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| Sheehan to protest at U.S. posts in Germany in March |
| 2006-02-23 |
| Cindy Sheehan, mother of a soldier killed in Iraq and the woman who protested the war last summer outside President Bush’s Texas ranch, is scheduled to bring her anti-war message to U.S. military installations in Germany next month. "[We’ve already heard] that Cindy Sheehan is like Hanoi Jane [Fonda] coming here," said Elsa Rassbach, an event organizer with American Voices Abroad, which is supporting Sheehan’s trip. But, she said, "We’re here to just democratically talk about U.S. policy." On March 11, protesters plan to walk from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to a parking lot just outside Ramstein Air Base, where Sheehan will be at a "camp," paying tribute to those who have died in the Iraq war. "Cindy will be with us at Camp Casey Landstuhl/Ramstein to call attention to the fact that Germany is Europe’s logistical hub for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and others threatening Iran and the Middle East," according to an event flier. "Germany has the power to stop the further use of U.S. bases in Germany for illegal wars and criminal methods of warfare — the power and the right to just say no!" Organizers are hoping to erect the camp — known as Camp Casey for Sheehan’s son — in a parking lot outside Ramstein Air Base’s west gate. The parking lot is under German jurisdiction, said Erin Zagursky, an Air Force spokeswoman at the base. Protest organizers are meeting with city officials in Ramstein and Landstuhl to gain permission for their event. Sheehan’s goals are to bring the troops home and have peace on earth, she said in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes. Her son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, 24, was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Sheehan said in an e-mail she was too busy for a phone interview with Stars and Stripes. "I don’t know anything about the visit," she wrote. "It is being arranged by some people in Germany." With the Kaiserslautern military community home to more than 50,000 Americans with military ties, Sheehan could face a rough welcome. When asked for comment Wednesday on Sheehan’s upcoming visit, several soldiers in Kaiserslautern asked if they could be quoted anonymously. One soldier, who recently returned from Iraq, did give his name but didn’t have much to say about Sheehan. "Anything I would have to say about her, you couldn’t print," Army Staff Sgt. Mark Genthner said. Beginning March 9, Sheehan’s European visit will take her to Frankfurt, Aachen, Landstuhl and Ramstein in Germany. On March 13, Sheehan is scheduled to have a news conference in Paris, and the following day will address the European Union parliament in Strasbourg, France. A protest organizer in Landstuhl said he was asked by others, including some of the 732 members of the European Union parliament, to arrange the protest involving Sheehan. "The meeting with Cindy Sheehan is coming to us by an offer of members of the European Union in Strasbourg," said Detlev Besier, a Protestant reverend in Landstuhl. "They asked whether it was possible or not to visit Ramstein Air Base and the hospital. It was not our idea. We were asked whether it was possible or not." On March 11, protesters would like to bring gifts, such as books, flowers and homemade goods, to the wounded troops at Landstuhl to show "solidarity to the soldiers wounded in the Iraq War," according to the event flier. "We want to make it very clear to soldiers and staff there, we are glad that there is a good medical facility for the wounded," Rassbach said. "We just want less wounded troops and for this to go away." Officials at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center have received no requests for the group to visit the hospital or make donations, said Marie Shaw, hospital spokeswoman. Rassbach said she did not know what response servicemembers would have to Sheehan’s appearance outside Ramstein Air Base. "Some press and some opponents say that Cindy is coming as their enemy," Rassbach said. "Our message is 'support our soldiers, bring them home, take care of them.' That’s what we're about." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #11 Yessss. It's been over 2 weeks since I'd last seen Cindy in the news. Sometimes it's hard when you can't get your fix of Cindy. She's so awesome - the loopiest, most self-refuting anti-Bush activist that you could hope for. For us hawks, we couldn't hope for a better person to be the face - the leading symbol of the appeasement movement. She's guaranteed to repel most semi-rational people under the age of 60. Most Libs and many hard-leftists are now embarrased by her publicity stunts and her act as the willing dupe / clown of Medea Benjamin and Code Pink. The only people who still take her seriously are the menopausal / geriatric hippies. Every day she's still in the media spot light is a triumph for Karl Rove. |
| Posted by: Monsieur Moonbat 2006-02-23 21:58 |
| #10 HHHHhhhhmmmmmm, TOON/HAIR-GATE vv the DANISH RIOTS, and now Cindy in GERMANY proper. Sounds like Mother Cindy wants to help the Spetznatz's/Spetzlamists protect their conventional first-strike, anti-NATO beachhead??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-02-23 21:35 |
| #9 True TW. Some things and some acts can be 'overlooked' because the person is mad with grief -- but that has its limts and Cindy Shithan has passed those limits long, long, ago. Calling those who killed her son 'freedom fighters' and openly supporting the enemies (Hugo) of the United States - which her son willingly and knowingly died to defend - are all beyond the point where they can be explained away by 'grief'. Clawing on the corpse of her dead son to advance her own political viewpoint (which her son did not share) is also beyond being 'overlooked'. Cindy is a media Vampire trying desperately to suck the last drop of attention and honor from her son's death. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-02-23 17:50 |
| #8 BimbaRella in the 21st Century. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-23 17:15 |
| #7 Elmeans Elmomong3975, from what I've been able to gather, Ms. Sheehan did not much like her son before his death, and he entered the military openly against her wishes. This is a woman so off kilter that her son's father divorced her when she started her shenanigans, and her children published an open letter begging her to stop dishonoring their brother's memory. I'm a mother myself, and from what I've seen it isn't grief driving her mad, but love of the spotlight. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-02-23 17:14 |
| #6 she was sick and twisted before he joined |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-23 17:02 |
| #5 Feel free to keep her, Germany. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-02-23 16:52 |
| #4 Good for you, EE - and I mean that. Someone who can, should still care for her - without making apologies for her acts unrelated to grief. I am a parent - and her actions are beyond my ken. She is off the chart, IMHO. Sick and twisted is what I see. Her son certainly deserves far far better than her. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-23 16:20 |
| #3 Is the idea of a woman driven mad by the loss of her child that hard to fathom? I hate the damage she's doing, but I can't get past pity for the woman herself. I wonder how ashamed her son or even the person she was a few years ago are of what she's become? |
| Posted by: Elmeans Elmomong3975 2006-02-23 16:16 |
| #2 Bam! That is so spot-on, tu, that it hurts. She's one of the sickest, most pathetic, most opportunistic people ever produced in America. Moore, Chomsky, Clooney - those I can fathom - they're just money whores. Sheehan is something else entirely. And it's seriously twisted. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-23 16:09 |
| #1 "I donÂ’t know anything about the visit," she wrote. "It is being arranged by some people in Germany." Come Cindy. Sit Cindy. Roll over Cindy. Good girl Cindy! Here's a cookie for YOU! Skating on your dead kid's ghost. He'd be soooo proud of you... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-02-23 16:01 |