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In turn, they stood and gave testimonials in what was billed as a peace movement event held the evening of September 20, 2005 in Shriver Hall at the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus in Baltimore: Local organizers, including a high school history teacher from Walbrook; Gold Star Families for Peace, who have lost family members in Iraq; Veterans for Peace; Military Families Speak Out; and veterans of the Iraq war. Time and again, their message raised challenging issues of fairness, and demanded accountability, calling for justice to be done.

The event built upon the Central and North West prongs of the 25-day multi-bus tour that started in Crawford, Texas. The tour began after the August 31, 2005 deadline passed, which Cindy Sheehan had set for George Bush to meet with her. Sheehan is the mother of Casey Sheehan who died in Bush’s Iraq war. To date, these two bus tour prongs had visited 51 cities, 21 States, 200 events in 21 days. Their current tour ends in Washington, DC at the National day of protest on September 24.



Local high school history teacher Kevin James struck the first note calling for justice in two spoken word pieces. The first, which sets up “how we got into this thing,” addressed the subject of 9/11. If included the line “Third World debt back to colonization.” James’ second piece addressed challenged military recruiters and advocated the right to resist. In the voice of a young recruit, the poem spoke of coming “back from Iraq” to “smack” the manipulative recruiter. It also made reference to the transnational oil corporation UNOCAL’s attempts to exploit natural resources in Afghanistan. His pieces were smattered with references to injustices and the desire to have justice served. Peace seemed to be a necessary but insufficient goal.

James’ reference to smacking a recruiter would have caught the ear of another mother who lost her son in Iraq and was featured in a short film about Camp Casey. The military recruiter told her son, “You need to cut the apron strings from your mom.”

It is generally accepted that the Iraq war was engineered by those who most benefit from oil-generated wealth, or in the case of the political elite, by those with the misguided dream of making it into history books by advancing the US empire. The theme of justice as it relates to soldiers dieing to support wealth-based privilege in the US resonated strongly at this event. One young Iraq war veteran featured in the film by Sally Marr and Peter Duda said, “We knew it was about oil. We talked about it in our unit. We’re not dumb… maybe we’re stupid [to which he chuckled].” He clearly implied that US soldiers were duped into fighting, the reason for which in the words of Iraq veteran and tour member Cody Camacho, is to “make rich people richer.” Accordingly, several speakers explained that it is justifiable to refuse to fight in Iraq, even for those who have volunteered to be in the US military. Taking the logic further, for those who support the concept of war, adopting this stance relative to Iraq is not about peace it is about justice.

Camacho made several other points that touched on elements of justice. In response to those who unfairly criticize his stance against the war, he said, “How can we defend the country when we’re 7,000 miles away?” He said that he took “the same oath that the President took to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic,” seeming to imply that his current role is to defend the Constitution from domestic threats in the political elite who perpetuate war. “This is not about right or left. This is about right and wrong.” Camacho recalled his thoughts as they sat in Kuwait before the war began. “I thought Congress wouldn’t let the war happen, but they turned their backs on the troops.” He concluded, a bit exasperated, “I don’t know what else to say. It’s time to fire these damn people.” Again, his tone was more that of a person seeking justice than peace.

The accountability of the U.S. Congress and the irrelevance of both major political parties were targeted by other speakers. Cindy Sheehan put it this way. “We need to hold Congress accountable for what they did… We the people are the opposition party.” Then, like other speakers, Cindy appealed for action from the audience, “Tell your congressmen and senators, if they don’t represent us, then we will fire them.” She was quick to counter the typical cynical response by saying, “One vote can make a difference. Look at me, I made a difference.” And, in reference to the Nation’s wavering confidence in our electoral process, she said, “We need to make sure all votes are counted.” She urged we not let it be a close vote saying, “We need to landslide them out of Congress.”

The calls for justice included international representation. Cindy Sheehan introduced Rose Gentle, who lost her son in Iraq and is traveling from Scotland to attend the demonstrations in Washington, DC on September 24. According to Sheehan, Rose’s son Gordon was a soldier in the “Coalition of the willing to exploit.” In Rose’s opinion, and strong accent, “Tony Blair is noth’n but ah lahr;” (Cindy Sheehan jokingly said that her past exchanges with Rose have often included the word “arse.”) Rose informed the audience that British Prime Minister Blair is being taken to court to hold him accountable for his role in the Iraq war, a literal exercise of justice. Cindy Sheehan noted later that, “We don’t have any recourse for wrongful deaths of our young ones.”

Carlos Arredondo, the father of deceased Iraq war veteran Alex Arrendondo, spoke in limited English; he is from Costa Rica. On his birthday, Carlos learned of his son’s death, describing it as his “worst experience.” In an apparent rage, which Carlos attributes to his own post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he used gasoline to set fire to the van belonging to the marines who had announced his son’s death. Carlos was in the van when he set it ablaze and suffered burns on 26% of his body, which he showed the audience. The theme of justice pulsated from Carlos as he described how, in Costa Rica, several national leaders have been jailed for unstated crimes. He was clearly implying the same be done in the US for the crimes of the Iraq war. He closed by saying, “I learned a new word and think this is something that should be done…. “Impeach,”” which was met with a roar of approval from the audience.



Several times the audience cheered when reference was made to the injustice of supposedly “bringing democracy to Iraq,” when “we don’t even have democracy here in the US.” Cindy Sheehan, the last tour member to speak, summed it up, speaking the blunt truth about the injustices perpetrated by the corporate and political elite. “You know they’re all controlled by greed. It is a lust for money and power.” This was the same insight communicated back in the mid-1960s by former Pentagon analyst Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers. This, she explained, was why Bush didn’t need to respond to her calls for a meeting, and why she says Karl Rove recently called her a “clown” and claimed that “the peace movement doesn’t exist.” “Why didn’t Bush come out and meet? Because there is no noble cause” in the Iraq war. Again, recalling Cody Camacho’s claim that “This is not about right or left,” people across the political spectrum, even those who believe war is a legitimate tool of foreign policy, can agree that the Iraq war is unjust. But the messages coming from the tour participants went much further. They highlighted the injustices of the pain and suffering experienced soldiers and their families who continue to be exploited for other’s monetary benefit and delusions of historic grandeur.

Closing Commentary

The speakers were not too far away from challenging the fundamental political and economic system, which not only allows such injustices, but actively promotes various forms of exploitation around the World including war. Earlier in the evening, I posed the following question to several members of the local media who were covering the event. “Why is Cindy Sheehan a mass media celebrity when other mothers of soldiers killed in Iraq, who also have been speaking out publicly, didn’t catch on?” [See Related Article] One element of the explanation might have to do with the fact that she raises the potent issues of fairness, or “justice,” which resonate strongly with the average person. In a term coined by Malcolm Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point,” the goal of preventing and righting injustices has a strong “stickiness factor.” Sheehan and the other tour participants are awakening sentiments of justice in people across the Country, and their message seems to be sticking.