FW: Not Worth It

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M

Tue, 5 Jul 2005 12:39:15 -0700 (PDT)

FW: Not Worth It

 

 

I wonder if there's any chance we can get this gutsy woman to run

against Dianne Feinstein for the Senate primary next year. We need to

replace Dianne, Mrs. Sheehan seems interested, and in CA, she'd win.

Big. All she needs is about $30 MILLION....

 

(Assuming that the votes are not tampered with....)

 

 

Tuesday, July 05, 2005 11:45

TNot Worth It

 

July 4, 2005

Not Worth It: Larry King, Part 2

 

The thing that struck me when I was watching that vacuous man giving

his hollow speech was the fact that he could have always replaced the

word " terrorists " with the phrase: " my moronic and callous foreign

policies. "

 

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

 

by Cindy Sheehan, Cofounder of Gold Star Families for Peace

 

Last January, I was bumped from the Larry King Live show in favor of an

appearance by the soon to be proved innocent, alleged pedophile,

Michael Jackson. I was going to be on the program to answer the

question: Did I feel my son's murder in Iraq was " worth it " after the

" free " elections in the war torn country on January 30th. I wrote an

article then called: " Not Worth It. "

(http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/sheehan1.html)

 

I never thought I would be invited back on as a guest after I pretty

much burned the Larry King Bridge with my article. However, to my

astonishment, I was invited back to be a guest on June 28th. I was

asked to be on the broadcast in order to give my impressions and

rebuttal to George's speech on Iraq that he delivered in front of the

less than enthusiastic (what the White House spin doctors call:

Respectful) troops at Ft. Bragg, NC.

I felt like I was in Bizarro World as I heard George speak about 9/11

five times and mention terrorism 31 times, even though these rationales

for war have been disproved repeatedly. I think George thinks that

since we believed him once about terrorism vis a vis Iraq, that we must

therefore be gullible enough to believe him this time. I don't know,

and I am not a professional pundit, but my theory is he might have

mentioned 9/11 to manipulate our emotions and maybe even frighten us a

little again?

 

The thing that struck me when I was watching that vacuous man giving

his hollow speech was the fact that he could have always replaced the

word " terrorists " with the phrase: " my moronic and callous foreign

policies. " For example, when he said that terrorists spread death and

destruction on the streets of Baghdad and kill innocent people, he

could have just as easily said: " My moronic and callous foreign

policies spread death and destruction on the streets of Baghdad and

kill innocent people. " When he said that we need to stop terrorists

from toppling governments in the region, he could have just as easily

said: " We need to stop my moronic and callous foreign policies from

toppling governments in the region. " People have characterized the

speech-lite in many ways, but if I had to pick a few words to describe

it, I would say: " Hypocritical, manipulative, condescending,

meaningless drivel. "

 

I sat through an entire hour in the CNN studio in DC hearing not one

person say that the invasion was a mistake and if it was a mistake,

then our troops should be brought home immediately. Even the

" Democratic " Senators (Kerry and Bayh) that were on the program just

gave their recipes for " success " in Iraq, which did not include any

exit strategies. The guest host for that hour was Bob Costas and he

asked one guest, Sen. John McCain, an intriguing question: " If you

could push Button One and have an eventual wonderful outcome in Iraq,

or if you could push Button Two and never have had it happen, which one

would you pick? " Of course, Sen. McCain chose Button One. He hasn't had

a loved one killed in this enormous tragedy of a war, nor does he have

a loved one in harm's way. It has not affected him personally one bit.

What skin is it off McCain's teeth if our troops remain for a highly

unlikely rosy outcome at the cost of thousands of more lives? I would

push the button that would bring back my son, Casey, and the tens of

thousands of the other victims who have been killed for nothing but

outright lies and bald-faced betrayals. I would push the button that

would give Iraq back its power, water, and their infrastructure.

 

My absolute favorite guest of the evening was Sen. John Warner,

powerful Chair of the Senate Armed Disservices Committee. Of course, he

fell in lockstep behind his fuehrer and praised the speech and how,

although we have " all " paid a terrible price for this invasion and

occupation, bringing freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people is worth

all the sacrifices that the world is making. I sat in the Green Room

with Sen. Warner's entourage. I wondered (even out loud) what price

they have paid for our administration's misdeeds in Iraq. They all

looked like happy, well-fed, well-dressed, well-educated, and

well-hydrated Americans. They looked to me like they had plenty of

electricity to blow dry their hair and charge their cell phones and lap

tops. They looked like they had quite a nice supply of clean drinking

water and fresh food. I sincerely doubt if any of them had a loved one

ripped from their lives by a car bomb, IED, or bullet in an ambush. I

wondered who the " we " was that John Warner spoke of. I spoke with John

Warner after his interview and told him unless he was prepared to

sacrifice even a good night's sleep over this senseless and criminal

war, then he should work on ending it, not prolonging the carnage. He

told me that I was " entitled to my opinion, " but he would respectfully

have to disagree with me. That was awfully Constitutional of him!

