Home

Cindy Sheehan Interviewed by Amy Goodman

Comment by Larry Ross, June 29, 2007

Several things deeply impressed me about Cindy's interview:

1. The first is: that there was a rush of offers of financial and other support when she resigned from the peace movement, but very little financial support when she was doing her vitally important good work. During fifty years in the peace movement, this lack of support and recognition of the importance of peace work has also been my experience.
   
2. The military-industrial-political-corporate ownership of the means of communication, and therefore the control of the way Americans think, the programs and news they are allowed to see, and who is allowed to speak on controversial issues, and who is banned, came through in the interview. That's what makes Cindy's contribution so unique and valuable. She did get through and penetrate the fog of pro-war media to make a difference. In New Zealand, and other countries where much of the media is owned and/or controlled by overseas corporate owners, similar conditions mean the local population is exposed to media bias, suppression of key news stories. In Christchurch , media suppression of peace group activities has been far greater than during the Vietnam War. Surprisingly, this also applies to public owned and government controlled radio and TV. The public is not allowed to know about, and therefore cannot participate in peace activities.
   
3. The hostility of some alleged 'Democrats' toward Cindy for accusing the Democratic Congress of selling out to Bushism and supporting and funding his illegal Iraq war. That underlined that the Republican and Democrat parties have become two sides of the same coin - both supporting similar policies but with slight differences. Both parties are funded with donations from corporations and other interests tied to the military-industrial-corporate complex.
   
4. Several times Cindy concluded that humanity is doomed if we continue on the path Bush is following. Many people, I included, have issued similar statements. The worrying thing about this is that many famous statesmen, scientists, military and nuclear experts and peace specialists have issued similar statements since 1945. It doesn't seem to have made the slightest difference to the war and arms policies of many states or the series of 'near-end' crisis since 1945. People have become accustomed to this perilous situation and don't consider it to be anything to be worried about, or do anything to alter. They are not only acclimatised, but conditioned to accept whatever calamity may result from its continuation. In fact the many predictions of calamity resulting from Bush's war policies, are deliberately kept from the public by the pro-Bush media. The media both helps create and also perpetuate this public attitude of non-awareness, and lack of responsibility, concern or involvement. In many cases it does much more - by not reporting important news that exposes or might annoy the Bush Administration, and by not reporting what little peace activities there may be, and by cultivating a public attitude of distaste, denigration or belittlement of peace activities or spokes people.
   
5. That Bushism is like a runaway terminal malignant cancer infecting US society. With the weapons to destroy the world in the hands of skilled but insane people determined to use US nuclear might, a tiny but growing minority in key positions of power and control can dictate the future. The fact that 70% of Americans are against war and Bushism makes little difference. They are not in positions of power and control.

Is it becoming, or has it become too late to treat this cancer?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We Will Retool...and Come at it from a Different Direction" - Cindy Sheehan Says She Will Return After Stepping Back as Antiwar Leader

Interview by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, May 30, 2007

Cindy Sheehan has been the face of the US antiwar movement for the past two years. In August 2005, she set up Camp Casey outside President Bush's Crawford estate in memory of her son Casey, who was killed in Iraq. Now Cindy says she is stepping back from her role as a leading campaigner against the Iraq war. In this Democracy Now! special, Cindy Sheehan joins us for the hour to talk about her decision. [includes rush transcript] We turn now to Cindy Sheehan, who has just announced that she is stepping away from the antiwar movement after two years of being the nation's most visible critic of the war in Iraq.

She began speaking out against the invasion and occupation of Iraq after her 24-year-old son, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004.

Cindy Sheehan made headlines around the world in August of 2005, when she staged a camp-out to pressure President Bush to meet her as he vacationed at his Crawford estate.

On Monday, Sheehan announced her resignation as the face of the antiwar movement. Sheehan said she is stepping down in part because of hostility from Democrats, whom she has criticized for supporting the war. Sheehan also cited repeated threats on her life, strains on her health and family, and divisions inside the peace movement.

She wrote, "When I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of 'right or left', but 'right and wrong.'"

Continue......