Peace Blog Archive

[July 3, 2007 note by Cindy: Since I sent out the last piece, the Rev's hearing has been postponed for a month...so our walk will be starting on July 10th from Camp Casey...details TBA.]

Call Out the Instigator
Cindy Sheehan

Call out the Instigator
Because there’s something in the air
We got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here
You know it’s right!
Thunderclap Newman

I’m not backing off. I tried to remove myself from the
political realm of the US, what BushCo is turning into
an Evil Empire, but the blatant audacity of George
commuting Scooter’s sentence (he’s not ruling out a
full pardon —and you know he will) has dragged me
kicking and screaming back in. I can’t sit back and
let this BushCo drag our country further down into the
murky quagmire of Fascism and violence, taking the
rest of the world with them! (more…)

CONGRESS CAN STILL FOLLOW THE LIBBY OIL TRAIL

By Nick Mottern, Director, ConsumersforPeace.org

The first famous obstruction of justice in which Scooter Libby was involved came at the end of the Clinton presidency when Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, the notorious international criminal who has made billions from illegal oil trading.

One can argue that Clinton pardoned Rich expecting some financial benefit, but it is quite likely that the pardon also protected Rich associates, probably including oil people. The pardon stopped Federal investigation and prosecution of Rich and so very likely benefited powerful people inside and outside the U.S. (more…)

How to Destroy an African-American City in Thirty Three Steps – Lessons from Katrina

By Bill Quigley. Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. You can reach Bill at Quigley@loyno.edu

Step One. Delay. If there is one word that sums up the way to destroy an African-American city after a disaster, that word is DELAY. If you are in doubt about any of the following steps – just remember to delay and you will probably be doing the right thing.

Step Two. When a disaster is coming, do not arrange a public evacuation. Rely only on individual resources. People with cars and money for hotels will leave. The elderly, the disabled and the poor will not be able to leave. Most of those without cars – 25% of households of New Orleans, overwhelmingly African-Americans – will not be able to leave. Most of the working poor, overwhelmingly African-American, will not be able to leave. Many will then permanently accuse the victims who were left behind of creating their own human disaster because of their own poor planning. It is critical to start by having people blame the victims for their own problems. (more…)

Turn, Turn, Turn
Cindy Sheehan

To everything there is a season.
A time for war, a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes, Hebrew Scriptures

I wish I could say I thought of something profound as
I saw the president and his wife’s picture on that
billboard on Hwy 317 in my rear view mirror on my way
out of Crawford today. I will be back for the final
weekend farewell to Camp Casey on July 6th, but I
won’t be back as the owner of property there, or as a
leader of the American peace movement. (more…)

Open Letter to Cindy Sheehan: We need you now more than ever

from the Campus Antiwar Network

We remember first hearing about you standing up to Bush in Crawford, Texas with admiration and hope. Just months before he had been re-elected, not because the majority of people supported the war, but because John Kerry offered us nothing for which to vote. He provided no alternative to the neocon strategy of more war and barbarism.

Instead, you did. (more…)

Being Hope
by Kathy Kelly

May 31, 2007

Earlier this week, the American Friends Service Committee asked me to speak about finding hope in hard times as part of an interfaith service to conclude their “Eyes Wide Open” display in Chicago’s Grant Park. The display arranged 3,438 soldiers’ boots to commemorate U.S. military people killed in Iraq, along with life sized pictures of Iraqi civilians and a collection of numerous civilian shoes to remember hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been killed in Iraq since 2003. I asked the audience to join me in recalling experiences I had while imprisoned at the Pekin Federal prison for “crossing the line” at Fort Benning, Georgia. (more…)

[Ed. Note: This writer (Charles Jenks) fully agrees with Cindy Sheehan about the peace movement. It too often works at cross purposes, and is beset by turf defending and sectarianism. I also believe that partisan politics has failed the American people, the Iraqi people and the people of the world. The Iraq War is a bi-partisan war. It was bi-partisan before the invasion - via the horrendous and genocidal sanctions - and continues through this day, as both parties voted for the war resolution and have continued to fund the war. Recently, some Reps have touted their voting against war funding. Well, these same Reps voted to advance the bill for voting, a bill they knew would pass. The procedural vote was the important one here. If Reps had declined to vote on funding the war, Bush would have to use existing funds to withdraw the troops.

As for our beloved Cindy, we pray that she gets some good R and R. Heaven knows she deserves it. Then, we need her back.]

“Good Riddance Attention Whore”
Cindy Sheehan

I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called “Face” of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such “liberal blogs” as the Democratic Underground. Being called an “attention whore” and being told “good riddance” are some of the more milder rebukes.

I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to are very heartbreaking to me. (more…)

Where have all the Giants Gone?
Cindy Sheehan

We have an old saying in my adopted state of Texas and you may have it in your own state too: “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” America is not unique for perpetuating a history that was founded on genocide and where violence is constantly relied upon for problem solving, but this is our country and how can we finally learn the lessons of war and corrupt regimes?

Our history is also rife with giants who have gone before us who either affected true and relevant change, or who have at least alleviated temporary suffering. Women now have the right to vote and participate fully in our government due to giants such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Jeannette Rankin. Slavery was abolished because of the brave efforts of some like Harriet Tubman, Bronson Alcott, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Frederick Douglas. The Civil Rights movement was enriched by the presence of ministers like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Joseph Lowery among many others. Active duty soldiers joined with the anti-war movement during the Vietnam conflict to help bring a close to that other most recent illegal war of aggression. (more…)

Street Heat
Cindy Sheehan

When we left Lafayette Park yesterday there were 3396 Americans dead in Iraq. When we got to the Capitol about 45 minutes later, the count was up to 3498 and when we got out of jail 8 hours later, 3401 were gone.

Three-hundred amazing Americans joined us yesterday in The Mother of a March which was sponsored by The Camp Casey Peace Institute and supported and co-sponsored by many other peace groups. (more…)

Needless Carnage
(And the Beat Goes On)
Cindy Sheehan

“My son, Jon Michael, is the best son a dad can have. He will always be my pride and joy.” – George Tenet: Former Director of Central Intelligence; page 520 of his book:

At the Center of the Storm

I had difficulty making the purchase of George Tenet’s new book. With a multi-million dollar advance already, I didn’t want to contribute to someone who has already profited so obscenely from other people’s dead children. This self-congratulatory, buck-passing book was even more difficult to read. But when I came to the last paragraph and read the above quote about Tenet’s precious son, Jon Michael, I began to cry in my uncomfortable airplane seat. (more…)