The peace movement must hold elected leaders accountable to bring U.S. troops home immediately from Iraq, activist Cindy Sheehan told more than 400 people in Evanston on Saturday night.
“(Elected officials) all have blood on their hands,” she said. “They do not have anybody in harm’s way. They say, ‘We need to finish the job.'”
Sheehan and Juan Torres, another activist, both played an active role in the “Bring Them Home Now” tour last fall. They both spoke at Lake Street Church, 607 Lake St. The event was co-sponsored by the North Shore Anti-War Coalitionand American Friends Service Committee.
Sheehan encouraged the audience to work together for peace rather than against war.
“Anti-war movement has to be a peace movement,” she said. “We are members of human race first and Americans second because if we are Americans first, our love of humanity stops at the border. We need to forge bonds across the world.”
Since her son’s death in Iraq a few years ago, Sheehan has traveled around the nation to support an end to the war in Iraq. She was arrested for wearing an anti-war t-shirt at the State of the Union address a few weeks ago.
Last August, Sheehan camped outside of George W. Bush’s Crawford, Texas ranch to make a statement. She said she wanted to give attention to the peace movement and help bring U.S. soldiers home from Iraq.
“We cannot support anybody who has supported this war for so long,” she said. “This president is one of the most arrogant, irresponsible men in history. They know this but they keep giving him money to wage war.”
Sheehan blamed elected representatives for the more than 2,000 American deaths in Iraq.
Sheehan also said people should demonstrate against the idea of invading Iran by marching into the capital.
“They are talking about going into Iran, and we as the peace community cannot let that happen,” she said. “We have to march into Washington, D.C., and shut that stinking city down.”
Torres, who lost his son in the war in Afghanistan, spoke before Sheehan. He discussed how he felt deceived by military recruiters because he thought his son was only going into the Army Reserves. Instead, his son was deployed to Afghanistan. Torres has asked recruiters previously to be more honest about the war. Americans must work to bring about peace, Torres said.
“I need you outside to fight the government to change the mentality of this government,” he said.
Many audience members agreed with Sheehan and Torres’ messages. The audience expressed their enthusiasm with loud applause and standing ovations.
Evanston resident Lucy Elam said she would like to see the unification of the peace movement.
“It would be nice to see the peace movement coalesce,” she said. “It does not seem as if it has coalesced to a point where it gets the attention of the people in power, and I would like to see that.”
Autumn Franger, a member of the Peace and Justice Committee at the church, helped manage the event. She said Sheehan and Torres are important figureheads for the peace movement.
“I think they are inspirational and motivational,” she said. “In any movement, you need people to inspire you and bring you to the next step. Cindy Sheehan does that. I just like her easy manner of talking. She talks like a real person and there’s no pretension about her.”
Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected].
