For every Cindy Sheehan there are different types of mothers too

[bluestateguy]

I don't want to pour cold water on the warm feelings for Cindy Sheehan, but I hope people realize that there are just as many mothers of troops lost in Iraq who are big war hawks.

For every Cindy Sheehan, Lila Lipscomb or Sue Niederer, there are just as many Iraq war mothers who put their sons deaths in another context.

Their view is that the best way to honor their sons loss of life is to continue the mission until it is "completed". What this means, of course, is that more young men will be killed, resulting in more grieving mothers, perpetuating the cycle again and again.

I suspect that if they find it necessary, part of the White House trashing of Cindy Sheehan will include dredging up mothers of US troops killed in Iraq who will then publicly declare their "support for President Bush and 'his' war on terror".

[katsy]

1. The difference will not be whether our hearts go out

to these war hawk moms who lost their children. Their pain must be great.

The difference will be whether these moms get arrested showing their support of the war.

[Kerrytravelers]

2. You KNOW that any * supporter will NEVER get arrested.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[Pithlet]

14. My mother in law supports this war

and she has a son over there. As much as I vehemently disagree with her stance, I will not condemn her for it. I've seen firsthand the pain and stress this is causing in her life. She isn't thinking straight. I don't think she, and others like her, should be condemned for that stance to the point that we feel no sympathy for the pain of their loss, no matter how strongly we disagree. If, God forbid, the worst happens, I will be there for her. I would hope that any caring, thoughtful human being would, no matter their political affiliation.

[Name removed]

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[OmmmSweetOmmm]

5. It takes a Very Brave person to admit that your child died for a lie,

and a lie that means that they didn't give up that life to protect our country, but died for the whims of a madman.

On one hand my heart goes out to those parents that continue the fairytale that their child died bravely, in service to protect our country, but they do an injustice to everyone else's children who might give their life for those same lies. It's called rationalization, and it was rampant during the Vietnam War. In a way, they are collaborators........

[ClintonTyree]

6. You're all too correct........

I expect to see Red State/Red Meat Moms on all of the Reich Wing talk shows tomorrow tearing into Cindy and everyone like her. They'll paint her a nut, a disturbed woman, a "blame America first" Liberal tool, they'll crucify her for sure. I hope she and her family are prepared to face the slings and arrows of the Reich Wing "patriots" :puke: that are going to attack her mercilessly.

She has every bit of good Karma I can muster coming her way for the upcoming onslaught from shit-for-brains Republicans.

[Just Me]

7. Nevertheless, she takes a stand for the truth on behalf of our troops.

She speaks for me, mother of a son who could be drawn into the "desire for empire", sister of a wonderful man who is being sent to his death.

[wildeyed]

8. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I would not attack a parent who was grieving a lost child for their political views. They have made the ultimate sacrifice. They are entitled to an opinion. Even if I think it is wrong.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. Right, these other kind of mothers are the 'good' kind. Red America

doesn't know what to think about the Cindy Sheehans. Makes 'em uncomfortable.

[julialnyc]

10. I feel bad for every mother who mourns the loss of their child

It is very hard for some mothers to think their sons or daughters died for a cause that wasn't worthy. It is far too simple to lump people into two categories.

Here's a bit from yesterdays Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/national/07marine.html?pagewanted=1


But many relatives of marines said anything short of completing "the mission" - that is, establishing democracy in Iraq - would dishonor the memories of the fallen. And they sharply criticized anyone who questioned the administration's policies.

"Are you going to tell that mother whose son is in a casket that you don't believe in what they are doing over there?" asked Karen Parker, 43, of Cleveland, whose son is with the 3/25 in Iraq. "Do you know how that would hurt them? We don't have that right."

Not all parents of dead marines agreed. Rosemary Palmer, Corporal Schroeder's mother, has always opposed the war and believes her son was growing disenchanted with it before he died. She says she knows other parents who oppose the war but are afraid to speak out, believing their children will be punished by their commanders.

"How are we honoring them by throwing another 1,800 lives on the pile?" asked Ms. Palmer, 57, of Cleveland. "Honor them by resolving this war."

The debate has even split some families. Erica Deyarmin said her brother, Corporal Deyarmin, a sniper with the 3/25 who died Monday, loved the marines and was deeply proud of what they were doing in Iraq.

"If we turn our backs on them now, he would have died in vain," she said.

But her grandmother, Barbara Davis, 68, said that she felt the war had been unnecessary and that the ground troops should be pulled out immediately - words that caused her granddaughter to leave the room.

"I support the troops," she said, recalling the hundreds of pairs of socks and dozens of care packages she had sent to her grandson's unit. "I just don't support the policy."

Kristin Earhart of Pickerington, Ohio, the girlfriend of Cpl. Dustin A. Derga of the 3/25, who died on May 8, said he considered it his duty to fight, making his opinion of it irrelevant. An Air National Guard member, Ms. Earhart, 22, said she felt the same way.

"I don't want our boys over there," she said. "But in the same sense, they're doing a job and they're doing it good."

One of Corporal Derga's best friends, Lance Cpl. Nicholas B. Erdy, also of the 3/25, died three days later. For Brandon Harmon, 24, a police officer from Pickerington and a friend of Corporal Derga's, so much death in so few days had brought the war too close to their small town.

"The national spotlight is on Ohio right now," Mr. Harmon said. "We just think that one company has gone through so much, you just kind of wish that they could get a break and come home."

[Zorra]

11. If they want to complete their bullshit "mission", I suggest that they go

fight in Iraq themselves.

I find the thought of some ignorant redneck crowing over the completely senseless death of her child utterly revolting.

[Pithlet]

12. Oh, I'm sure they'll do that.

It will be a last, desperate attempt to undo the damage.

[BabboonBush]

13. However...

This is putting Bush where he belongs - on the spot, and between a rock and a hard place. If he agrees to answer her questions, he'll look like a baffoon and will dig himself into a hole. If he doesn't meet with her, he looks evasive and uncaring towards our servicemen and their families. Ha!

[AuntPatsy]

15. Exactly what I have thought all along.

[tamtam]

16. I don't wish the lose of a child on anyone

I don't care if they supported this war or not. There is something deeply wrong with a child dying before their parents.

I have to admit that the mothers who have lost a child in this war and still support this war bother me. By supporting this war they are giving this evil regime more power to allow other children to die. I think it is senseless to support the killing of others in order to have the goal your loved one did not accomplish fulfilled. To me this is senseless and selfish and I'm almost sure this is not good Karma. I feel sorry for these mothers. I could not imagine their grief but ignorance and selfishness in not bliss. I don't doubt for a minute that most if not all of these mothers and fathers feel this way because they love their children and they want to honor them. With that honor comes the price of more innocent lives and I don't think that is fair.

[w8liftinglady]

17. At the risk of sounding sexist

The interviews I have seen were of Dads who supported *.I remember one gung-ho ex-marine who was almost elated that his kid was killed on the battlefield.They never interviewed the kid's mom,however.It made me sick.

[Moderator]

18. Locking...

This thread has become inflammatory.