Books: 'Peace Mom'

'A Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism'

Antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan was online Monday, Sept. 25, at 1 p.m. ET to discuss her new book, "Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey through Heartache to Activism." Sheehan describes the grief she felt after the death of her son, Casey Sheehan , in the spring of 2004 and how his death led to her controversial, highly publicized month-long demonstration in front of President Bush's Crawford, Tex. ranch last year.

A transcript follows.

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Laurel, Md.: One of the many splits in modern American society is between those who thought Iraq was involved in 9/11 and those who did not.

Did Casey go to war thinking he was fighting Osama bin Laden?

Cindy Sheehan: No, he didn't. He joined the military in May of 2000 and he didn't believe that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or had any connection with 9/11.

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Washington, D.C.: Dear Ms. Sheehan: I honor your son, who made the ultimate sacrifice in dying for our country.

I will not pretend to understand the loss you felt with the death of your son. But nor do I understand why your grief has manifested itself through a hatred for this country that your son sought to protect. Why is your anger not directed at the terrorists who seek to destroy this nation's soldiers and civilians?

Cindy Sheehan: Well, I don't believe that my son died protecting our country; I believe he died for lies. It's been proven over and over again that George Bush and the neocons lied to us. Casey was not killed by a terrorist; he was killed by an insurgent, an Iraqi citizen who wanted him out of their country. I am not manifesting my grief as hatred for America. I love my country and I'm fighting to make my country better and I'm fighting so that no other mothers have to feel the pain that I'm feeling.

Being against the government and being against the war is not being against America.

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Fairfax, Va.: Why do you think bringing the troops back now is the best solution. Would it not work against U.S. at this point in time?

Cindy Sheehan: Well, we're spending $10 million an hour in Iraq. Our soldiers are still being killed. Our soldiers are being wounded and the latest intelligence estimate from the CIA said that the occupation of Iraq is as a matter of fact making our country more vulnerable and increasing Islamic extremism and jihadism.

I think it is in the interests of America and the world to end the occupation.

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Fairfax, Va.: In today's Post there's an article about President Bush and the anguish he feels over the war in Iraq and the fact that he generally keeps his emotions private but, of course, believes that the war is justified. He's torn. Care to comment?

washingtonpost.com: For Bush, War Anguish Expressed Privately ( Post, Sept. 25 )

Cindy Sheehan: I also read when George Bush was on CNN recently with Wolf Blitzer that he called the dead, our soldiers and the innocent people in Iraq ... in history they will go down as "commas."

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Maryland: Do you think your message has been subverted by other groups and causes who may be riding your coattails for their own publicity?

Cindy Sheehan: Excellent question. And honestly, maybe, in the past but now I am trying to prevent that from happening.

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Washington, D.C.: Since the chances are extremely good that the Iraq war will last through the end of Bush's term and carry into the term of the next president, will you continue similar protests and demand to meet with the new chief executive ?

Cindy Sheehan: Yes, we will always take our protest to the seat of power. So wherever the next president is, we'll be there -- if the occupation continues.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: This is not a question for you, but for your critics who presume that any criticism of our country means we somehow do not love our country. Why do such critics think we can not attempt to improve this country that we love by recommending changes that will improve it? We do so because we love our country. Please do not attempt to label any critic as one who does not love his or her country, and please do not especially do so to the families of those who have put a family member forward in defense of this country.

Cindy Sheehan: I agree. I think our country has been founded on dissent and shaped by dissent and patriotic people who are trying to make our country a better place.

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Portland, Ore.: I'm 47 years old and these times seem the most divisive in my memory. Not since I was a child during the Vietnam War do I recall our country so polarized.

Today I look back at the Vietnam protesters as being fundamentally correct. I don't know if we'll look at Iraq war protesters in the same way or not years from now. I was very surprised by President Bush's reelection, however I come from the very blue part of a marginally blue state.

In your travels have you experienced this red-blue state divide? Are we really as polarized as our politics?

Cindy Sheehan: I have experienced it but very lightly. I think that our country is not evenly divided on this war and support for George Bush. I think that the vast majority of Americans disapprove of George Bush and the war and when I am in a so-called red state or red area, the opposition to our protests or if I'm giving a speech, is very low and support is very high. This has just been a turnaround since last August.

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Knoxville, Tenn.: Please explain how you have somehow forgotten a meeting with President Bush and the photos, with you all smiles, that were taken with him? You do remember the photos, they were posted on a family Web site and conveniently removed?

Cindy Sheehan: First of all, I don't forget that meeting and I don't forget the photos. They were removed because I didn't support the president and the meeting was not a good meeting and he didn't ask permission to kiss me.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: Do you have any regrets about appearing in public with Hugo Chavez, or is anyone who hates George Bush a-OK with you?

Cindy Sheehan: I have no regrets of meeting with President Chavez. I didn't meet with him because he hates George Bush. I met with him to try to foster peace between our countries. I don't hate George Bush. I think hatred is a wasted an nonproductive emotion.

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Washington, D.C.: Cindy,

First off, let me say that what you are doing is very honorable and very patriotic, no matter what many of these idiots say. I wanted to ask you about your picture with Hugo Chavez that has been making it's way around the Internet. Do you feel that you have lost credibility because of that, I'm sure your opponents have been using it against you quite often.

Cindy Sheehan: I probably have lost credibility with the people I never had credibility with in the first place. And I never will have credibility with them no matter what I do.

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Annandale, Va.: Do you believe George Bush is a greater threat to America than terrorism?

Cindy Sheehan: Oh, absolutely. I believe that he has damaged our credibility in the world; he has increased, as I said earlier, the amount of jihadism in the world; he has made my children and my grandchildren more vulnerable -- not only physically but economically -- and our country used to be respected. Now we have no moral standing to tell other countries how they should behave.

On Sept. 11, almost 3,000 of our citizens were tragically killed. Now over that amount of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been killed and tens of thousands of innocent people.

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Washington, D.C.: What do parents of other fallen soldiers think of your stance?

Cindy Sheehan: Well, our course, some are supportive and some are not supportive. My organization, Gold Star Families For Peace, is comprised of family members who feel exactly the same way I do and who are also working for peace.

I respect the feelings of the families that don't support me and we unfortunately have more in common that not.

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Washington, D.C.: What will you do with the proceeds from your book?

Cindy Sheehan: Three-fourths of the proceeds are going to my three living children and one-fourth is going to my nonprofit, the Camp Casey Peace Institute.

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Severna Park, Md.: Didn't you have a private session with the President when you thanked him for his actions in the war? Why the change of heart?

Cindy Sheehan: We have a private meeting with George Bush. I never thanked him for his actions in the war.

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Stockton, Calif.: Since you started your activism on a national scale, has any government agencies harassed you or has led investigations about you?

Cindy Sheehan: I'm not 100 percent sure about that and since I'm not 100 percent sure I'm not going to answer it because I don't want to sound paranoid for no reason. In other words, I don't have hardcore proof that I am being harassed but it seems like it.

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Washington, D.C.: You also don't support the war in Afghanistan either. What war would you ever support?

Cindy Sheehan: I don't believe that killing and violence are solutions to any problem. I believe that the only just war is to defend yourself or your family. So basically in self-defense or in defense of our nation.

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Monroe, Mich.: Do you have any interaction with the 9/11 widows? If so, has this interaction been positive or negative?

Cindy Sheehan: Many 9/11 families, yes. Always been positive.

The 9/11 families that I've met with did not want Afghanistan and Iraq invaded because their loved ones were killed just like I don't want anymore of our soldiers or Iraqi people killed because my son is dead. George Bush frequently says that we have to complete the mission to honor the sacrifices of the fallen, but like the 9/11 families that I know, we want the cycle of violence to stop.

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Kent, Ohio: Ms. Sheehan, thank you for the important and difficult work that you have done for peace. I think that your work is a wonderful tribute to your son and to the life he lived.

Our church is looking for ways that we can work effectively for peace in Iraq and in other parts of the Middle East. We want to do more than protest; we want to do people-to-people work, building peace by making connections to the people in the Middle East. Do you have suggestions for doing this?

Cindy Sheehan: That's very difficult right now because of the dangerous conditions ands there's not a lot humanitarian agencies or NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) that are able to operate in Iraq or Afghanistan right now. One organization that I think seems like a good fit would be the Christian Peacemakers. They do have teams in those countries. And thank you.

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Washington, D.C.: In Somalia, gunmen shot dead an elderly Italian nun. This has been linked to the Pope's remarks on Islam. What would you say to such people and the Muslim insurgents who killed your son?

Cindy Sheehan: I can't comment on the situation in Somalia because I don't know anything about it. I have no animosity toward the insurgents that killed my son because he was defending his community. Casey and his buddies should never have been there in the first place.

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Washington: Since you do not believe in fighting other than self-defense, what do you think would have been an appropriate response to 9/11?

Cindy Sheehan: Going after the people who perpetrated the crime -- not innocent people in two countries that had nothing to do with it.

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Washington, D.C.: You've written many books and papers. What's your latest, Peace Mom, about?

Cindy Sheehan: It's about mine and Casey's story, how his life affected me positively, how his death changed my life, how it took me from being pretty apathetic to being an activist for peace. But it's mostly about how one person can make a difference and trying to encourage other people to use their gifts and talents to also try to make a difference and not to believe the lie that one person can't make a difference.

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Portland, Ore.: How do you support yourself and do you publish your full list of supporters and the amounts of their contributions?

Cindy Sheehan: My organization is a 501c3, a nonprofit organization, and we have to comply with the federal regulations for our nonprofit status. We have to send reports to the government. I don't think we're required to publish the amounts and the donors publicly.

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Anonymous: Why is it that you feel the death of your son makes your antiwar activism more newsworthy than others whose sons have dies in combat but support the war? Is your son's death more important than theirs? Does it somehow make you opinion more important than the death of their son does their opinion?

Cindy Sheehan: I don't think the death of my son makes my opinion more newsworthy. I don't think that my son's death is more important than theirs; I think Casey's death is tragic and unnecessary and so is their children's death. I'm not in charge of who the media covers or not. I believe that most of the mainstream media gives more coverage to pro-war sentiment and I think that pro-peace sentiment also deserves a chance to be heard.

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St. Louis, Mo.: We hear often from the right-wing that your activism has caused rifts in your immediate family. Since much of it is propaganda on their part, can we hear from you how your family is holding up with the loss of Casey and your activism?

Cindy Sheehan: It's pretty will known that my husband and I are divorced -- not so much because of my beliefs about the war but in part due to my level of intensity in opposing the war. My three surviving children support me 100 percent; we're very close. I just rented a home close to their dad with my daughters so my daughters and I are living together now. My son still lives with his dad but we are geographically close so I get to see him more often when I'm in California.

Of course, we would like to spend more time together but they're adults; they have their own lives. I dedicated my book to my three surviving children because I'm in awe of their strength and integrity.

My immediate family and my ex-husband are supportive of the work I do. My ex-husband is a great man and amazing father and our paths just diverged after Casey was killed.

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