“The president doesn’t have the credibility to face the mother of the U.S. soldier who was killed in a war that many in the U.S. say was a fatal mistake,” columnist Muthana Tabaqchali wrote in the Iraqi daily Azzaman, which the U.S. Embassy considers hostile to the American mission in Iraq.

“Sheehan was a lady who stood like a lioness with her lofty staff in front of the president,” he wrote. “She collected all her strength and motherhood to face the strongest president in the world to tell him enough!”

Today George W Bush is at the DOD, flanked by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Meyers. He is loudly, and with considerable attitude, defending his war on terror. Listening to his voice it is easy to hear the arrogance and miss the message. Cindy Sheehan’s message, given in that soft gentle voice, has echoed here in America with with countless Americans. Now it seems as if Cindy’s voice is also being heard, and discussed, by Iraqis.
Khalda Khalaf is a woman who truely empathizes with Cindy’s pain. Khalda’s son, Majid Khalid Kabi, also lost his life in 2004, just like Spc. Casey Sheehan. Majid was fighting against the US troops.

“Of course, she’s a mother and just like our people are hurting, she’s hurting too,” says Khalaf, a 52-year-old resident of Sadr City, the east Baghdad slum where Sheehan’s son died in April 2004. “Just as she wants America out of Iraq, so do we.”

Now, sattelite television gives Iraqis regular updates on Cindy Sheehan. Many ordinary Iraqis are aware of Cindy and express solidarity with her message. They also share her frustrations with Bush.

“I sympathize with her and her cause, but I don’t think that the American administration will be affected by such a thing,” said Hassan Hashim Mahmoud, a 32-year-old government employee in Najaf.

Not all citizens agree with the sentiments Cindy expresses and there is ongoing debate. Some think of her as a hero, others view her as a political pawn whose purpose is to throw mud at Bush. Because of news coverage by all the major Arabic channels, most are aware of the upcoming march in Washington. Ironic that there is such a dearth of information in Iraq, while the media giants in the US are recently so glaringly quiet about what’s about to happen in our nation’s capitol.

Hopefully, come Saturday, what happens in D.C. won’t stay in D.C. no matter how hard the US media tries to ignore it. Cindy’s message has and will resonate with millions of Americans. I have no doubt that Cindy Sheehan will be the lioness heard ’round the world.

Full article at the LA Times, free registration required.

0 0 votes
Article Rating