Let's start by saying that last night, on Anderson Cooper's 360 Degrees (CNN), Cindy Sheehan denied making the "My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel" comment.
COOPER: You were also quoted as saying, "My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism." How responsible do you believe Israel is for the amount of terrorism in the world?
SHEEHAN: I didn't say that.
COOPER: You didn't say that? OK.
SHEEHAN: I didn't -- I didn't say -- I didn't say that my son died for Israel. I've never said that. I saw somebody wrote that and it wasn't my words. Those aren't even words that I would say.
I do believe that the Palestinian issue is a hot issue that needs to be solved and it needs to be more fair and equitable but I never said my son died for Israel.
COOPER: OK, I'm glad I asked you that because, you know, as you know, there's tons of stuff floating around on the Internet on sites of all political persuasions.
SHEEHAN: I know and that's not -- yes.
COOPER: So, I'm glad we had the opportunity to clear that.
SHEEHAN: Yes, and thank you because those are not my words. Those aren't -- that doesn't even sound like me saying that.
COOPER: OK. I'm very glad we got that...
SHEEHAN: And I have read it. I have read it. I'm glad you did too.
It's reassuring, I think, that Cindy Sheehan doesn't want to be associated with the comment in question. However, going back to Nightline letter's point of origin on the internet raises questions about Cindy's denial.
As far as I can tell, the first place the letter appears on the internet is on a google group called bullyard. Cindy did not post the letter herself. Instead, an American living in Thailand, named Tony Tersch, posted the letter, via someone else named Skeeter Gallagher who seemed to be forwarding the letter to Tony at Cindy's behest. I include the full headers, without parsing, to allow the source to be evaluated carefully (bullyard requires you verify you are 18 before taking you into pages from the group). The following is what precedes the the text of the letter:
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Message-ID: <004601c52da9$b34b32e0$fdd26bcb@DADLAPTOP>
From: "Tersch" <ter...@mweb.co.th>
To: "BULL YARD" <bullyard@googlegroups.com>
Cc: "William O'Leary" <billole...@mac.com>,
"Cindy Sheehan" <SCINDY...@aol.com>,
"Ed Skeeter" <skee...@ksc.th.com>, "Jerry Wall" <j...@cox.net>,
"John Hibbs" <h...@bfranklin.edu>,
"Joni/Jack Woolf-Steppe" <steppenwo...@msn.com>,
<Kurn...@netscape.net>, "Mike Shea" <m...@loxinfo.co.th>,
"Nick Governale" <TQMN...@aol.com>,
"S Phillip Brown" <zpbr...@cox.net>,
"Sharon Thomas nee Costello" <sharinpa...@hotmail.com>,
"Vince Aggeler" <v...@netium.com.br>
Subject: Fw: Happy St. Pat's to Cindy O'Sheehan & Family!
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 07:05:26 +0700
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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable----- Original Message -----=20
From: Skeeter Gallagher=20
To: Tersch=20
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 11:20 PM
Subject: Re: Happy St. Pat's to Cindy O'Sheehan & Family!Tony,
Apparently Cindy tried to send her Nightline letter (below) to the =
Bullyard group but it bounced because she's not a member. Perhaps you'd =
like to send it on to them?Thanks ~ Skeeter
----- Original Message -----=20
From: SCINDY...@aol.com=20
To: skee...@ksc.th.com=20
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: Happy St. Pat's to Cindy O'Sheehan & Family!Skeeter asked me to send Cindy's response to NightLine, in case some of =
you did not get it. She asked him to ... so here it is:Tony
Thanks Skeeter, that was sweet!!
Hey, I sent an e-mail to the group in response to the NightLine =
e-mail...and I can't post to the group...so it bounced...
Can you send it out for me?
Love and happy st paddy's day to you too!!!
It appears that when Tony forwarded Cindy's message to the bullyard group on March 20, he wrote an introductory note to the group between Cindy's header and her message. Immediately following quoted text, above, is the letter that appears to be from Cindy. I'm going to paste in the entire text of the letter at the end of this post.
The message from Tony Tersch on the bullyard google group raises a number of questions.
The content of all the other smears of Cindy Sheehan has been answered:
- To the flip flop smear, many people, including myself, showed Cindy was quoted out of context and that her views had remained pretty consistent.
- To the Cindy consorts with communists smear, Bob Fertik clearly refuted guilt by association accusations.
- To the letter from Cindy's family pleading with her to stop her protest, Cindy answered that the letter comes from her in-laws who disagree with her politically and with whom she has been on bad terms.
Other smears—such as the more general Cindy is being played by far left extremists—have been dismissed out of hand since they are not documented.
