Last night I was listening to the Dennis Miller show on radio and the guest he had on his radio program was Cindy Sheehan, the mother of slain soldier Casey Sheehan in Iraq. After her son was killed she went out and protested vehemently against the Iraq War and stated that the Iraqis and our soldiers were getting killed for nothing. Back in August 2005 when Bush was on a five-week vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Cindy Sheehan established a protest camp called "Camp Casey". She would camp out as close to Bush's Crawford ranch as she could in hopes of having a second meeting with him. Sheehan wanted Bush to give an explanation of why he sent American troops to fight in Iraq. She stated the intended purpose in fighting in Iraq was based on fabrications. She has spent the last few years protesting across the country against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sheehan even went to Martha's Vineyard this past August when President Obama was on vacation to protest against the ongoing wars in the Middle East.
Cindy Sheehan was on the Dennis Miller show speaking about the life of her son when he was alive. She didn't spend too much time speaking about Casey as a soldier but rather about him growing up and being an Eagle Scout. Casey was Sheehan's eldest son. It was a polite radio interview. It wasn't terse. I for one disagree with Cindy Sheehan on many of her political views. I do sympathize with her on the death of her son. I know she is deeply hurt over that and I believe it has clouded her thinking and judgment as a result of her son's death. The Left used her to fulfill their political agenda. I will say in observing Sheehan since President Obama's inauguration I do have an element of respect for the woman. The area where I respect her is that she hasn't changed her mind about the wars simply because Barack Obama is president. I respect that. She believes in her heart these two wars are wrong, rightly or wrongly. The sad part about the whole incident is that she does have a point. The U.S. has been in both Afghanistan and Iraq a number of years and both the Bush and Obama administrations haven't had a strategy for winning. Our troops have been engaged in two no-win wars. That's no way to fight wars. Sheehan's misguided on her viewpoints but I don't believe her speaking out on the wars was politically motivated. She even stated on the Dennis Miller Show that she wasn't even thinking about politics when she stood against the Iraq War. I believe that.
I can remember during the Bush administration all the anti-war protests that took place over the war in Iraq. I can remember many of our politicians such as Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, and others criticizing the war stating it was based on fabrications and that there wasn't any way the war was winnable. I vividly remember the Left using John Murtha (D-PA, chairman of Appropriations Committee) back in November 2005. He stated that our troops needed to be pulled from Iraq. He stated that the situation was too perilous in Iraq. Now you don't hear anymore out of him and our troops are still in Iraq. The Democrats used him to speak out against the war because the Democrats knew they had an issue they could use against the Republicans for the next two elections. They were looking to regain control of both houses of Congress and the White House. The Democrats have achieved their goals. They no longer need Murtha as their mouthpiece since they have the radical socialist they desire in the White House. Both Democrats and Republicans throw issues against one another in elections for the purposes of obtaining power. That's what I feel for the most part about all those that have protested against the war in Iraq. I believe it was mostly done for political purposes.
Ever since President Obama's been elected, you hardly hear all the virulent rhetoric that came from the antiwar left during the Bush administration. The reason for that was their man wasn't in office. Those that belong to the antiwar or peace movement are liberal in their politics and they tend to vote Democrat. They didn't like Bush because he wasn't their kind of president. So they used the war in Iraq as an issue against the Republicans in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Since President Obama represents many of the Left's views, then the war in Iraq and Afghanistan isn't such a huge deal anymore. Most of the protesting that took place was a farce. The Obama administration is still continuing the same policies in both wars that the Bush administration used. The Left wanted someone like Obama for president, so they protested vehemently against the wars in order to bolster the Democrats' chances. That's one man's opinion. You definitely don't hear as much negative rhetoric from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid about the wars like you did when Bush was president. Both Pelosi and Reid aren't favorable to increasing the troop levels in Afghanistan. However, I don't think they'll make much of an issue out of it if Obama decides to send the number of troops that General McChrystal has called for.
I believe if President Obama was to renew his commitment in Iraq and add more troops there I don't believe he would hear much of an outcry from the Democrats in Congress or the far Left. It's all politics. I believe most of the protesting that took place against the Iraq war wasn't geniune to begin with. I especially believe that since the outcry has dwindled down considerably. The Left have what they desire. They have a liberal, Democratic Congress and a socialist president.
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