Texas protest changes columnist's perspective

[tuvor]

Mary deJuliis
Phoenix columnist

Cindy Sheehan's son, Casey, lost his life in Iraq. When the president visited her a few days after his death, the president changed the subject when she tried to talk about Casey and wouldn't look at pictures of her son.

As time has gone on, this has bothered her more and more. What really bothers her is that President Bush uses the death of her son and the other 1840-plus soldiers as a reason to continue our military presence in Iraq, and she doesn't understand what noble cause the president mentions but doesn't define. She plans to stay camped two miles from the gate of the Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch, now called Camp Casey, until the president talks to her or until Aug. 31. The camp is where her group was stopped for walking on the road instead of staying in the ditch. On Sept. 1, she plans to move the camp to the White House lawn.

Former President Nixon allowed antiwar protesters to gather and camp on the White House lawn and even went out and visited them with a very small Secret Service detail. I don't expect the same from Bush. Especially not after being at Camp Casey for a couple of days and seeing the police presence and tactics they used. But from the little I know of Cindy Sheehan after talking to her three or so times, I have no doubt that she will be camped somewhere in Washington D.C.
It was a very diverse crowd that gathered to support Cindy and protest the Iraq War in Camp Casey. The group changed as people had to return to their jobs and new people arrived. There were groups and organizations there that represent military families, several who had also lost loved ones in Iraq, some with family members currently serving in Iraq or shipping out soon.

The Peace House in Crawford was very helpful and supportive. Code Pink, which is a national group of women and veterans trying to stop this war, had members present from chapters in California and several Texas cities. Veterans were there. Families took detours and a few days out of their vacation to support the cause of ending the Iraq War, and several ministers, along with moms like me from everywhere who felt compelled to go to Crawford after hearing Cindy's story. I met folks from Minnesota, Illinois, California, Washington, Tennesee, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Oregon.

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