Why I Fight By Cindy Sheehan

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Cindy Sheehan
7/26/2010

I really hate to use the language of the violent-patriarchy, but since my precious oldest child was killed in Iraq, I have been in the fight of my life. I consistently feel bruised and banged up by the system, but never defeated and never as mangled, spindled, torn and mutilated as I did when I found out my son, Casey, was killed in Iraq.

When I first started my quest for answers, justice and peace and I never a) thought it would take this long (that’s how naïve I was) and, b) began the journey to make sense and meaning out of my son’s death.

Even though honoring Casey’s life and spirit will always be a primary motivating factor for my work, it has evolved into something much deeper.

When Casey was first killed in April of 2004, I blamed George Bush and I blamed Iraq. Even though I lived through the Vietnam stain, I was young and it only left me with a vague and nagging notion that this nation of ours was deeply flawed. When I received Casey’s posthumous medals at his funeral with the “gratitude of a grateful nation,” I really didn’t know what to make of it-first of all, I wasn’t feeling any gratitude and I wasn’t sure what the “nation” should be “grateful” for-I never believed that the US was fighting for “freedom and democracy” for anybody in the Middle East, and the only people that unfortunately have a moral right to fight are the ones being occupied.

However, my mission has expanded from honoring Casey and struggling against Iraq and Afghanistan-to fighting for the survival of all of the children on this planet by fighting against the US Empire.

The fight is so personal to me having lost a child to the Empire, but now I have three grandbabies to fight for and my three grandbabies represent all of the babies of the world to me.

On Saturday, July 24th, the newest little Sheehan arrived: Cohen Andrew Sheehan was born to his mom, Jade, and my surviving son, Andrew. He joins his cousins Jonah and Jovie in my burgeoning Peace Tribe. Cohen weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs and 8 oz and was 20.5 inches long.

Everyone is doing fine-on with the struggle!

Hasta la Victoria, siempre!