talk specifics about this case).
My point was that today's media seems to like to attach some particular face to an issue -- or, if it's a pretty blond face, run a story into the ground even if (with all due respect to the relevant family) there's not much of an issue there. The media could report on polls, sure. More broadly, the media could try to explain why this dramatic erosion of support for the war has taken place across the nation. But it's easier to pick a face/person, and make the issue about that. Is that great reporting? No.
But that doesn't mean this is merely a "media circus" either, because this is the one way the press has gotten at this incredibly important issue: the fact that most of the country thinks we made a mistake going to war and an overwhelming majority think Bush is screwing it up whether it was right or wrong in the first place. The media wants particular faces, but so does Bush -- why do you think he picked a pro war mom to single out in his Iowa speech?
Unfortunately, I think a good chunk of them do.
And the quote by Doubter that Ms. Sheehan does not care that her son is dead is so fu--ing disgusting that I can't believe it --- if I saw you in person I'd break you jaw. But people who write that kind of crap on internet comment boards are never the types who would have the guts to say anything even remotely similar in public. Indeed, I bet "Doubter" would be too scared of getting his ass kicked to even challenge a 90 lb 5'0" vegetarian war-protester. And accuse my comments of being "uncivil" but they are 10X more civil than Doubter's who would lob such an outrageous insult.
Like any parent in such circumstances, she has a great deal of anger and hurt directed at her son, 'cause he ignored mommy's wisdom and went and got his ass killed, bereaving her greatly. (Calvin's father in Calvin and Hobbes observed that being a parent is often wanting to hug and strangle your kid at the same time.)
But Mrs. Sheehan can't handle that truth, it seems. So she has semi-deliberately mis-identified the object of her anger and sorrow. It's not that Casey let me down (she may think), but that that awful bastard George Bush tricked Casey into letting me down...
Every parent has to cope with this sort of disappointment and hostility towards his or her child, especially as they grow older and deviate further and further from your wishes and dreams and advice. Most normal parents recognize the hostility for what it is, do not project it onto others, and discharge it in some private and healthy manner (e.g. by humor, or by evolution of your own philosophy -- seeing things more from your child's point of view, for example).
The sad thing is that Mrs. Sheehan, unusually, can't do this. She is unable to resolve her sorrow and hostility towards her child, and instead projects it inappropriately on to the President, Israel, the neo-con think tanks, et cetera.
Her inability to recognize the real object of her grief and rage, her farcical fantasy that the resolution of her maternal distress lies in a political development, or in a show-trial "meeting" with the President, or by enhancing her own stature as a media darling and within the ranks of the Left, and her willingness to turn her own son into a cheap media caricature, all bespeak an unaware and deeply narcissistic personality. On this basis I suspect Mrs. Sheehan was a poor mother to her son, and this greatly mutes my sympathy for her.
Indeed, I wonder whether her son's choice to volunteer to fight in Iraq, in direct contradiction of his mother's strongly expressed wishes, was his "statement" about Mrs. Sheehan's moral authority as a mother. It is not complimentary.
The reason I think she made this mistake is because Sheehan now lives in the world of demagogues. She is inadvertantly picking up labels and platitudes, and they are affecting her speech.
Sheehan strikes me as a mother who suffered a tragic loss and who is now being exploited by a good portion of the people surrounding her. The story has caught traction not because of her quest per se, but because of plumetting public belief in the war. The juxtaposition of her and Bush's extended vacation, too, is just a little too juicy an angle for a bored August media to resist.
I think there is little to be gained by crticizing Sheehan, regardless of the fact that she is now a media figure. Ultimately, our national security decisions should not be made by the mothers of soldiers. I think each person's reaction to Sheehan says a lot more about them than it does about the "rightness" or "wrongness" of her protest.
And the right wing smeer machine goes on. . . . Find me the evidence she said anything negative about Israel . . . Keep looking because that does not exist. ABC news got it dead wrong. And yet you people who only get your news from Michelle Malkin and her "intellectual" buddies Volokh and the Volokhteers (Lingren, Zywicki, Orin et al.) are still repeating the lie because you only read what you want.
