By Cindy Sheehan
"ICH"
--- - Dublin, Ireland
28.05.2007
Dear Democratic Congress,
Hello, my name is Cindy Sheehan and my son Casey Sheehan was killed on April
04, 2004 in Sadr City , Baghdad , Iraq . He was killed when the Republicans
still were in control of Congress. Naively, I set off on my tireless campaign
calling on Congress to rescind George's authority to wage his war of terror while
asking him "for what noble cause" did Casey and thousands of other
have to die. Now, with Democrats in control of Congress, I have lost my
optimistic naiveté and have become cynically pessimistic as I see you all
caving into "Mr. 28%"
There is absolutely no sane or defensible reason for you to hand Bloody King
George more money to condemn more of our brave, tired, and damaged soldiers and
the people of Iraq to more death and carnage. You think giving him more money
is politically expedient, but it is a moral abomination and every second the
occupation of Iraq endures, you all have more blood on your hands.
Ms. Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said after George signed the new weak as a
newborn baby funding authorization bill: "Now, I think the president's policy
will begin to unravel." Begin to unravel? How many more of our children
will have to be killed and how much more of Iraq will have to be demolished
before you all think enough unraveling has occurred? How many more crimes will
BushCo be allowed to commit while their poll numbers are crumbling before you
all gain the political "courage" to hold them accountable. If Iraq
hasn't unraveled in Ms. Pelosi's mind, what will it take? With almost 700,000
Iraqis dead and four million refugees (which the US refuses to admit) how could
it get worse? Well, it is getting worse and it can get much worse thanks to
your complicity.
Being cynically pessimistic, it seems to me that this new vote to extend the
war until the end of September, (and let's face it, on October 1st, you will
give him more money after some more theatrics, which you think are fooling the
anti-war faction of your party) will feed right into the presidential primary
season and you believe that if you just hang on until then, the Democrats will
be able to re-take the White House. Didn't you see how "well" that
worked for John Kerry in 2004 when he played the politics of careful fence
sitting and pandering? The American electorate are getting disgusted with
weaklings who blow where the wind takes them while frittering away our precious
lifeblood and borrowing money from our new owners, the Chinese.
I knew having a Democratic Congress would make no difference in grassroots
action. That's why we went to DC when you all were sworn in to tell you that we
wanted the troops back from Iraq and BushCo held accountable while you pushed
for ethics reform which is quite a hoot...don't' you think? We all know that it
is affordable for you all to play this game of political mayhem because you
have no children in harm's way...let me tell you what it is like:
You watch your reluctant soldier march off to a war that neither you nor he
agrees with. Once your soldier leaves the country all you can do is worry. You
lie awake at night staring at the moon wondering if today will be the day that
you get that dreaded knock on your door. You can't concentrate, you can't eat,
and your entire life becomes consumed with apprehension while you are waiting
for the other shoe to drop.
Then, when your worst fears are realized, you begin a life of constant pain,
regret, and longing. Everyday is hard, but then you come up on
"special" days...like upcoming Memorial Day. Memorial Day holds
double pain for me because, not only are we supposed to honor our fallen
troops, but Casey was born on Memorial Day in 1979. It used to be a day of
celebration for us and now it is a day of despair. Our needlessly killed
soldiers of this war and the past conflict in Vietnam have all left an
unnecessary trail of sorrow and deep holes of absence that will never be
filled.
So, Democratic Congress, with the current daily death toll of 3.72 troops per
day, you have condemned 473 more to these early graves. 473 more lives wasted
for your political greed: Thousands of broken hearts because of your cowardice
and avarice. How can you even go to sleep at night or look at yourselves in a
mirror? How do you put behind you the screaming mothers on both sides of the
conflict? How does the agony you have created escape you? It will never escape
me...I can't run far enough or hide well enough to get away from it.
By the end of September, we will be about 80 troops short of another bloody
milestone: 4000, and MoveOn.org will hold nationwide candlelight vigils and you
all will be busy passing legislation that will snuff the lights out of
thousands more human beings.
Congratulations Congress, you have bought yourself a few more months of an
illegal and immoral bloodbath. And you know you mean to continue it
indefinitely so "other presidents" can solve the horrid problem BushCo
forced our world into.
It used to be George Bush's war. You could have ended it honorably. Now it is
yours and you all will descend into calumnious history with BushCo.
The Camp Casey Peace Institute is calling all citizens who are as disgusted as we
are with you all to join us in Philadelphia on July 4th to try and figure a way
out of this "two" party system that is bought and paid for by the war
machine which has a stranglehold on every aspect of our lives. As for myself, I
am leaving the Democratic Party. You have completely failed those who put you
in power to change the direction our country is heading. We did not elect you
to help sink our ship of state but to guide it to safe harbor.
We do not condone our government's violent meddling in sovereign countries and
we condemn the continued murderous occupation of Iraq .
We gave you a chance, you betrayed us.
Sincerely,
Cindy Sheehan
Founder and President of
Gold Star Families for Peace.
Founder and Director of
The Camp Casey Peace Institute
Eternally grieving mother of Casey Sheehan