http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=6904Cindy Sheehan is on a mission. The death of her son in combat in Iraq has sent her on her own personal odyssey, a quest for the answer to the question: Why? The latest stop in that journey: Crawford, Texas, right outside the presidential ranch, where she and a few intrepid antiwar protesters marched in the triple-digit heat, determined to confront the author of this war. Bush didn't come out to meet her, but, surprisingly, she was met by two of his top aides – national security advisor Stephen Hadley and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin – who spoke to the distraught-but-determined Sheehan for 45 minutes.
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In spite of his political naiveté, Vincent had the courage to name the murderers who had inherited the fruits of American "victory" in Iraq – and he paid the ultimate price. So did Cindy Sheehan's boy, along with 1,800-plus other American soldiers, and Mrs. Sheehan and her Gold Star Mothers for Peace want to know what friends and supporters of Steve Vincent are no doubt curious about: What exactly is the rationale for our continued presence in Iraq? If the Iraqi police are killing Americans who run afoul of the local politicos, then who, exactly, is the enemy – is it the so-called "insurgents," or is it the Shi'ite fundamentalist party militias filling the security vacuum?
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If George W. Bush could bring himself to face Cindy Sheehan, I think that would be his answer to her: we're fighting for capital-D Democracy. That's what he told us in his "fire in the mind" inaugural address, and he's emphasized it more often now that the more tangible goals of the invasion seem to have melted away like desert mirages.