Cindy Sheehan, From Grieving Mother to Antiwar Leader

Cindy Sheehan has been the face of the US antiwar movement for the past two years. In August 2005, she set up Camp Casey outside President Bush's Crawford estate in memory of her son Casey, who was killed in Iraq. Now Cindy says she is stepping back from her role as a leading campaigner against the Iraq war. In this Democracy Now special Cindy Sheehan joins us for the hour to talk about her decision.
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e turn now to Cindy Sheehan who has just announced that she is stepping away from the anti-war movement after two years of being the nation's most visible critic of the war in Iraq.

She began speaking out against the invasion and occupation of Iraq after her 24-year-old son Army Specialist Casey Sheehan was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004.

Cindy Sheehan made headlines around the world in August of 2005 when she staged a camp-out to pressure President Bush to meet her as he vacationed at his Crawford estate.

On Monday, Sheehan announced her resignation as the face of the anti-war movement. Sheehan said she is stepping down in part because of hostility from Democrats who she has criticized for supporting the war. Sheehan also cited repeated threats on her life, strains on her health and family, and divisions inside the peace movement.

She wrote, "When I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of 'right or left', but 'right and wrong.'

Cindy Sheehan joins us from Sacramento, California.

* Cindy Sheehan, co-founder of Gold Star Families For Peace. Her son, Casey, was killed in Baghdad on April 4, 2004.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/30/1343232