Updated 10/09/05

Cindy Sheehan Info. + Iraq articles

Manuel Garcia Jr. has also done an excellent job following the Cindy Sheehan situation in the news. As he stated: "A story about a Vacaville mother who is changing the country. The President of the United States of America wants her arrested as "a threat to the President." Beyond doubt, she is. But she is also one of those actually upholding what honor this country has left. What I find most interesting is that Cindy Sheehan is not typical of the mindset you find printed in the Vacaville newspaper, which is rabidly Republican, that is to say male white-power anti-democratic with unctuously pseudo-Christian religiosity. Yet Cindy Sheehan does not appear to be an aberration for Vacaville, just another good-hearted mother. It may be that the true sentiment of real people -- always masked by the corporate press -- is beginning to coalesce around the view of the Iraq War that Cindy Sheehan operates from -- it is a crime. That she is becoming the focal point of popular sentiment is indeed a "threat to the President." It will be most interesting to see how these threatened Iraq War chickenhawks deal with Cindy Sheehan, and how the public responds to *that*." Here are some articles he recommends checking out about Cindy Sheehan and the situation in Iraq:

• http://www.counterpunch.org/moses08122005.html "Mornings with Cindy, At the Crawford Peace House By GREG MOSES
• An appraisal of Cindy Sheehan, less personal and more analytical is given by Norman Soloman: http://www.counterpunch.org/solomon08122005.html
• Another by Ralph Nader: http://www.counterpunch.org/nader08112005.html
• FOCUS | Cartoonists Back Cindy, Slam Bush http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081305X.shtml
• I am grateful to GE and the JPG image and the link below. http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/usfatalities.html
• Mother's Vigil Recalls Quiet, Dedicated Son http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081305B.shtml He was an altar boy, an Eagle Scout, a church youth group leader. That is what people remember about Casey Sheehan, the 24-year-old soldier whose death in Iraq has become a flashpoint for debate about the war since his mother began staging a peace vigil outside the president's ranch in Texas.
• Robert Fisk | How Can the US Ever Win, When Iraqi Children Die like This? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081305D.shtml In the al-Jamia neighborhoods, a US Humvee was purring up the road so we gingerly backed off and took a side street, reports the Independent's Robert Fisk. In this part of Baghdad, you avoid both the insurgents and the Americans - if you are lucky. Yassin al-Sammerai was not.
• David Potorti | Seeing Cindy http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081305G.shtml "As a member of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, I've been witnessing Cindy Sheehan's Crawford odyssey with a bittersweet mixture of pride, support and sadness," writers the group's Co-Director David Potorti.
• E.L. Doctorow | The Unfeeling President http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081305H.shtml This president does not know what death is, writes novelist E.L. Doctorow. He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be.
• Bush Drives By as Slain Soldier's Mother Waits http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081305Z.shtml The President's black Chevrolet SUV has tinted windows, so it was not clear if he looked at her, or the growing ranks of demonstrators, or the hundreds of plain white crosses, painted with the names of the dead, they have planted.
• From a correspondent replying to my earlier message about Cindy Sheehan: "*Manuel, What Cindy is doing is a necessary step but the home folks here in Vacaville have a mixed bag as to how she is going about it. Check the Friday Vacaville Report and read the stories. **http://www.thereporter.com** *" MG reply: I know that people who are married to Bushism and the war will have a hard time with Cindy Sheehan, and there have been efforts to tarnish her public image, but it's pretty hard to throw mud on a grieving mother of a dead soldier -- and what does it say about the people who do! The truth is that the war is a waste and our troops killed and wounded have just been wasted. It can be a bitter pill to swallow if yours is one of those boys or women, so it's not surprising that some military families hang on to the fiction of glory, duty, honor and all that handed to them by the Bushites. What Cindy Sheehan is about is simply to say "wake up," this is a waste, stop now before more innocent lives are wasted. To go on with the "duty, honor, country" line is simply to send more of our young into the meat grinder to no useful purpose -- except to the war profiteers (and this is despicable beyond words). Cindy is an international story and more military moms are joining her. It is interesting to note that the beginning of the downfall of the Argentine and Chilean military dictators of the the 1970s and 1980s began with the protests by the mothers of children missing and killed in the "dirty war" of internal repression organized by these ruling groups. Also, the breakthrough to peace (restraint of the militias, negotiated settlements) in Northern Ireland of the late 90's really began as a protest movement by mothers and sisters of killed husbands and children, begun by two women one Protestant and the other Catholic. With Cindy Sheehan America may be discovering what I learned very early at home: making pa mad is bad, but never ever make ma mad, that's worse.
• http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081505Z.shtml Very affecting story, with pictures, about Cindy Sheehan, by William Rivers Pitt.
• Another story about day-to-day life at Camp Casey is given by Greg Moses: http://www.counterpunch.org/moses08152005.html
• And, the incomparable Stan Goff (Special Forces, US Army, retired, http://www.stangoff.com) describes freedom as Benderman lives it out in: http://www.counterpunch.org/goff08102005.html
• Containing the Anti-War Movement By STAN GOFF http://www.counterpunch.org/goff08252005.html
• The Politics of Death By DIANE CHRISTIAN http://www.counterpunch.org/christian08232005.html
• Rebellion in the Ranks By MARTIN SMITH http://www.counterpunch.org/smith08202005.html
• The Shame of It All By JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein08172005.html

