Cindy Sheehan: Hero to the Enemy

November 30, 2005, 12:14 pm

Cindy Sheehan’s anti-war stance is “resonating” with the enemy that kills American troops and lots of Shiite Iraqi civilians. From the Washington Post:

“The people of Fallujah love Cindy Sheehan,” declared Farouk Abd-Muhammed, a [Sunni] candidate for National Assembly in Dec. 15 elections, referring to the mother of a slain Marine who became a U.S. antiwar activist. He spoke Tuesday at a pre-election meeting of local leaders in Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad, scene of the largest U.S. offensive of the war in November 2004.

Abd-Muhammed described watching recent television reports with his family showing Americans waving banners that read “Stop the war in Iraq.”

“I salute the American people because we know after watching them on satellite that they are ready to leave,” Abd-Muhammed said.

I certainly respect Sheehan’s right to oppose the war. But her position is purely emotional, not taking into account the investment willingly made in the war by many others. Should we cut and run, making the sacrifices already made meaningless, after so much has been accomplished in Iraq?

She lost her son, and I haven’t lost anyone I know, but it still pains me that any American kids have died at all — so does that make me an “armchair quarterback?” But while Sheehan gets lots of free publicity thanks to the 5th column, other voices are not given the same spotlight.

Tammy Pruett, “whose husband and five sons have served in Iraq,” supports the war:

I watch the news constantly, and I pray for the soldiers we have lost as well as their families. Both of my boys have lost buddies in this war, but they are proud of them and know they wanted to serve.

I am disgusted when I hear and read about Cindy Sheehan and her protest against our president. She does not speak for me, my sons or the rest of my family and friends. I’m sorry Sheehan lost her son, but when she and other protesters trash our president, they do not speak for anyone but themselves.

All of our military soldiers are heroes. I support them, our country and President Bush.

Give the “people” what they want? That depends on which “people” you ask.

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3 Responses to “Cindy Sheehan: Hero to the Enemy”

1. Brian Van Reet Says:
   November 30th, 2005 at 4:53 pm

   “her position is purely emotional, not taking into account the investment willingly made in the war by many others”

   What about the ‘investment’ made by her son? Just because someone volunteers doesn’t mean we should ask them to sacrifice without adequate reason, a good plan, and competent leadership.

   If you haven’t been there or created policy, you are, like all bloggers, an armchair quarterback.

   Cindy Sheehan has gotten a lot of publicity, but I think she would probably trade it all to have her son back. She has a right to speak out, so do you, so do I. So do the voters. We’ll see what America has to say in 2006.

2. publisher Says:
   November 30th, 2005 at 5:06 pm

   I’d say these are pretty good reasons:

   Iraqis are learning the intricacies of democratic politics, as “accountability has taken root.” Coalitions are being formed and reshuffled. Pundits are speculating on party endorsements. A free press is flourishing. Millions have voted in two rounds of elections. Sunnis participated big-time in most recent elections, allaying all the fears about whether they were “engaged” (the link is from Aljazeera). With a new constitution ratified — the vote endorsed by the UN — Iraqis are entering the final stretch in proving that democracy can work in an Arab country (the Lebanese have recently proved that, too).

   Iraq’s economy is booming (see here also). Though still “fragile,” it grew an astonishing 50% last year. Some investors see the country as an opportunity, despite all the bad news. On Tuesday, the United Gulf Bank (UGB) of Bahrain increased its holdings in Iraq’s Bank of Baghdad from $3.6 million to $36 million. According to Michael Rubin, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute,

   Ordinary Iraqis are financially better off now than they were at any time in the past two decades. According to World Bank and International Monetary Fund estimates, per capita income has doubled since 2003. Iraq’s per capita gross domestic product is today almost twice that of Yemen and nearing that of Egypt and Syria, hardly a sign of failure in a country in which, just three years ago, antiwar groups insisted children were starving en masse. Statistics aside, the Iraqi economic boom is apparent to anyone who visits an Iraqi market. Not only are appliances and luxuries in the stores, but customers are actually purchasing them.

   Iraqis today employ technologies that were nonexistent or off-limits to all but the Baathist elite just three years ago. As of September 2005, there were more than 3.5 million cell-phone subscribers in Iraq, for example. Under the Baath party, there was no cell-phone service, and possession of satellite phones was a capital offense. Internet cafés dot not only Baghdad thoroughfares, but also dusty back streets in provincial towns. When I visited the (restored) marshlands of southern Iraq, I checked my e-mail and sent dispatches from internet cafes not only in the Maysan provincial capital of al-Amarah and the Dhi Qar provincial capital of Nasiriyah, but also in small, dusty towns like Islah, a Dawa stronghold on the edge of the marshes.

3. Brian Van Reet Says:
   November 30th, 2005 at 8:06 pm

   All good reasons for Iraqis to fight for their country. I wouldn’t die for any of them, though.

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