Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Dying in Iraq: In Vain or For Gain?

I see that Cindy Sheehan is putting up her five acres in Crawford, Texas for sale. She came down very hard on the Democrats in Congress who voted for the Iraq spending bill and in the process got attacked by the people she was hoping would help her – Democrats.

They started calling her names.

So in a very poignant posting on Daily Kos she writes that she is going home, now.
“I am going to take whatever I have left and go home. I am going to go home and be a mother to my surviving children and try to regain some of what I have lost. I will try to maintain and nurture some very positive relationships that I have found in the journey that I was forced into when Casey died and try to repair some of the ones that have fallen apart since I began this single-minded crusade to try and change a paradigm that is now, I am afraid, carved in immovable, unbendable and rigidly mendacious marble.”
But perhaps the most heartbreaking statement she makes is one that I have been dealing with for awhile now. Our brave troops are dying in vain. Their blood has been and is being shed for nothing. Nothing except the greed of war profiteers, and the vanity of the ruling Bush Regime.
“The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.”
I am reminded of remarks that I heard at the Fort Bend/Sugar Land Memorial Day observance yesterday, because they are in such bold contrast to Cindy Sheehan’s words.

One of the families that were honored was the Waterbury family of Richmond. Steve Waterbury, father of fallen soldier Spec. Forrest J. Waterbury, gave a very moving speech about the death of his son and what it means. Mr. Waterbury has a different view than Cindy Sheehan. Mr. Waterbury is convinced that his son died in Iraq for a very good reason: We fight terrorists over there so that we don’t have to fight them over here.

As a parent myself, I could not imagine the horrors of having a child of mine die. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be. I’m supposed to die first. When anything happens that devastates your life, you look for reasons, for rationale. Cindy Sheehan and Steve Waterbury both looked for them and came up with different answers.

Cindy Sheehan concluded that her son died for nothing

Steve Waterbury concluded that his son died to prevent terrorism from spreading to this country.

Honestly, I can’t imagine what would be worse: to conclude as Cindy Sheehan has, and it’s true, or to conclude as Steve Waterbury has, and it’s false.

Stop the War in Iraq. Now.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

As you stated in response to my "protest" comment earlier, I do find it unbelievable that only 28% of the people support the war in Iraq, but yet none of our elected leadership in the Democratic Party have the "guts" to do anything about it. Mr. Lampson's voting on this doesn't seem to be significantly different than that of Mr. Delay.

Many argue that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are driven by the corporate greed of Haliburton and others. What is the excuse of the Democrats? Have the "guts" and take a stand that will get us out of Iraq. You only have 28% of the voting population to lose (and odds are you already lost that) and you can gain 72%. Democrats are the majority in the House and Senate. Act like it!

Hal said...

A majority, but not enough of one. That'll change, but I don't want to have to wait until 2009 to end the war. That's why the only way to end the war is to stop funding it. It was political suicide when congress did just that to end the Vietnam War. There was a lot of backlash that is still remembered.

I doubt that Tom DeLay would have voted for HR 2206, the one passed by both the House and Senate, and vetoed by Bush.

Anonymous said...

That's true about HR 2006.

I am just frustrated that we act like we don't have a majority.

Jack Gonzo, MD said...

It's not about guts, it's the lack of a spine the Democrats currently have. They worry that Faux News or some other media outlet will declare them "un-patriotic" if they stand up against this war. I believe Ms. Sheehan has come to the realization that most of us have these last few months, that these Democrats lack the testicular fortitude for a fight. They're worried about their next election and not about the the 200 or so who died already this month.

TXsharon said...

That's a great, great post!

I personally would want to know the truth, that my son died so Haliburton and Big Oil could get richer. At least I would know where to place my anger.