These new allegations about Cindy's possible antisemitic remarks come with a document attached. If Cindy didn't write it, is it a forgery? Who are Tony Tersch and Skeeter Gallagher? If you search through Tony's messages on the bullyard group, there are several others in which it appears Tony is acting as an intermediary between Cindy Sheehan and members of the google group. Are these others forgeries too?
Why are the many people on the left who rushed to refute the substance of the previous smear attempts staying away from this one? The lefty blogs are overwhelmingly silent on this one, except for a few heaping on apologetics.
Last night at 8:00 PM I sent Cindy Sheehan a respectful email message, with a link to the letter as it appears in the bullyard google group, and asked for an explanation. This morning (Tuesday) at 10:57 AM I left a voicemail on the cell phone number listed after Cindy's name on the Gold Star Families For Peace website and asked the question again, emphasizing my support for what she has been doing and expressing my sympathies for her loss. This afternoon (Tuesday) at 12:43 PM I sent an email to Tony Tersch to ask him for verification or explanation concerning the email from Cindy on the bullyard group. I am sure Cindy is receiving a thousand calls and emails per day. Still, I will note that at this writing I have received no answers.
~
Technical Notes
- Quoted text in the body of google groups messages is hidden by default. You will usually have to click on "Show quoted text" in order to the the messages that seem to have been forwarded from Cindy Sheehan.
- If you follow the link to the message on google groups, click on "View Parsed" at the top in the orange strip, and then click on one of the ellipses in the email addresses, you can see the full email addresses of the recipients.
Click on "Continue reading..." to view the end of this post with the supposed letter to Nightline, allegedly from Cindy Sheehan.
To Whom it May Concern:
Imagine my distress when I turned Night Line on last night and I was =
confronted with the gory details of my son's murder in Sadr City, =
Baghdad, Iraq on 04/04/04. Imagine, also, my sorrow and rage at the side =
of the story that you presented to the American public.
I was on the Night Line Townhall Meeting in Washington, DC on 01/27/05. =
After I spoke (which I think was a fluke), Ted Koppel dismissed me as =
being "emotional." First of all, how can I approach this discussion =
without emotions, MY SON WAS KILLED, AND KILLED FOR LIES? Second of all, =
that show was not fair and balanced and I think the conclusion "Should =
we stay" was foregone.
The show last night was also not fair and balanced. To see all the wives =
being interviewed who had not lost their husbands and to hear what "hard =
work" it is to be left behind when their husbands are at war. How hard =
to you think it is to have a child killed in an illegal and immoral war? =
In this "wonderful" group of families left behind, we had exactly ONE of =
the wives call us..she is Diane Rose who was my son's Colonel, Frank =
Rose's wife. The last time we heard from Diane was in October and we =
feel we have been left behind by anyone connected to the 2-5 Cavalry. Is =
support only given if your loved one stays alive? One wife was quoted as =
saying that Sundays were the hardest for the families left behind. My =
son was killed on Palm Sunday last year..how does anybody think Sundays =
are for my family?
A distraught father who lost his son was shown telling how much his life =
was so adversely affected. Why wasn't a mother (like me) who has been an =
outspoken critic of this war and of the President's policies interviewed =
for this piece? Why wasn't I given a chance to talk about 04/04/04 and =
the series of lies, mistakes and miscalculations that led to my precious =
oldest child's death??
General Chiarelli was quoted as saying that 04/04/04 was a "wake up" =
call to the 2-5 Cavalry. If he thinks it was a "wake up" call, let me =
tell you how having 3 Army officers come to my door on 04/04/04 and tell =
me that my darling son was KIA. I have learned so many details of that =
day and of my son's experience in Iraq.
The very first thing that went wrong happened in November at Ft Irwin, =
California...the 2-5 Cavalry went for desert training. They received =
open desert warfare training and my son was killed in an urban guerilla =
attack, which he hadn't been trained for. Also, he was wearing an =
inadequate helmet and a Vietnam era flak jacket. Casey was stationed in =
a very dangerous place, like the General said: FOB War Eagle. I have =
subsequently learned that the soldiers of the 2-5 Cav who were stationed =
outside of Baghdad had Kevlar body armor. I have also found out that =
Casey slept in the back of his Humvee for the last 2 weeks of his life =
because there wasn't any room on post for him to have a cot. How tired =
and overworked was he before he went into that battle on 04/04/04?
In addition, my son was killed after L. Paul Bremer inflamed the Shi'a =
by taking away their tv station and newspapers. The Abu Ghraib scandal =
was about to break in America...but it was well known by the Iraqi =
people that their citizens were being tortured and defiled in the =
prisons. My son was a sitting duck by the time 04/04/04 rolled around.
