Pip Hinman
According to Australian peace activist Donna Mulhearn, Cindy Sheehan's anti-war vigil outside US President Bush's ranch "has re-energised the anti-war movement in the US, inspired more than 1000 people to make their way to Crawford, and thousands more to send messages of support".
Armed with messages from home, Mulhearn became the first non-American to join the growing ranks of concerned people in the US who have converged on Crawford, Texas to join Sheehan's protest against the Iraq war.
Mulhearn described Camp Casey, named after Sheehan's son who died in Iraq last year, as a "spontaneous movement" of people demanding "our governments be made accountable for the suffering caused by this war".
Sheehan is demanding that Bush speak with her about the reasons for going to war, and why her son died. Mulhearn, a human shield and humanitarian aid worker in Iraq, said that she had received and passed on many Australian messages of support. "Sheehan was deeply moved and encouraged to receive such strong support from Australia".
On August 16, Mulhearn passed on a solidarity message from the Sydney Stop the War Coalition, which read in part:
"You have support from afar! ... Our government ignored majority opinion here and went into this insane war; it has also sent more troops — against the wishes of the majority of Australians.
"We have been organising against the Iraq war and occupation, and against George Bush when he came here in 2003 ... The fact that there have been few Australian casualties has made it a little easier for our Prime Minister. But there is still a deep-seated anti-war feeling in this country which we, together with other peace groups, are organising to pressure the Howard government to withdraw the Australian troops. We know that this is the most useful and effective contribution we can make towards helping the Iraqi people live in peace."
[Donna Mulhearn can be contacted at <donnamulhearn@yahoo.com.au>. Sydney Stop the War Coalition can be contacted at <http://www.stopwarcoalition.org>.]
From Green Left Weekly, August 24, 2005.
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