 

I finally got on to speak for my 82 seconds (all the time Larry King

Live could spare for the peace message) about how this war is a

catastrophe and how we should bring the troops home and quit forcing

the Iraqi people to pay for our government's hubris and quit forcing

innocent children to suffer so we can fight terrorism somewhere besides

America. How absolutely racist and immoral is it to take America's

battles to another land and make an entire country pay for the crimes

of others? To me, this is blatant genocide. How dare we export our

patriotic brand of flag waving death and devastation to a people who

have been through so much already? It wasn't bad enough that our

sanctions killed tens of thousands of Iraqis before we even started an

active aggression on them, now we have to create confusion, chaos, and

disorder there. How dare our president, Congress, and we Americans

allow this to continue?

 

After my brief advocacy for peace, my position was refuted by another

Mom whose son was killed in Iraq in 2003 who said she " totally

disagrees " with me and " feels sorry " for me. Well, you know what? I

feel ache for her blindness and for the millions of sheeple who have

had the wool pulled over their eyes by the bunch of hypocritical, bad

shepherds who are running disastrous herd over the world. I have

distressing news for the Soccer Safety Moms and the NASCAR Dads who are

such ardent supporters of this administration and war: Your

grandchildren and children who will be entering Kindergarten this fall

will be fighting George's endless war if he gets his way and is allowed

to continue spreading the cancer of imperialism in the Middle-East.

Donny Rumsfeld said we could be in Iraq for another dozen years. Does

anybody think with all the billions of dollars that are being poured

into constructing super-sized bases in Iraq that the war machine plans

on relinquishing the cash-cow that is that poor, unfortunate land

anytime soon? Think about it when you tuck your child into bed tonight.

 

I heard George and the Senators say that evening the sacrifices we as

Americans have had to make for Iraq are " worth it. " I really would like

to know who has benefited and profited from Iraq and who has really had

to sacrifice anything. I know it was " worth it " to Dick Cheney who was

the CEO of Halliburton (of no-bid contract fame), which has raped

billions of dollars from our government, from the people of Iraq, and

from our soldiers who are not getting what they need to survive in a

combat zone. It is " worth it " to Black Water Security Co. that sends

one thousand dollar a day mercenaries to Iraq, funded by the War

Department. It is " worth it " to L. Paul Bremer who slunk out of Iraq

with 8.8 BILLION dollars missing from the Provisional authority. It is

also " worth it " to the other companies and individuals who have been

enriched by feeding our children to the military industrial complex. By

George, I think we have found the people who think this war is " worth

it. " But, is it worth it to George Bush who was counting on this

unlawful and unprincipled aggression in Iraq to give him " political "

capital? Instead, if poll numbers are any good indication, Americans

are withdrawing their assent for George and they are withdrawing their

consent for him to wage eternal war on humanity.

 

As I sat in the Green Room of CNN, I was saddened and troubled by

George's call for us Americans to fly the flag proudly on the 4th to

honor our troops. For one thing, the American flag is not a magical

token that can bring armor to the troops who are still dying without

the protection. The flag is not a faith healer that can restore limbs

and eyesight to the ones who have been maimed forever. The flag is not

a genie in a bottle that can blink her eyes and bring our children home

from this horrible blunder that they are suffering for and being

slaughtered for. But, as for me, I will never be able to celebrate

another patriotic holiday without mourning what this nation has stolen

from my family. I will never be able to look at an American flag

without thinking of the uniform my son wore proudly that displayed that

same symbol and the evil ones who desecrated and defiled the stars and

stripes by lying us into the invasion of Iraq. No, Casey's sacrifice

was not " worth it " and George needs to do more than wave his flag and

manipulate our sense of patriotism. He needs to march his girls to a

recruitment center and send them to Iraq to fight the terrorists that

his moronic and callous foreign policies have recruited or he needs to

wake up and smell the apple pie and bring our other sons and daughters

home, now!

 

Cindy Sheehan

Mom of Casey Sheehan, KIA in Sadr City Iraq, 04/04/04 Casey's Peace

Page

Cofounder of Gold Star Families for Peace www.GSFP.org

Member of the After Downing Street Coalition www.AfterDowningStreet.org

www.CindySheehan.com

 

Qui tacet consentire videtur - " whoever seems silent, consents "

 

 

Mark Hull-Richter, U.S. Citizen & Patriot

U.S.A. - From democracy to kakistocracy in one fell coup.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0416-01.htm

http://verifiedvoting.org http://blackboxvoting.org