Revolution Interview with Cindy Sheehan\r\n\r\n<\/p>
Revolution, October 29, 2005, posted at revcom.us<\/small><\/p>\r\n\r\n
\r\nThe Revolution Interview\r\n
A special feature of Revolution to acquaint our readers\r\n with the views of significant figures in art, theater, music and literature,\r\n science, sports and politics. The views expressed by those we interview are,\r\n of course, their own; and they are not responsible for the views published\r\n elsewhere in our paper.<\/p>\r\n
Travis Morales:<\/strong> On behalf of Revolution<\/em> and its\r\nreaders, I wanted to express appreciation for the important stand you've taken.\r\nCould you please talk about why you are here at the White House?<\/p>\r\n Cindy Sheehan:<\/strong> On the occasion of the 2000th death in Iraq\r\nof an American solider, we decided to do vigils every day. We've been doing them\r\nfrom 12 to 8, and we have just been trying to call attention to the fact that\r\nour country is waging an illegal and immoral war in Iraq. And every night we've\r\nhad a die-in, to symbolize the losses that we've suffered in our country. So\r\nthat's what we're trying to do. Everything I do just tries to build awareness,\r\nso the American people will try and force their elected officials to bring the\r\ntroops home.<\/p>\r\n TM:<\/strong> And why were you here this particular week?<\/p>\r\n CS:<\/strong> Because the 2000th soldier was killed on Tuesday.<\/p>\r\n TM:<\/strong> When you started in Crawford -- you talked about this\r\nwhen I saw you speak a few weeks ago in Oakland -- I think you said you started\r\nwith very few people with you, and with some lawn chairs and a flashlight. So\r\nyou were practically by yourself when you started. What kept you going?<\/p>\r\n CS:<\/strong> I didn't just start this on August 6th. I started it\r\nJuly 4th, 2004. And what keeps me going is the knowledge that there are people\r\nin harm's way for the lies and betrayals of our government. People -- Iraqi\r\npeople and American people -- who are in harm's way for nothing. And so that's\r\nwhat keeps me going every day, is trying to get up and trying to save their\r\nlives.<\/p>\r\n TM:<\/strong> What have you learned over these months since the ranch,\r\nthe bus tour, and now being at the White House? What lessons would you want to\r\nshare with people?<\/p>\r\n CS:<\/strong> For one thing I've learned that I'm a much stronger\r\nperson than I would have imagined -- that's personally what I've learned. And\r\nI've learned that the American people really care about what's going on in our\r\ncountry, and they're willing to put their lives on…I don't want to say their\r\nlives on the line, but they're willing to sacrifice to make this world a better\r\nplace. I mean, people like you, who've dropped everything, and you come across\r\nthe country to do this. And I have met so many amazing people who have given up\r\nso much to make our country a better place. Congressman Rangel said today that\r\nhistory will record us as the true patriots, and I believe that that's true.<\/p>\r\n TM: <\/strong>What is your view on the need for people to stand up and\r\nstop this war in Iraq?<\/p>\r\n CS: <\/strong>I think that it is imperative that we invest everything\r\nwe have into this, right now. That we invest our time, our talents, our\r\nresources. People say, \"Well, you know, you're spending your own money,\r\nwhat about your future?\" and stuff like that. And I'm just thinking, if we\r\ndon't invest everything we have now, what guarantee is there that we're going to\r\nhave a future? And I would rather spend the rest of my days in poverty knowing\r\nthat I made the world a better place for my children, and their children that\r\nhaven't been born yet. I'd rather invest all the time, talent and money right\r\nnow, than to have it later and leaving my children such a messed-up world. So\r\nthat's what I believe. I believe it is mandatory for all of us to be doing the\r\nsame thing.<\/p>\r\n TM: <\/strong>As you travel across the country, what have you been\r\nhearing from people with whom you talk?<\/p>\r\n CS:<\/strong> Well, you know, I get a lot of support. Very little\r\nopposition. People are just sick and tired of what's going on. And when I sat\r\ndown in Crawford and said \"Enough is enough,\" I believe that\r\ngalvanized them to do the same thing. So that's just what I'm hearing: We're all\r\njust sick and tired of what's going on, but now we're willing to raise our\r\nvoices to try and stop it.<\/p>\r\n TM:<\/strong>I remember one of the points you made at the Grand Lake\r\nTheater (in Oakland), about when you first started in Crawford. You made a point\r\nabout how you made that decision on three days' notice, but that you knew a lot\r\nin terms of the potential out there.<\/p>\r\n CS:<\/strong> Like I said, by August 3, 2005, when I made the decision\r\nto go to Crawford, I had been working in the peace movement for over a year, and\r\nI knew I had a lot of support. I was pretty well known in the progressive peace\r\ncommunity. You know, I surprised a lot of people on August 6 when I just showed\r\nup in Crawford, but they're the people who just get their news from cable news\r\nnetworks or network news, you know, so Middle America didn't know about me. So I\r\nknew when I went down to Crawford I was going to have some support. And by the\r\ntime I got home the night I sent the email that said I was going to go down to\r\nCrawford, I already had hundreds of responses. It had been passed around --\r\npeople saying, \"What can we do to help?\" So I knew it was going to be\r\na very significant event -- but I had no idea it was going to be so<\/em>\r\nsignificant.<\/p>\r\n TM:<\/strong> You have endorsed the call for The World Can't\r\nWait--Drive Out the Bush Regime! Mobilize for November 2nd! How do you see that?\r\nWhy do you think people should be involved, and why should they come out on\r\nNovember 2nd? What difference is it going to make?<\/p>\r\n CS: <\/strong>Well, it makes a lot of difference. We can't let them\r\ncontinue to make us believe that our voices don't make a difference. And it's\r\nnot just coming out once on November 2nd, but it's over and over and over again.\r\nIt's really important for a lot of things -- to show the media that we mean\r\nbusiness, to show our government that we mean business, to show the world that\r\nnot all Americans are robotic idiots. So it's just really important, and it's\r\nreally important not to sit on your couch and think that “I can't make a\r\ndifference,” because one person can make a difference.<\/p>\r\n TM:<\/strong> Right, and I think we've seen that out at the White\r\nHouse, with all the people who come there from all over the world, people from\r\nall over the country. Our experience of being out there with the World Can't\r\nWait White House encampment is that there's tremendous agreement among not just\r\npeople from other countries but a lot of people from this country. But, of\r\ncourse, as you know there's a big gap between agreement and people actually\r\nacting. What would you say to people that you meet like that, people who agree\r\nbut aren't really active at this point?<\/p>\r\n CS:<\/strong> I believe if you aren't doing something about it, then\r\nyou're apathetic. I really think that, if people are pro-war, they need to do\r\nsomething about it by enlisting to go fight, to let other people come home that\r\ndon't want to be there. Or encouraging their children to do the same thing. But\r\nI believe that people who are anti-war or for peace, they as much as the pro-war\r\npeople need to get out. They need to let their voice be heard, and they need to,\r\njust like I said, invest everything we have right now in peace, so we make sure\r\nour children have a future.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n
\r\n This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolution Online
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\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/worldcantwait.org","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Travis Morales, who has been part of the World Can't Wait encampment in front of the White House, had an opportunity to interview antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan. This summer Sheehan had caught the attention of millions by setting up camp outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas and demanding that Bush say what \u201cnoble cause\u201d had sent her son as a soldier to Iraq, wher he was killed. When Travis caught up with Cindy, she had already been arrested twice that week protesting at the White House fence.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2005\/10\/138219.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}