The Cindy Sheehan question

Cindy Sheehan, mother of Army Sp. Casey Sheehan who was killed in action on April 4, 2004 in Sadr City, Baghdad, has become a rallying point for both anti-war and pro-war sentiments. Many feel that her vigil in Crawford, Texas (Camp Casey) is bringing the war to George Bush’s front yard, confronting him with the real effect of his administration’s policy. Since the time he arrogantly called an end to the war one month after it started, he has been comfortable making threats from the side lines (bring ‘em on), protected from exposure to the consequences of his decisions regarding Iraq.

Many others feel that her vigil shows total disregard for her son’s ultimate sacrifice and that she dishonors both him and America. Casey Sheehan died defending his country and that his mother should shut up and let Bush alone. By becoming a focal point for the growing anti-war movement in America, she is being disloyal to her country and she is dragging her son’s death into the spotlight just to attract attention.

She is frequently reviled on conservative talk radio and by that fair and balanced bastion of right-wing propaganda, Fox news, but beyond all the right-wing rhetoric, does anyone who has not suffered such a loss have the right to call her a traitor? I have a son and daughter who are of conscription age, and if George Bush keeps throwing his weight around the world, I believe that it is only a matter of time before volunteer forces will become insufficient to maintain his apparently insatiable appetite for conflict.

In World War II, it was readily apparent that stopping the axis powers was a just cause, and after that time, the only justification required for a war was to stop the spread of communism. This excuse began to show some wear and tear by the time Vietnam rolled around, and now that the Berlin Wall is ancient history, the war on terror is the justification for invasions abroad. But what does Iraq have to do with terrorists? I mean pre-invasion Iraq. No link has been proven, and the prolonged occupation of Iraq has taken money that would have been better spent eradicating terrorism where it is actually found, i.e. The Philippines, Indonesia, and possible terror cells in every American city.

It is hard to portray the Iraq invasion as a just war when the reasons for the invasion (weapons of mass desrtruction) were later proved to be lies. Does an American citizen have the duty to support a government that has used deceit to summon support when it is suspect that part of the underlying purpose was personal gain for a few prominent among the power elites? (Dick Cheney, Halliburton)

No doubt, these questions crop up in the minds of many Americans with children or spouses fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. If war is good for American business, should I invest my son or daughter? Cindy Sheehan has sadly realized that to her, her son was killed in an unjust war and that George W. Bush is partly to blame for it. She feels that her loss has given her the right to question Bush’s motives in getting the U.S. involved in a war in Iraq.

It is difficult to imagine Bush investing his children.