Incidentally, I'm a bit unclear on why Casey's posthumous musings on his mother's actions are the slightest bit important. First of all, it's completely hypothetical -- we can't know for sure what his thoughts are on the situation. Secondly, it's a red herring. Cindy lost something (a son), indirectly because of the President's actions, and now she wants an explanation. Whether he would believe it was worth it isn't the question -- how she feels is, even if she couches that in other terms.
By the by, Cindy's stated goal (an explanation from the President) doesn't appear to hold much water. After all, hasn't he been explaining almost non-stop since 2002? Whether or not she thinks his explanations are cogent and reasonable are a completely separate matter.
"Freedom fighter" has positive content only for those who, like our dimwitted president, use "freedom" as a mantra rather than a concept.
Freedom from what? Freedom to do what?
"Freedom from American occupation"? Okay, they're freedom fighters.
"Freedom to download porn, mouth off on comment threads, and vote for the candidate of one's choice"? Okay, they're not freedom fighters.
It's getting a little depressing to see the VC's determination to equate war protesters with traitors. Were we to judge Sheehan's beliefs by her actions &words as a whole, rather than obsessively searching them for a silly line here or there---in a manner that looks particularly sad when lawyers are doing it---then there wouldn't be this absurd notion that she is "against the troops" or whatever.
(I admire her restraint. If my boy died in Iraq, and then I saw Bush doing his "look under the table for the WMD's" skit, I'd want to shoot the s.o.b., not ask questions. What an evil little man.)
And as far as opening one's mouth and having unfortunate expressions come out, I think Sheehan could take the Pepsi challenge against George W. Bush anytime and come out looking immensely more articulate.
TomH: Right On! I think you're right on the mark.
JGUNS: Fair point; nice analysis.
MathewM: Do you have even the hint of a scintilla of a clue?
JosSlater: One of the things taught in journalism schools, and enamored of editors, is the question, "Where's the drama in the story?" Hence the focus on "faces."
GreedyClerk: If you so abhor Volokh so much, wny do you even bother to read or post here? To equate Prof. Volokh with Michelle Malkin is wa-a-ay over the top and I can't recognize either one in the reflection of the other. I may sometimes (maybe often) disagree with the host of this blog, but at least he thinks!
Sigh.
It's just so grimly ironic to see hordes of naive, talking-point commenters lambast Sheehan for exhibiting those qualities. ---My own naivete, etc., is of course not at issue, as I am *not* lambasting Sheehan... ;)
Also endorse Carol Anne's distinction of Prof. Volokh from Malkin. EV is actually competent and interesting on his areas of expertise. Malkin's area of expertise, if we grant that she has one, is to be interestingly incompetent.
I think Al was commenting under a pseudonym, up above. Didn't quite understand what the Florida recount had to do with anything, but now it makes sense.
George Bush is no Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He is not as eloquent. He has not articulated his administration's strategy as well as FDR or Reagan might have. Let's all agree on that.
But the initial Administration decision to invade Iraq was strongly supported by our country and had colorable authority from a plethora of UN resolutions. If you do not believe me read the bill passed overwhelmingly by both Houses of Congress.
How many of the 22 Whereas clauses in that bill are not in fact supported by substantial evidence? Not many is the answer.
Once the decision was made, our troops went in and accomplished the first phase of the mission in a stunningly successful manner against all of the predictions of those who are in Crawford.
At every turn, the Administration said this was going to be a long hard slog. That was 29 months ago. We have lost 1900 military personnel during that time in Iraq or about 66 killed per month. Compared to any other armed conflict in which this country has been involved, that number is astonishingly low. As a comparison, in the last battle of World War II, Okinawa, we lost 13000 soldiers and sailors in a little less than three months, or over 4300 killed per month. The total troops engaged for the U.S. were about 150,000, roughly comparable to the forces engaged in Iraq.
In 1967 and 1968, I served in Vietnam. There, from 1966 through 1975, we lost over 50,000 troops. This is an average rate of over 460 killed per month.
Combat has always been terrible. Those who endure it are rightfully respected and honored by their country. Those who volunteer to be subect to it are heroes. All those serving in Iraq are volunteers.
Every war in history has been beset by failures of leadership, strategy and tactics. Every war in history has had moments which the troops used to describe pithily as FUBAR (F***** Up Beyond All Recognition.
