Remembering them on Memorial Day

Every year, for memorial day, I make a display to put in my front yard to remind all who pass what the day is really about. I live across from the post office, so my street is heavily traveled. This year I scaled it down a bit because we are getting a lot of rain. Support our Troops, Bring them home NOW Remember Them 2,464 so we are told.

Last year I printed out 1,644 names on a list, put them on a sign. I made a special tribute to Casey Sheehan who's birthday is on Memorial Day and Alex Arredondo who was my neighbor's son. I made copies of Carly's Poem (Casey's Sister) to hand out for Casey on top of his sign and I copied a letter Alex had sent home to hand out on the top of Alex's sign.


Now is time to straighten something out and really honor our fallen. I'm reading Letters to the editor and someone had to print this:

Thanks should go to all in military

No one has died in vain, I am sure. Cindy Sheehan is full of manure. Bush didn't kill her son, a hero, who would be ashamed of her rantings and self-serving search for fame.

Every day is Memorial Day for families who suffer a loss. Think of them in your thoughts and prayers, and thank them, thank them, that's all.

Tobi Cantwell, Poughkeepsie

First of all Tobi Cantwell from Poughkeepse your full of manure, when was your FREEDOM EVER IN JEOPARDY? You have no chances of losing your freedom from Iraq. Do you think they were going to come here to get us if we didn't go over there? Slap yourself and wake yourself up from the lala dream your living in. The ones who are taking away your freedom are your own government. These kids who are dying are being murdered by BushCo. They stole the election, allowed 9/11 to happen so they could use the military as pawns to make TONS of money!

SECOND, my friend Cindy Sheehan is not spending her son, Casey's, birthday with the rest of her family where she wants to be. She is traveling around the world trying to undo the damage done to us by the man who killed her son. She doesn't have to do this, but she does. She does it so other parents won't have to go through what she and her family went through. She is trying to end the madness created by Bush. I will always be proud of her and her actions. She doesn't do it for the "fame" as you say. She does it because she loves the military and she wants our government to stop using them as pawns and STOP KILLING THEM! Jesus, when will you people get it? Stop living in fear that the other person is going to blow you up!

Enjoy your moments with your children today. Moments Cindy Sheehan, Carlos Arredondo and so many other no longer have with their children.

May peace be inside all of us, Cindy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASEY SHEEHAN

BRUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Always been the BOSS

Rocker Springsteen takes political tone on tour

By Scott Malone / Reuters

MANSFIELD, Massachusetts - Branching off from his rock'n' roll roots, Bruce Springsteen kicked off his summer U.S. tour on Saturday with songs made famous by folk musician and activist Pete Seeger and strong political overtones.

Backed by a raucous 18-piece band, Springsteen played folk tunes including "We Shall Overcome," an anthem of the U.S. civil rights movement and "Bring Them Home," an anti-war song dating to the Vietnam War era.

During a break between songs, he offered harsh words for the administration of President George W. Bush and its handling of last year's devastating Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, which killed more than 1,500 people in Louisiana alone.

"I've never seen anything like it in any American city," Springsteen said of the flooding and destruction. Referring to Bush, whom he called "President Bystander" in a performance in New Orleans last month, Springsteen added, "He managed to gut the only agency, through political cronyism, that could help people at a time like this."

Many of the fans at an arena in Mansfield, about 30 miles

south of Boston, said they were happy to hear his thoughts on politics, although they were not sure if he had changed many minds.

"If it gets people informed about the issues, I think that's good," said Julie Tambascio, 39, of Boston.

Several said they were more interested in hearing the lineup of folk songs, as well as Springsteen tunes including "Cadillac Ranch" and "Ramrod" that were jazzed up with fiddle and tuba solos -- a break from the rock sound the singer called "The Boss" is best known for.

ENDURING THE POLITICS

"People will sort of endure Bruce's politics because they just love the music," said Tamara Conniff, executive editor and associate publisher of Billboard magazine, in a telephone interview before the concert.

"I think any artist outside of Bruce who would take such a strong political stance would probably see a lot more dissent, and he really hasn't," Conniff said.

His 1984 hit "Born in the U.S.A.," about a troubled Vietnam veteran, has often been played as a patriotic anthem. Springsteen's work also often discusses the woes of the American working class.

Since the 2002 release of "The Rising," an album that focused on the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Springsteen has taken a more overtly political tone.

He performed at rallies for Sen. John Kerry in the Massachusetts Democrat's 2004 presidential race against Bush.

The political tone of the latest album, called "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions," did not appear to have hurt sales, Conniff said. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart on May 3.

Fans noted that Springsteen's views fit in the heavily Democratic state that is home to the Kennedy political family.

