Dear friends

The Cindy Sheehan Peace Camp phenomenon continues to grow in the US - deeply encouraging many Americans and infuriating others! 

As Cindy and her supporters at Camp Casey (named after her son killed in Iraq) combat searing heat, dust and mosquitoes, the TV and radio airwaves here are buzzing with discussion and debate about her action, the merits of the war, the lies it was based on and holding the Bush administration accountable for a military campaign that has resulted in the loss of so many lives from so many countries.  

Anti-war Americans from a variety of backgrounds are feeling re-invigorated that the debate on the war is back in full swing and the spotlight is firmly on Bush to provide anwers.   

I want to share with you this account of an event that happened at Camp Casey today (Saturday) written by Jodie Evans from Code Pink…

“You could feel it was going to be a scorcher almost before the sun came up, most of us were already suffering from sunburns and fire ant bites from a few days of Texas sun. The interview requests are overwhelming so we organized afternoon and morning pools.

Cindy was tired from an unexpected call at 5:30 from the Today Show  and the heat and sun exhaustion from the day before. The first question of the morning pool came from a young soldier who had just returned from Iraq. He was polite, addressing her as Ms. Sheehan. Surrounded by cameras he told her he was sorry for her son's death, he said he had lost many friends in the Iraq War also.

"Death is a part of war and what we are doing is more important, bringing freedom to the world. Think of all the people who died for the freedom we enjoy. So your son's life is just a drop in the bucket," he said.

Those of us standing behind the cameras gasp, but Cindy's face continued to listen to him calmly and openly. Forced by the gasp he quickly said "but I feel for your son."

At this moment Cindy put her arm on his shoulder and holding him to her side they walked out into the field together, she asked the press to give them some privacy. They honored her in a way that I have never seen before, they were still shooting photos as the 2 walked away. Cindy drew the young man close like a mother, they spoke for about 5 minutes during which the shift in his feeling was palpable. He stepped away and pulled a book he had written about his experiences in Iraq and gave it to her. Then they hugged a long deep embrace, you could see the conversation continuing.

She walked back towards us and the press as he left. Yet again, this woman had made me cry with her strength her love and her courage (oh I forgot to mention everyone else in the camp had tried to keep this young man from confronting her). As we walked back to our make shift office in Casey's camper I was pouring my heart out in awe of her, she stopped me and said "do you know what that young man said as we were hugging? He said his mother agrees with me. She told him that if he had been killed in Iraq she would have done the same thing ...and then he called me Mom."

I wept. Welcome to Camp Casey. Come have your heart blown wide-open daily. As Eve Ensler said today after I told her the story, "It isn't really about truth, it's about love." And Cindy's love not only for her son, but for truth and for all the mother's, father's, sons and daughters of the world.”

I'll be joining the Camp Casey Peace Camp in Crawford on Wednesday. Being part of a group of passionate anti-war Americans smack-bang in the heart of conservative Texas is guaranteed to be an interesting experience to say the least!

If you want to send a message to Cindy but can't get through on her e-mail address, just send the message to me, then I can collate the messages and present them to her as a symbol of support and solidarity from Australia.

Your pilgrim

Donna

PS: “Since Congress is not holding George Bush accountable and the media is not doing their jobs and holding George Bush accountable, we the American people need to hold him accountable for lying to us to get us into a disastrous war.

November 2, 2004 was not his accountability moment: today is. We are finished allowing him to get away with deceiving the American public and abusing his power.

We are mad as hell and we're not taking it anymore.” Cindy Sheehan