Cindy Sheehan, as you likely know, is the mother of a child killed in the Iraq war, who has set up a campsite outside of George Bush's Texas ranch in order to get a meeting with him.
This is a serious post mostly, but I have to begin by saying that whenever I read anything about this subject, I never see "Cindy Sheehan," I always see "Cindy Crawford." No doubt that's because Bush's ranch is in Crawford, TX, so that's always the byline of the story, and the word "Cindy" always occurs in the first line, so for a long time my mind kept calling her "Cindy Crawford." Now I'm not even sure I know who Cindy Crawford is (some blonde actress, or a model?), and I'm pretty sure she has no political association, but there it is. Maybe it's the double-Cs that pull me into the association.
Anyway, as most things political today do, the Cindy Sheehan situation has generated a lot of ugliness. It isn't pretty to see the Left using someone who (admittedly, I haven't followed this closely, so go easy on this next statement) is obviously distraught and seems a little personally unsteady to further their anti-war agenda; they seem to be doing the very thing they are incensed about, fixated on their mission rather than showing real compassion for the suffering of one of their troops. And it isn't pretty to see the Right pile on the insinuation and the character assassination to further their pro-Bush agenda; this woman, after all, lost her son ... show her some courtesy, decency, and respect.
But beneath all the mud, I would think that the pro-Bush folks ought to be concerned about Ms. Sheehan's continued campaign. Because for all they can try to impugn her character, motives, and truthfulness (and again, I don't really know the facts on any of these), the fact is that she and her son's death lead directly to consideration of the single, key question that's been hanging about the Iraq War since before it began: Is it worth it? It has made me pause to ask: Is it worth my sons' lives? And that question, in turn, resonates with all the questions about validity and factual basis for entering the war in the first place. If I'm George Bush, I'm not sure, with gas approaching $3.00 per gallon and the Iraqi nation looking, quite frankly, not very trainable, that I want many people to be thinking about Cindy Sheehan's dead son and asking the question: 'Is it worth it?'
The longer an unstable situation in Iraq goes on with no apparent progress toward resolution, the more this question is going to get asked, and the more folks who are in not Left or Right, but rather folks in the middle, who up to now have withheld judgment and hoped for the best, are going to start answering "no." If that happens, it seems to me that a lot of political bets are off.
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I admire what Cindy Sheehan is doing. She wants a direct dialog with President Bush to discuss why it was beneficial to America that her son lost his life. Did he die for a noble cause?
Cindy Sheehan has much distrust of why we went to war and about the reasons the Bush Administration give us for remaining in Iraq. I completely understand where she is coming from. I think the country can understand where she is coming from. She is a mother who lost her son in a very controversial war. The reasons for going to war have changed many times over the last few years. 911 happened almost four years ago. It was at that time the Bush administration started trying to brain wash the country that Saddam Hussein needed to be "removed" to provide Americans security from terrorism. It was quite obvious that the Bush administration was morphing Osama Bin Laden into Saddam Hussein. If you followed politics, it was pretty obvious that there was a lot of spin going on about the reasons for going to war in Iraq. Many Americans perceived a lie at the heart of the reasons for going to war. Most American citizens could not have known that the claim of WMD's would turn out to be false; however, many of us felt the manipulations of turning our fears of terrorism/Bin Laden into reasons for going to war with Saddam Hussein/Iraq. We saw the morphing as spin. America went to war in Iraq with the backing of most Americans, as many believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the attacks on 911. The manipulation worked.
Now, years later, the bubble is bursting. Americans are not happy with this war. So many soldiers are injured or dead. There are many grieving American families. We are questioning if going to war in Iraq was the right thing to do. We are questioning if we should get out. We are questioning if we should have ever trusted this president. Despite her critics, Cindy's voice is strong. Intuitively, we Americans know her heart is true and her motivations are pure. Cindy Sheehan is symbolic of our grief. She is symbolic our our mistrust. She is symbolic of our freedom of speech. The country is with her. The majority of the country is not on the side of the war, as the polls reflect, and are not happy with our president. Cindy Sheehan has become our voice. The voice of reason and concern. She is not a puppet of the Left. She is a grieving mother who wants answers.
Bravo to Cindy Sheehan. What dignity is there in dying in a war that may have been based on lies or, at least, misinformation? If the reasons for going to war have changed over the years, how can a country trust that we should be in this war? Is this war worth it? Is it worth losing so many American lives to enforce democracy in Iraq? Can we win this war? Is America really safer if we win this war? What if we are not safer? What if occupying Iraq actually makes radical Muslims hate us more? What if we lose?
Cindy Sheehan is a brave soul. I salute her efforts. Her story is captivating Americans because we are ready for a confrontation with President Bush about the war. Americans are an empathetic bunch, we feel for Cindy Sheehan's loss. We would like to hear, too, why her son's death was necessary. Is this war a noble cause? Or is this war a travesty? What other American president took the country to war based on bad intelligence? Forget the spin, Mr. President, Cindy Sheehan (and the rest of us) are wanting the truth. Why did we go to war? Really? And why are we still there?
It is political poison for the Bush Administration to have the country so focused on an antiwar movement. I highly doubt he will ever speak with Cindy Sheehan. She may be spearheading the beginning of a vast anti war movement. The media is biting, the country is biting, as Bush is biting the dust.
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