Tonight, in the shadow of the White House, approximately four hundred people gathered for a vigil in support of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Casey Sheehan who was killed in Iraq. Sheehan is maintaining a vigil outside of President Bush's Texas ranch while the President is on a five-week vacation.
In contrast to the hundreds in support of Sheehan at the there were less than a dozen pro-war demonstrators gathered under a banner that read "God Bless our Soldiers, Liberating the World of One Tyrant at a Time," reported PageOneQ photographer and blogger, Joe Tresh. (Mr. Tresh's blog is Joe Tresh's Washington)
Tresh obtained a speech made by the mother of a military mom who is a member of whose son was injured in the war and who returned to the front. being run on PageOne Q and Mr. Tresh's site:
"My name is Gilda. I am a member of MFSO - Military Families Speak Out - and I have a son who is an active duty Marine. He was deployed to Iraq during the bloody assault on Fallujah in November. One hundred thirty-seven of our sons and daughters and countless Iraqis died in that assault.
"We are gathered here to support Cindy Sheehan in her quest for truthful answers from President Bush about Iraq. This is a call to conscience! This is about supporting our troops who have served honorably and bravely under impossible conditions. They went under orders of their Commander-in-Chief to a war of choice unprepared and under equipped. President Bush, you owe us an explanation! The only noble thing in this rotten war has been our noble sons and daughters who answered the call to serve their country, something you could not have understood or valued.
"President Bush, we are not radical political extremists as the right-wing media would like to portray us. We are citizens - ordinary mothers and fathers who are fed up with painful and insulting lies. We have carried the weight of your disastrous policy on our shoulders while half of the population has been intentionally or unintentionally ignorant of our plight. For many, it has been convenient to believe they are supporting the troops with their yellow magnets.
"President Bush, meet with Cindy. Tell that mother in that pathetic ditch by your house just exactly why her son died. Tell her how the war is going and what your plan is. Explain to her that 'taking the fight to them' was really a brilliant way to get the naive and ignorant to fall unquestioningly behind you. Tell her how through your incompetence and at great expense in resources and human life, we destroyed Iraq, giving the Iraqis an infinitely worse hell than anyone could have ever imagined.
"'We would send the wrong signal if we pulled out," you say, Mr. Bush. What signal do you think we've sent the world since we invaded Iraq? you've destroyed our credibility and our good standing in the world. Most of all, Mr. Bush, what's unforgivable is that you betrayed our idealistic American sons and daughters who trustingly placed their lives in your hands. We, their mothers, will not let you 'move on with your life,' Mr. Bush. We hold you accountable for their deaths and injuries. And we call now for an immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Now. Not next year. Not in ten years!" (emphasis added)
Tonight, in the shadow of the White House, approximately four hundred people gathered for a vigil in support of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Casey Sheehan who was killed in Iraq. Sheehan is maintaining a vigil outside of President Bush's Texas ranch while the President is on a five-week vacation.
"We are gathered here to support Cindy Sheehan in her quest for truthful answers from President Bush about Iraq. This is a call to conscience! This is about supporting our troops who have served honorably and bravely under impossible conditions. They went under orders of their Commander-in-Chief to a war of choice unprepared and under equipped. President Bush, you owe us an explanation! The only noble thing in this rotten war has been our noble sons and daughters who answered the call to serve their country, something you could not have understood or valued.