Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is restarting her campaign against wars in Iraq and Afghanistan today, setting up tents and teaching protest seminars near the Washington Monument.Since Ben and Natalie W. are so active in Code Pink they've come to know Cindy personally. Ben mentioned that they actually bumped into Sean Penn that way!
Dubbed "Camp OUT NOW," the protest is geared to pressure President Obama and Democrats, whom Sheehan says have abandoned the anti-war cause now that they have control of the White House and Congress.
"Obama said there'd be one combat battalion coming home per month, and that has not happened," Sheehan says. "We still have significant troops in Iraq, and he's ramped up in Afghanistan.
...Sheehan's group, Peace of the Action, will hold seminars on grass-roots organizing and civil disobedience near the Washington Monument, leading up to a peace march Saturday. Sheehan says the group plans to "start doing actions" on March 22, although she wouldn't discuss details or how long they might last. Possible actions include blocking Washington, D.C., intersections and offices in Congress, she said.
"We're demanding that we see some movement in the direction toward peace and bringing our troops home, and we're determined to stay there until that happens, so it's an indefinite thing," she says.
..."The energy was for electing Democrats. Now the energy is for keeping the Democratic majority," she says. "Even though we're still in Iraq and Afghanistan and now in Pakistan and Yemen."
One thing I'm encouraged about is that Obama appears to be adhering to his Iraqi withdrawal schedule. Some well-informed observers, like the blogger Juan Cole, are practically ecstatic about this state of affairs, particularly since it is often the U.S. presence that is the cause of Iraq's instability, and the U.S. withdrawal can only help. Afghanistan is another problem altogether, however. And don't even start with Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and the rest!
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