Again from Manuel Garcia Jr.: "My wife's youngest brother is being sent to Iraq. He is a Sergeant in the US Army. He will train during the early fall, and most likely be deployed just after Thanksgiving (late November). His tour is a year, or a bit more. My wife and I are the left-wing radicals, the rest of her family are Central California Republicans. I am increasing unhappy with this Iraq War with each passing day, but I have no hope of influencing anyone regarding it. As my wife says, "you either preach to the choir, or tell people what they do not want to hear, but you never change anyone's mind." I'm afraid I am pessimistic about the possibility of voluntary progressive change in America. We will only respond to compulsion, we must reap what we've sown, and suffer mightily before we can try the social alternatives based on love, true democracy and humane socialism. Perhaps love may sprout from the ashes to sustain the survivors, but what a terrible cost in the suffering of innocents before that comes to pass. Maybe fate will be kind, and these dark thoughts prove groundless.

Below is an essay, "Thieves Lie," which is short on any specifics about current events, and isn't particularly original. But, perhaps you may find one or two worthwhile tidbits in it. I appreciate your forbearance as an audience, and the comments you send. In one of Aldous Huxley's essays, describing monastic and contemplative life, he argues very persuasively that a devotion to meditative practice -- a life of quiet rather than proselytizing and politicking -- can make a positive impact on human affairs, even current events. This idea is embedded in Buddhist practice as well. I hope so, for there is little most of us can do beyond thinking (and writing, and our activism of whatever sort) to stop the juggernaut of war.

Thieves Lie, by Manuel García, Jr., 19 August 2005

"For he [Gulliver's Houyhnhnm master] argued thus; that the use of speech was to make us understand one another, and to receive information of facts; now if one 'said the thing which was not,' these ends were defeated; because I cannot properly be said to understand him, and I am so far from receiving information, that he leaves me worse than in ignorance, for I am led to believe a thing 'black' when it is 'white,' and 'short' when it is 'long.' And these were all the notions he had concerning that faculty of 'lying,' so perfectly well understood, and so universally practiced among human creatures." -- Jonathan Swift, "Gulliver's Travels" (1726).

My good friend Bill, a solid Republican and ex-military pilot, writes: "Here's one for ya. It's strange how these humans running the Country or making the rules can flip-flop as time goes by. It appears this WAR sentiment has the Country split again and doesn't appear it will go away before we pull out. I'm convinced it will end soon or by election time, whichever comes first, but I've been wrong before. I can remember the last days of Viet Nam when we were hauling men, women and children out of Saigon instead of cargo [in] and coffins [out]. This has to come to an end, oil isn't worth that much. New technology can convert coal and natural gas to a synthetic oil and we can kiss that part of the world goodbye. The HYBRIDS are on their way with owners already boosting MPG from 50 to 80 and 250. We can also jump into high gear with the hydrogen and flywheel technology vehicles. There, I've said my PEACE for today."

Bill's comments prefaced a series of quotes by Republican leaders, which he found while trolling the web (http://kos.dailykos.com) and sent along. These quotes are from the time Bill Clinton was committing troops to Bosnia:

"You can support the troops but not the president." --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's going to happen is they're going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years." --Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

"Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?" --Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

"[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy." --Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

"American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy." --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy." --Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

"I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area." --Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

"I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today" --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." --Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

Thieves lie. Lying is the sound emitted from an act of theft. As thunder alerts the ear to the presence of unseen lightning, so lying alerts it to hidden theft. Our public political speech is awash in lies because the theft of public resources and human potential occurs on an industrial scale, we are immersed in a cacophony of deception.

"In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible." -- George Orwell, "Politics And The English Language," (1946).

When evidence of lying is uncovered, as here from the historical record, the obvious question is "what are they taking?" The general nature of that answer is fairly transparent for the individuals cited above, "cui bono" or "follow the money" being sufficient to dissect the mechanisms of theft from society.

If you pursue this line of reasoning, you soon realize that 'they all lie,' and to prefer one of our major political parties is akin to siding with the gang of Al Capone instead of Bugsy Malone's -- because they all steal.

The bedrock political principle in America is 'pork barrel.' All American politics is a factional and class competition to take public wealth. This is implemented through the permanent war economy, each citizen being allocated some spot in the pinball-machine cascade of Federal cashflow, with the private economy entwined around it. As in any pinball game, those allowed the use of the flippers, and the option to tilt the table without penalty do much better.

Given the above, there are several layers of realization one can reach. First, one could wake up to the reality that 'my party is just a bunch of thieves, saying whatever is expedient at the moment.' From this, one might choose to be critical before giving support to the party, basing that support on an independent investigation of facts rather than laziness, comfortable emotion and one's traditional prejudices. The second layer of realization would be 'these parties are really the same, just thieving for slightly different groups of shareholders.' Perhaps you accept this and just "go along to get along." However, if this offends your sense of decency and self-respect, you might arrive at a third layer of realization, 'the system has to change fundamentally.' Now, you might become active in what seems quixotic, say Green Party politics, or a Nader campaign, or some other charitable, humanitarian or political alternative with visionary goals. But, there is a final level of realization, 'fundamental change is impossible unless I fundamentally change.' This is the hard one. How do you change yourself to reflect the change you want to see in the world around you? It may mean more than driving a hybrid vehicle, or even reading CounterPunch.

Because each level of realization places weightier responsibilities on you, it will be natural to resist arriving at them. And this is why we are so comfortable with "that faculty of 'lying,' so perfectly well understood, and so universally practiced among human creatures." Because we have to lie to ourselves so we can live with whatever level of accommodation we make with the system. We rob ourselves of what we could be to be what we are. Our accommodation could be that of the "little Eichmanns" who go along with the propaganda of the moment to ensure their own rewards from the system in place, or it might be that of an 'honest' political liberal or conservative (first level), or a political skeptic pursing purely personal ends (second level), or an activist working for a better world (third level). Peeling each layer in the onion of truth can bring greater tears to your eyes. Certainly, those who have felt compelled to become activists, and those going so far as to reassemble their lives and persona to achieve some higher ethical standard will be accustomed to mental tears of compassion swelling their thoughts about social conditions, and our imperial wars. If we don't lie to ourselves, we have to take individual responsibility for the errors and the terrors of our times.

And what is it we are robbing in telling ourselves these comfort-preserving evasions? It is so obvious, just look at the world around you.