Why Cindy Sheehan Matters

I don't know why it isn't obvious that it isn't actually about her. Ultimately, it doesn’t actually matter whether the president meets with her or not. And no reasonable person thinks Cindy Sheehan should set US foreign policy. She’s not running for any office. So, it’s irrelevant whether or not she’s a crackpot or a partisan or anything else. The Ad Hominem attacks upon her are senseless. The death of her son simply gives her standing to ask the questions many are asking.

The point is that the president must explain to Cindy Sheehan and all Americans why our continued expenditure of American blood and treasure makes sense, and when it will end. She is a symbol for the majority of Americans who no longer think the war was worth it, and don’t think the current Iraq policy is succeeding.

And there are many questions.

Why does it not make sense to set a deadline to pull out troops?
If it takes 5 or 10 or 20 years for Iraq to have a military that can defend itself, does that mean Americans will be there, in force, taking casualties day after day, for decades? No one believes that will happen. So clearly there is a limit to what we as a nation are willing to invest in this war. At some point, we have to get out. That’s no secret to the insurgency, either. It’s silly to pretend that setting a deadline will somehow help the insurgents "wait it out". And it’s a reasonable argument that our continued occupation creates more insurgents than we are killing.

More questions:
What evidence is there that this war has made us safer?

What evidence is there that conditions are improving in Iraq?

What are the real numbers of trained Iraqi troops who can replace US soldiers?

I think Senator Russ Feingold has it exactly right, calling for a removal of US troops from Iraq by December, 2006. If the new Iraqi government can’t stand up and defend itself by then, it’s hard to imagine that they ever will.

I want to believe that we still can succeed, and at least leave behind a stable Iraqi government that is no threat to (1) us, and (2) it’s neighbors. If it is a theocracy, so be it, as long as we can achieve the other two goals. It doesn’t matter if they don’t support same sex civil unions. At this point, we can’t even be concerned if women have the right to vote. Unfortunately, that falls in the category of “nice to have”, but not necessary to stop us from getting out of there.

But I fear that we’ve bungled this war beyond hope of saving Iraq from an inevitable civil war 10 minutes after the last US soldier leaves. I truly hope I’m wrong.

President Roosevelt had weekly fireside chats throughout WWII explaining in detail what was happening in the war, and what it meant to our security. President Bush needs to tell us what is happening, and when we are exiting. He should sell this war as hard as he tried to sell Social Security reform. “It’s hard work” and “We’re making progress” just don’t cut it.