Cindy Sheehan

I have strong feelings about Cindy Sheehan's protest. But balancing my great sympathy for her loss as an Army mom (I've had one of my own), my disgust over the petty exploitation of her grief and her son's death - twisting them into a perversion that aids the same intolerable enemy who killed her son and so many like him, my hatred of the groups who shamelessly use her as a shield for their own evil agendas, and my distress over the embarrassment caused to the honor of her son's service and sacrifice . . . it's not a commentary to be taken lightly nor expressed glibly.

I'll let Jason van Steenwyk at Iraqnow take this one for now, and if I can express my opinion accurately, I will.

In Mrs. Sheehan's defense, her son died as an American soldier. Mrs. Sheehan didn't volunteer, her son Casey did. He died in a tradition and as part of a heritage, and in a cause, she clearly does not and probably cannot understand. She can only interpret the life and death of her beloved son the best she is capable, and in that, I can't fault her. After all, I've had an Army mom, too, who was not a soldier and resisted giving her son to the Army. When Casey became a soldier, for whatever reason that motivated him, he entered a world and joined with a reality that is other than what she is.

Vaya con Dios, Specialist Sheehan. We, your brothers and sisters in arms, understand you and honor you. Your mother knows not what she does, but we love her just the same, as we love our moms who have borne the helpless weight of their love and their children's sacrifice.

Add: A memorial of SPC Sheehan's final act.

- Eric