Just read 1776 to see how Washington blundered. Read any detailed history of the Civil War to see how Lincoln and Robert E. Lee blundered. Read any history of WW I and II to see how historical heroes like Churchill, Wilson, Pershing, Roosevelt, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Patton and Montgomery blundered. And Vietnam shows plenty of examples of blunders of Kennedy, LBJ, McNamara, Nixon, Westmoreland and others.
In the face of Bin Laden's statement after the Somalian debacle, no rational leader in this country can pull the troops out of Iraq now. That simply will not happen. Having said that, what are the alternatives that have not been thoroughly explored?
I think if you folks who are much smarter than I would noodle on this question, you might be doing our country a valuable service by providing possible solutions, not just complaints.
Respectfully,
Jim Rhoads (vnjagvet)
It's not. Those words are helpful indications of which comments can be safely ignored. (A similar principle underlies my support for Texas v. Johnson.)
Fast food, instant gratification, and reality TV--wow, what a concept
I agree with you regarding the obstacles in the way. But as you know, it doesn't matter if the obstacles are because of flaws in society or not. Those flaws must be repaired and the obstacles overcome if we are to prevail. It is up to the Nation's leaders to accomplish that. Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt all found a way to do that. In a sense, their efforts killed each of them, for they all died achingly young (at least from this end of the telescope).
That is the price this type of conflict exacts, unfortunately.
BTW, Welcome home. Thanks for your service.
Jim Rhoads (vnjagvet)
Given that she also calls the same people terrorists in the same sentence, this is really much ado about nothing. The gist of that paragraph is *not* that the insurgency is good, it's that the invasion of Iraq turned Iraq from a non-terrorist country, to a magnet for terrorists who come there to supposedly fight for freedom from outside control.
Why didn't you include the whole sentence on your post so that people could judge for themselves without listening through a rather painful 5 minutes with the crazy guitar guy? I get to see enough crazy guitar guys on my walks through Berkeley, I don't need more of them.
A left-wing, anti-Bush, anti-Israel site (Representative Press) has posted a detailed record of the evidence that Sheehan actually wrote the letter she later claimed to have been hacked.
Meanwhile, if he read the comments thread of the link he posted to attack Eugene, he would find that the link left off the part of the story where Mrs. Pruett, while empathizing with Cindy Sheehan and saying it's wonderful that she has the right to protest, DISAGREED with what Sheehan was asking for.
And if anyone wants evidence of Sheehan saying negative things about Israel, read the transcript of her speech at a rally for Lynne Stewart (the attorney convicted of aiding World Trade Center bombing mastermind Sheik Rahman by communicating his messages to his followers):
[transcript from Discover the Network]
It's not a message about Israel, but "Lynne is my human Atticus Finch"????? This is a prepared speech. She has just called Lynne Stewart a hero precisely FOR aiding a terrorist! Is there anyone here who agrees with her on this?
Nick
I don't recall anyone in the Reagan Administration describing the Contras, or indeed anyone else describing anyone, as "freedom fighters" who were not fighting against another force in, and for, their own country. Can anyone find anyone describing the non-Afghani mujahadeen this way? Or foreign forces assisting any indigenous struggle?
I've looked for any reference to Sheehan being at UC Santa Cruz on April 27, 2005, and I'm coming up blank.
So, Nick, can you provide another, more neutral source, for that transcript? If they agree, I'd be happy to confirm that here.
Now, what exactly is it the "Freedom Fighters" are fighting for? Well, I think we can presume that their goal is something other than a democratically composed government representing all the people of Iraq. I suspect the "Freedom Fighters" want to establish a form of government that permits them exclusive control of the Iraqi oil money -- which is looking bigger all the time.
Now, if the freedom fighters are against a democratic government in Iraq, and Sheehan supports the freedom fighters, is Sheehan against a democratic government for Iraq?
By the way, Eugene sure hit the hot button with this one.
It seems to me that she has put herself in the limelight to specifically draw attention to what she says. Had she not changed her story of her first meeting with Bush, she would seem to have more credibility. Before all the trolls jump on me, I am not saying that she changed her mind about the war, (She has always been against it) I am saying that she did a 180 degree turn in describing the first meeting with Bush.
She has every right to express whatever views she wishes; however, she is not entitled to be immunized from disagreement and criticism. The very "authority" she possesses to air her views is the same "authority" that I have to disagree with her.
Consider a different situation. Suppose he