The very worst thing of all, is that my son was sent to rescue some =
fellow soldiers trapped in an ambush in the back of a LMTV..which is =
basically an open air trailer. It would be the equivalent of driving =
through Dallas on 11/22/63 in a Convertible. The troops stationed at FOB =
War Eagle were sent ahead of their tanks and Bradleys!!! They had to go =
into battle in the back of LMTV's and non-armored Humvees. This is just =
proof to me that our troops are as important to their leaders as bullets =
are. It is a small miracle that only 7 of them were killed in the =
ambush. Luckily for the rest of the moms, it was dark. After my son's =
murder, there was an article in Stars and Stripes that quoted one of =
Casey's superior officers as saying. "04 April taught us a lesson. We =
won't send soldiers to battle without their armor any more." How do you =
think that made me feel? It was like "OOOPS, your dear son was killed. =
Life happens. Oh well, you live and learn." The General was also quoted =
as saying that the insurgency "surprised" them. Why? Has there ever been =
an invasion/occupation of a sovereign country that hasn't been resisted? =
Anyone with half a brain and an even rudimentary understanding of =
history would know that all occupations are resisted. The Pentagon and =
the Army brass did not plan adequately for an occupation.
Then Gen. Chiarelli said the thing that upset me the most. He said that =
the loss of life was terrible, but at least Iraqis had elections on =
01/30/05. With the continuuing insurgency and with Iraqis and Americans =
losing their lives everyday there, how can he be proud of that? I may =
remind you and the General, that Iraqi elections was not the reason that =
our President and his Neo-Con war mongers invaded Iraq with our precious =
human resources. I will give the two reasons given for the invaseion =
here: Saddam had WMD's and he was an imminent threat to America. Saddam =
could have WMD's on our shores within 45 minutes. Condoleeza Rice used =
fear as a factor when she said: Don't let the smoking gun be a mushroom =
cloud. Rumsfeld and Colin Powell pointed out to us where the weapons =
were on a map.
The second reason that America was given before the invasion was that =
Saddam was the biggest sponsor of world terrorism and he supported Osama =
Bin Laden! Oh really??? The hijackers were predominantly Saudi Arabian =
as was Osama (who is still at large, by the way). The theory that Saddam =
had anything to do with 9/11 was disproven by the 9/11 commission's =
report. A huge factor in Americans believing all this bull is that our =
media..the Fourth Estate didn't do any research and expose the lies for =
what they were: justifications for invading a country that posed no =
imminent or long-term threat to America.
One reason that the President DID NOT give for the invasion and =
occupation of Iraq was so that Iraqis could have elections. As a matter =
of fact, that was Ayatollah Ali al Sistani's idea..not Bush's. If the =
president in his lying and betraying in the lead up and rush to this =
insane invasion had told the world that we were going over there to give =
Iraqi's elections, would we the people have gone along with the =
invasion? Would we as compassionate Americans have thought that it would =
have been worth billions and billions of dollars; hundreds of our =
amazing children dead; tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi women and =
children dead: a country lying in ruins? I don't think so. I certainly =
didn't raise my son to be an outstanding citizen of the world to go and =
die so some people could have ink-stained fingers!!! If anyone reading =
this has children, would you think it was worth it?? Instead of some =
Congress leaders showing ink-stained fingers at the SOTU address they =
should have held up blood soaked hands.
Am I emotional? Yes, my first born was murdered. Am I angry? Yes, he was =
killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son =
joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. Am I stupid? No, I know =
full-well that my son, my family, this nation, and this world were =
betrayed by a George Bush who was influenced by the neo-con PNAC agenda =
after 9/11. We were told that we were attacked on 9/11 because the =
terrorists hate our freedoms and democracy...not for the real reason, =
becuase the Arab-Muslims who attacked us hate our middle-eastern foreign =
policy. That hasn't changed since America invaded and occupied Iraq...in =
fact it has gotten worse.
It would be so amazing if your show would put me, or another parent who =
lost their child on who disagrees with the war and this administration: =
to have just an entire show..without presenting the false side of the =
debate. That would take a lot of courage and integrity. I hope your =
program will exhibit these qualities.
