Thank you Cindy Sheehan for a Courageous Battle Fought

It's a pity that Cindy Sheehan has given up her fight against the war in Iraq. She announced this at the end of May, 2007. She officially left the Democratic Party after the Democratic controlled congress passed a bill authorising the continued funding of the war in Iraq. This was after some feeble attempt at opposition.

Cindy started her fight against the war in Iraq when her son Casey died serving in the war. Although she spoke at events and started an organisation with other people, she really only made the news, and the first time I read about her, when she set up a tent outside Pres Bush's ranch outside Crawford, Texas.

She insisted that she wanted to have a meeting with Bush to ask why the USA was still involved in the war. Although several cabinet ministers went out to speak to her, she was adamant that only Bush would do. She threatened to camp there every time Pres Bush was at the ranch.

There has been a fair amount of support given to Cindy. She has received some negative press as well. The negative press could probably stem from the fact that Cindy voiced some opinions that were either not based on too much fact or which were made at the wrong time.

One of her not so good moments stems from comments she made about CNN's non-stop coverage of Hurricane Rita. She was sympathetic to the people and their loss but felt that there were other things in the USA and the rest of the world that also needed attention. She was perfectly right with her assessment, but it would probably have been better politics to think that, rather than to voice her opinion.

In her parting letter she voices an opinion that the American people care more for who is the next American Idol, than what is happening in Iraq. I would, however, imagine that this of course excludes the families of the 3 500 that have died or the close on 26 000 wounded soldiers who certainly care more about what is happening in Iraq than the Idols competition.

It doesn't matter though that she might have rubbed up some people the wrong way, that some of her comments might have been ill-advised. She was and still remains a courageous woman to take on the might of the government and presidency and to make some noise against an ill-advised war in Iraq. She certainly made a lot more noise as an individual person than many of the anti-war organisations.

Look at Europe, Africa, Pacific Rim countries, far east Asian countries such as China, who do not really support this invasion by the USA into a country under false pretenses with one thing in mind and that is to control oil. But how much did they object? How much are they objecting now? It's as if the war does not exist in the public. Sure, on a daily basis one reads the numbers of fatalities and the bombings etc that are happening.

Mostly the attacks being reported on, are the ones being committed by resistance fighters/terrorists or whatever one wants to call them. Not often does one see what damage the occupying forces are causing. The press is buying into the whole theme of the USA needs to be in Iraq because of the horrific bombings etc that are killing innocent people. These attacks are happening because the United States is in Iraq.

So another lonely voice in the wilderness has given up on fighting against a senseless war. Not that the war in Iraq is the only senseless war happening in the world. But I think the war in Iraq could possibly be the only one where the number one world power invades and occupies another country with absolutely no reason. Except possibly for a large number of oil fields in that country.

One thing is certain. Cindy Sheehan need never hang her head in shame. She has done and achieved far more than any of us couch critics have done. In her own way she will have contributed to the swing in sentiment in the USA where in 2003 75% thought they had not made a mistake in invading Iraq, which by May 2007 had changed to 61% believing that they should have stayed out of Iraq.