An anti-war activist who became nationally recognized for camping outside President Bush’s Texas home told an Iowa City audience last night (Tuesday) she’s still working for change. Cindy Sheehan has traveled the globe protesting the United States’ role in Iraq. Sheehan’s son, Casey, was serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army when he was killed in 2004.
Sheehan says she will continue to champion the cause of getting American troops out of the Middle East, despite the controversy that always surrounds her. “I did something that’s the hardest thing for a mother to do. I buried my son. I’m surviving that horrible event every day and if people think they can attack me and it’s going to hurt me or change my position or make me stop, they’re wrong.”
Sheehan says she won’t stop protesting American foreign policy and doesn’t flinch when asked if it’s time to give it all up. She says “That’s not an option because one of my children is dead so I could never go back to my old way of life. Sometimes I do just think maybe it would be easy just to drive down to Mexico or something, but it’s not an option because I can’t stand the thought of millions of people in harm’s way. I can’t stand the thought of our soldiers dying.”
Sheehan says the Bush administration distancing itself from the “stay the course” policy is nothing but a softening of the rhetoric to comply with mounting discontent with U.S. foreign policy. Along with a group of military families, Sheehan founded the Gold Star Families for Peace. She was at the University of Iowa, giving a lecture sponsored by the Women’s Resource and Action Center.