Thirty-third posting - 4

I am tired of waking up in the morning and hearing the radio from my alarm clock announce: "...four more US military deaths in Iraq..." It seems like every day there are four more, and these fours have already totalled more than 1860 (which is 1860 too many). Although I couldn't join them, there were about 100 people in downtown Stamford last night for a candlelight vigil, 85 in Norwalk, and almost 200 in Westport. Stamford's mayor Dan Malloy attended and voiced his support: "I think the president is making an unbelievably personal and political mistake in not meeting with the mother of a soldier who died," Malloy said. "I'm just amazed at how callous his behavior he's engaged in (is), and I just think it's a huge mistake."

Following is an article from the Detroit Free Press, that captures some of what happened last night (and ----).

From Michigan to Texas, war foes join Texas-based protest
August 18, 2005, 4:14 AM
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- As the sun dipped behind pastures around a makeshift campsite of anti-war demonstrators near President Bush's ranch, more than 200 people silently clutched candles and gathered around a flag-draped coffin.

The vigil calling for an end to the war in Iraq was among hundreds nationwide as protesters from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Concord, N.H., joined the national effort spurred by one mother's anti-war demonstration. Cindy Sheehan has become an icon of the anti-war movement since she started the protest Aug. 6.

"For the more than 1,800 who have come home this way in flag-draped coffins, each one ... was a son or a daughter, not cannon fodder to be used so recklessly," said Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son Casey died in Iraq last year. "Each one is a valuable human life that is missed so desperately."

More than 1,600 vigils were held from coast to coast Wednesday, according to the organizers, liberal advocacy groups MoveOn.org Political Action, TrueMajority and Democracy for America. A vigil was also held at Paris' Peace Wall, a glass monument near the Eiffel Tower that says "peace" in 32 languages.

In West Michigan, hundreds of people, some the parents of soldiers on duty in Iraq, participated in a vigil in Grand Rapids. Another group of about 100 people marched outside the federal courthouse in Detroit. The vigils were among dozens planned across the state.

Along with candles and flags, some of the 300 people who gathered at a park in Nashville, Tenn., brought signs and banners of protest. One banner read, "Thank you for your courage Cindy."

"This is a good example of how one person can make a difference," said Gigi Gaskins, 44, of Nashville.

Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., has said she won't leave Texas until Bush's monthlong vacation ends or he meets with her and other grieving families. Bush has said he sympathizes with Sheehan but has made no indication he will meet with her. Two top Bush administration officials talked to Sheehan the day she started her camp, and she and other families met with Bush shortly after her son's death and before she became a vocal opponent of the war.

Some critics say Sheehan is exploiting her son's death to promote a left-wing agenda supported by her and groups with which she associates.

Before the Crawford vigil began, Gary Qualls, of Temple, walked to the protesters' memorial to fallen U.S. soldiers and removed a wooden cross bearing his son's name. Qualls said he supports the war effort even though his 20-year-old son Louis was killed in Fallujah last fall serving with the Marine Reserves. "I don't believe in some of the things happening here," he said. "I find it disrespectful."

Those backing Sheehan, though, voiced their support across the country. In Minnesota, more than 1,000 war protesters stood on a bridge linking Minneapolis and St. Paul. "This war has been disgraceful, with trumped-up reasons," Sue Ann Martinson said. "There were no weapons of mass destruction and the Iraqis didn't have anything to do with 9-11."

Near Philadelphia's Independence Hall, a few hundred people strained to hear the parent of a soldier killed in Iraq. "This war must stop," said Al Zappala, 65, whose 30-year-old son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, died in an explosion in Baghdad in April 2004.

In Charleston, W.Va., a banner bearing the name, age, rank, hometown and date of death of all Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan was unrolled -- stretching the length of a city block.

About 170 people gathered on the courthouse steps in Hackensack, N.J., with many saying they were angry about the war but were supporting U.S. troops. "I'm a 46-year-old woman who, in my lifetime, has never seen the country so split," said Lil Corcoran. "My heart is broken."

Kenny Jones brought his 6-year-old daughter, Scouten, to a vigil in Portland, Ore. "I was raised to believe that war is no solution," Jones said. "Her mother and I are raising her that way, too. This war is illogical."

Actor Richard Dreyfuss attended a vigil in Los Angeles with his son and about 500 others. "When I was a kid in the Vietnam era, the war began to really go away when the mothers came into the streets," Dreyfuss said.

Meanwhile, a group called FreeRepublic.com held a pro-Bush rally that drew about 20 people to the same Washington, D.C., park where 300 people had gathered for a candlelight vigil. At one point, members of the two sides had a heated exchange over who was more patriotic.

"If they don't want to support it, they don't have to support it," said Iraq war veteran Kevin Pannell, who had both legs amputated after a grenade attack last year in Baghdad. "That's the reason I lost my legs."

I encourage you to take a few moments today to think about what's happening in Iraq and consider sharing those thought with your Senator or member of Congress. NATHAN