Who by now has not heard of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Casey Sheehan who died serving his country in Iraq on April 4, 2004? For several days now Mrs. Sheehan has protested the Iraq war by staging a vigil outside President Bush’s Crawford ranch. Demanding an explanation of why her son died, Mrs. Sheehan refuses to leave until the president a) comes out of his ranch to meet with her personally to explain the reasons of why we went to war with Iraq or b) flies back to Washington DC after his summer holiday. Sadly, Mrs. Sheehan has become the darling of the liberal left who are never afraid to exploit a mother’s grief for political gain.

Like most conservatives, and common sense-thinking people I believe the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime was a good thing. There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who bullied his neighbors and was not afraid to use chemical weapons on his own people. Saddam Hussein was told repeatedly by the United States and the United Nations to allow weapons inspectors to search for weapons of mass destruction, yet he did not comply with mandates and instead stonewalled both the United Nations and the United States. When Saddam Hussein did not comply legitimate force was applied and the Iraq war was initiated. Time and time again Saddam Hussein was warned that failure to comply with UN mandates would likely lead to war. Instead of compliance he chose defiance.   

What I do not understand is why so many Americans are increasingly turning against the war? And most of these have no clue about foreign policy, national security, nor have any family member serving in the Armed Forces. Cindy Sheehan what makes you so special? Why do you believe that the president owes you an explanation? Plenty of Americans have lost their loved ones in the War on Terror. Plenty more will continue to die as long as terrorists and insurgents continue their relentless barrage against the bastion of freedom and democracy.

Casey Sheehan died a hero having assisted in liberating a people from a savage dictator. What more honorable and noble cause is there to die for? Perhaps, Mrs. Sheehan you feel cheated that he died not for Americans, but for another people. In hindsight it is easy to criticize a decision made, but working with the intelligence we had at the time, the conduct of Saddam Hussein, and what he had done in the past, we were right to go to war and enforce the UN mandate.

To ABC’s Nightline you state, "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 George [W.] 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, because 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."

Mrs. Sheehan no doubt feels strongly about her loss, as would any mother, yet she has sadly been influenced by the liberal left and their destabilizing affect on the cohesiveness needed in a time of war. It is doubtful whether Mrs. Sheehan fully understands international politics, relations, and national security. For her loss I sympathize, yet the fact of the matter remains that nobody was betrayed. Congress and the United Nations had given tacit approval for the forcible removal of Saddam Hussein from power, and indeed it was the Clinton Administration which signed a bill stating: “That it should be the policy of the United States to seek to remove the Saddam Hussein regime from power in Iraq and to replace it with a democratic government.” This policy of regime change in Iraq was passed unanimously in the Senate and with an overwhelming majority in the House with both democrats and republicans in favor.

Furthermore, the Arab-Muslims Mrs. Sheehan is talking about hate not only our Middle Eastern foreign policy, but every thing about us. If there was no Israel they would still continue to hate us and our way of life. Israel is no excuse for the innocent killing of civilians. Nor is the perceived injustice which they feel being perpetrated by the United States’ Middle East policy. It is their own countries and religion which keep them subjugated, not the United States. Fantasy ideology keeps fueling these madmen, the belief that jihad and holy war will bring peace and unity to the Muslim world through and by the sword. It will never happen as long as we remain united and committed to fighting the scourge of terrorism. The only reason why it is perceived we are losing this war is because people like Mrs. Sheehan play the liberal left’s deck of cards, pandering to the gullible doves that see and hear no evil, and in the process weaken the free world’s resolve against terrorism.

As Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” It is time for the liberal left to wake up and recognize that we are indeed engaged in a war, and that their dissent is causing our front to collapse from within. The liberal left is calling the situation in Iraq another “Vietnam” and in a way they are right. Right in the regards that their treachery is undermining the fighting morale of our soldiers overseas, just like Jane Fonda’s crusade for Vietnam during that war. In my opinion their conduct is nothing less than sedition in a time of war and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Mrs. Sheehan you are being played by the liberal left who could care less about your son’s honorable sacrifice. We all feel your loss but let us remember the words of John Stuart Mill”