A Mother Speaks Out

Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Iraqi war slain Casey Sheehan, received an invitation to meet privately with President Bush at the White House two months after her son died.

What she encountered was "an arrogant man with eyes lacking the slightest bit of compassion", a President totally "detached from humanity" and a man who didn't even bother to remember her son's name when they were first introduced. Instead of a kind gesture or a warm handshake, Sheehan said she immediately got a taste of Bush arrogance when he entered the room and "in a condescending tone and with a disgusting loud Texas accent," said: "Who we'all honorin' here today?"

"His mouth kept moving, but there was nothing in his eyes or anything else about him that showed me he really cared or had any real compassion at all. This is a human being totally disconnected from humanity and reality. His eyes were empty, hollow shells and he was acting like I should be proud to just be in his presence when it was my son who died for his illegal war! It was one of the most disgusting experiences I ever had and it took me almost a year to even talk about it," said Sheehan.

Sheehan said the June 2004 private meeting with the President went from bad to worse to a nightmare when Bush acted like he didn't even want to know her name. She said Bush kept referring to her as 'Ma' or 'Mom' while he "put on a phony act," saying things like 'Mom, I can't even imagine losing a loved one, a mother or a father or a sister or a brother.'

"The whole meeting was simply bizarre and disgusting, designed to intimidate instead of providing compassion. He didn't even know our names," said Sheehan. "Finally I got so upset I just looked him in the eye, saying 'I think you can imagine losing someone. You have two daughters. Imagine losing them?' After I said that he just looked at me, looked at me with no feeling or caring in his eyes at all." 

"My daughter said to him directly 'I wish I could bring my loved one back' and he said something like 'so do we.' Later she told me that after he made his remark he gave her one of the filthiest looks she had ever had gotten in her life.

"I just couldn't believe this was happening. It was so surreal and bizarre. Later I met with some of the other 15 or 16 families who were at the White House the same day and, sure enough, they all felt the same way I did.

"It's interesting that they put us each in separate rooms. I heard this was done to prevent any type of group outburst and since it's easier to control a situation when people are separated. Looking back, all I can say is that the meeting with Bush was one of the most disgusting experiences in my life.

"And I even asked him: 'Why did you even bother to bring us here when I didn't vote for you and don't support the illegal nature of your war?' He said it wasn't political but I know it was just another one of his lies, as he probably wanted to be able to say out on the political stump that he wasn't afraid to meet with families who lost loved one's in the war."

Although Sheehan was opposed to the illegal nature of the war from the outset, it wasn't until January that she began to become politically active. Besides speaking at rallies and becoming known in Washington for her outspoken criticism of Bush, Sheehan formed a group called Gold Star Families For Peace, joining together families who lost loved ones in an effort to expose the illegal nature of the war and to hasten the return of troops still fighting in Iraq.

Her involvement with the anti-war movement also led her recently to join forces with the After Downing Street movement, a civic, political and activist group seeking to open a Presidential impeachment inquiry based on the release of damaging British intelligence documents showing Bush doctored WMD intelligence reports to justify his war policy.

"Americans need to wake up and we need to put public pressure on our leaders to end this illegal war," said Sheehan, adding that if the public remains passive, recent statements by Donald Rumsfeld that the war may last another 12 years will come true. "We can't let these people continue to murder our children and also continue murdering innocent Iraqi citizens, now totaling more than 100.000. This is an immoral war based on a false premise. Iraq was never an imminent threat and the Downing Street Memo proves Bush went to war for oil, greed and all the wrong reasons."