I also think that Mr. Koppel owes me an apology for the rude way I was =
treated on his show. After I expressed myself about the war being based =
on lies and that the troops should be brought home immediately because =
the war was based on lies, I was not thanked for my comments, or my =
son's sacrifice. He just said to keep the discussion away from emotions. =
Then, the wife of a soldier who was killed was allowed to speak and she =
praised the policies of this deplorable and despicable administration, =
and she was thanked and praised by the panel.=20
Also, another aspect that Mr. Koppel refused to acknowledge was when a =
man walked up to a microphone and asked Richard Perle to explain =
PNAC..he was rudely ignored.=20
I am so glad the First Cavalry came home from this senseless and =
needless war based on the imaginations of Neo-Cons and fought with =
ignorance and arrogance by the Commander in Chief and the Pentagon. I am =
thrilled for the mothers whose children didn't come home under the cover =
of darkness in flag-draped boxes like my son did. I am sure that some of =
Casey's buddies were able to walk off the plane because of his =
sacrifice. I am just so deeply sorry that my son's blood had to be their =
leaders' lesson in how to occupy a country and fight an insurgency. My =
son is dead forever and my joy has been robbed from me for the rest of =
my life.
Your show needs to show both sides of this debate and stop being a =
propanda tool for this administration. This is my challenge to you from =
a true patriot who wants the lies exposed.
Love and Peace!!!
Cindy Sheehan
Mother of Hero: Spc Casey Austin Sheehan KIA 04/04/04
Casey's Peace Page
Co-Founder of Gold Star Families For Peace
http://www.gsfp.org/
BLOG POSTS
COMMENTS
PODCASTS
I do try not to practice hyperbole, so I must say that I don’t think your categorization of my “heaping on apologetics” was a fair one at all.
I do think that Powerline was coming very close to slandering Mrs. Sheehan, I stand by that, and Mrs. Sheehan has said this herself:
“Another “big deal” today was the lie that I had said that Casey died for Israel. I never said that, I never wrote that. I had supposedly said it in a letter that I wrote to Ted Koppel’s producer in March. I wrote the letter because I was upset at the way Ted treated me when I appeared at a Nightline Town Hall meeting in January right after the inauguration. I felt that Ted had totally disrespected me. I wrote the letter to Ted Bettag and cc’d a copy to the person who gave me Ted’s address. I believe he (the person who gave me the address) changed the email and sent it out to capitalize on my new found notoriety by promoting his own agenda. Enough about that.”
In addition, I wish to comment that, when we call people out as anti-Semites, it means a lot more than being angry with Neoconservatives and governments.
Jude,
Thanks for stopping by. I’ve read you at American Street for some time and usually like your posts.
I didn’t elaborate on my assertion about apologetics, and your post is complex in its lines of argument, so let me try to be more clear.
First of all, I’m with you on your basic critique of Powerline. Cindy’s association with Crawford House does not tell us much of anything about what she thinks of Jews. And I agree that the excerpt you quote from Powerline is slanderous. To be fair, I have to confess that I didn’t stop to think a lot about the post you were responding to. The other parts of your argument, which were more general and more about Cindy Sheehan’s remarks, were what drew my attention.
In part I of this series, I stated pretty clearly what I think is problematic about the statements attributed to Cindy Sheehan (did she say them? I really don’t think I know at this point…)
What I objected to in your post, first and foremost, were these statements:
As statements by themselves, I would have to agree. And as a Jew who participates in Jewish community and vehemently opposes the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, I know very well how much of the Jewish community silences criticism of Israeli policy with blanket charges of antisemitism (or of being a self-hating Jew).
In this case, however, you didn’t make much of an attempt to evaluate the nature of the statements attributed to Cindy Sheehan. There is a marked difference between being critical of specific things that the Israeli government does (such as in my catalog, above) and espousing conspiracy theories about the “control” of the Jews over American foreign policy—a conspiracy theory not unrelated to the William Donahue statements that you mention in your post.
I tend to think that ideological antisemites, like the one mentioned in your link, or like David Duke, are just one piece of the picture. There are lots of other ways that antisemitism affects Jews—you know, institutionalized oppression, unexamined attitudes of otherwise good people: day to day that kind of stuff hurts me much more than some clown who has the gall to claim Jews control Hollywood. In fact the most overt, cartoonish kind of antisemitism usually isn’t our biggest problem, though it is decidedly a problem and a worsening one at that.
I should also say that my thinking about the allegations about Cindy Sheehan’s Nightline letter has changed a bit since I first wrote this post.
Jude, Would you believe that I’m actually much more cynical about the Israeli government than you are? When I returned to your blog as I was writing my response to your comment, I noticed your prayer for Israel. I don’t consider the disengagement from Gaza “a dramatic act of good will and good faith toward Israel’s Palestinian neighbors.” What kind of good will and good faith is there while Israel keeps tight control of the settlement blocks on the West Bank? I’m pretty much where Aron Trauring is on disengagement, though I have not served in the IDF, as he has:
If disengagement leads to a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians, it will only be despite Ariel Sharon’s worst intentions, as can be seen in the settlement growth that is occurring right now, in the West Bank and in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem.