Cindy Sheehan
Peace Activist/War Tax Resistor
Host: Charles Giuliani
Previously Aired On: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 – Listen to the Show!
PRE-IRS HEARING STATEMENT BY CINDY SHEEHAN
On April 04, 2004, my oldest son, Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq and my heart and life were shattered.
We always disagreed with George Bush and opposed the US’s entries into Afghanistan and then Iraq, but on May 1, 2005, the Downing Street Minutes were discovered about a meeting held at Number 10 Downing Street on July 23, 2002 between Tony Blair and a member of the Foreign Service who had met in Washington DC with then National Security Advisor Condileeza Rice.
The minutes explicitly stated that there was no intelligence indicating an immediate need to invade Iraq, but the invasion, at that point was, “a foregone conclusion.”
In todays fast food, instant message culture, all of this may seem like ancient history, but to the one-million plus people who have been slaughtered for lies, imperial conquest and this government’s lust for and devotion to war, and all the ones that their unnecessary death left behind, the pain will always be fresh.
The US government took something invaluable precious and priceless from me and the murder has not abated with a new administration and not one person who is responsible for the mayhem has been prosecuted.
I will refuse to pay my income taxes until the time, and I hope it’s soon, that our money is used to fully fund a national health care system; free and fully funded education; housing for all; and a more equitable distribution of wealth—and not used for these unending wars.
Cindy Sheehan, is the internationally known anti-war activist whose son Casey died in Iraq. Sheehan gained national attention in early August 2005 when she traveled to President Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch just outside Crawford, Texas, during his five-week vacation retreat there. Demanding a meeting with the President and an explanation of the “noble cause” for which her son died, she created a peace camp called Camp Casey by pitching a tent by the side of the road and announced her intention to stay, day and night, for the full five weeks, or until such a meeting was granted. She has also promised that, if she was not granted a second meeting, she will return to Crawford each time Bush visits there in the future. 
Since the first Camp Casey, Cindy has established or inspired similar camps and protests all over the USA. Her journeys on behalf of the Peace Movement have taken her all over the world – Australia, South America, Europe. In all her travels and talks, she touches on how the president has betrayed the American people and exploited the brave men and women in uniform to bring more profit to his friends. “My goal is to bring our troops home to try and save another mother from going through what I am going through.”
Cindy Sheehan – Gold Star Mother, Founder of the Gold