My Friend Carlos Arredondo Protest Rice at BC

For the 3,200 graduates inside BC’s Alumni Stadium yesterday, little could be heard of the protest outside. About 50 graduates turned away as Rice was honored. (David L. Ryan/ Globe Staff)

At BC, protests of Rice muted

War critics' views aired, but honoree avoids talk of Iraq

By Sarah Schweitzer and Catherine Elton, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent | May 23, 2006

NEWTON -- Outside Boston College's graduation ceremonies yesterday, some 200 protesters chanted, ``Shame, shame!" and ``Give her a subpoena, not a degree, for crimes against humanity!" But inside the school's football stadium, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the focus of the protest, took the podium, most students and parents listened with rapt attention.

After a high-profile ramp-up to the ceremony, including an impassioned outcry from some faculty and students, the graduation passed uneventfully, with no arrests and no evictions from Alumni Stadium. There was applause as Rice's name was called, and more clapping in response to her remarks about triumphing over segregation's restrictions in her native South. Her speech was pointedly noncontroversial -- devoid of policy statements, with only a tangential mention of Iraq as she spoke of the need for graduates to remain optimistic.

``I know how hard it can be these days, when we see images of genocide in Darfur or violence in Iraq or destruction along our own Gulf Coast, to believe that such a thing of human progress is possible. . . ." she said. ``But in moments like these, draw solace from education and also from historical perspective."

Protests inside the stadium took a gentle form: About 50 of the 3,200 students seated on the stadium floor turned their backs and held up placards denouncing the war as Rice received an honorary doctorate of law. Some 200 faculty did the same, according to a count by faculty members. Approximately 30,000 people attended the commencement, according to BC police.

The protest under cloudless skies on the Catholic campus, which has been riven by debate over abortion and gay and lesbian rights this year, was quiet out of respect for the secretary of state rather than from any lack of passionate opposition to the war, some students said.

``I'm not happy about her speaking and I don't support her policies," said William Kozaites, 21, an English major from Los Angeles. ``But it's important to hear what she has to say."

Other students said protest had no place at the ceremony, and they lamented that Rice's presence required BC to use security guards and metal detectors, saying that marred the event regardless of the demonstrators .

``It shouldn't be about protesting," said Maggie Hurley, 22, a graduate of the school of education. ``It should be about celebrating our accomplishments."

Her friend Tiana Baker , 21, also a school of education graduate, nodded in agreement. ``She's a successful woman and we should leave the other matters aside for now because as a school, we are honoring her."

In her speech, Rice exhorted students to find a passion and pursue it. She advised them to use reason and compassion in navigating life and to work to advance human progress. The crowd responded enthusiastically when Rice described her upbringing as an emblem of triumph over pessimism.

``I grew up in Birmingham, Ala., the Birmingham of Bull Connor and the Ku Klux Klan, a place that was once quite properly described as the most segregated city in America. I know how it feels to hold aspirations when half your neighbors think that you're incapable or uninterested in anything higher," said Rice, the first African-American woman to hold her office.

Some afterward said Rice's speech was uplifting.

``I may not believe 100 percent of the things she endorses, but I have to respect her position," said Vesta Rand , a parent of a graduate from Yarmouth, Maine.

Carol Hurd Green , an adjunct English professor, who stood with her back to Rice during the conferral of the honorary degree, disagreed, saying the speech was fatally flawed.

``It was missing the words peace and justice," she said.

Sasha Westerman , 22, of Swampscott, who wore an armband protesting Rice's degree, said the speech was not offensive, but ``I would have rather not heard from her at all."

Outside the stadium, the scene was raucous, but much of those protests went unnoticed and unheard in the wind-whipped stadium. Peace activists, soldiers' mothers, war veterans, Catholic groups, and Boston College alumni waved banners and chanted as they stood behind metal barricades guarded by police. Some protesters dressed in orange prison suits, with black hoods, to symbolize the abuse of detainees. They carried posters, crosses, and American flags. At one point, a plane flew overhead trailing a banner that read: ``Your war brings dishonor."

Most of the protesters had marched to the stadium from Cleveland Circle roughly an hour before the ceremony began. Carlos Arredondo of Roslindale pulled behind him as he walked a model coffin draped in an American flag. Above his head was hoisted a poster with a photo of his son, in uniform, in a coffin.

His son, Alexander, was killed in Iraq on Aug. 25, 2004, and when the Marines came to tell him the news, Arredondo set their van on fire, stepped inside the vehicle, and was burned over a quarter of his body. The Marines extinguished the fire.

``Her coming here to accept her diploma when she has told the American people such lies shows a lack of respect to our community and the families who have lost our children in the war," Arredondo said.

Some protesters said that inviting Rice might have enhanced the college's profile, but at a cost to its mission. ``There is a balance needed between being recognized nationally and upholding Christian values," said Jim Engler, a 1971 graduate. ``Having Rice speak crosses the line."

Jack Dunn , BC's spokesman, defended Rice's appearance. ``We honored her as an individual in light of her life's accomplishments. That gentleman is entitled to his opinions, but we certainly didn't do it for the sake of national prestige. We are already a nationally prestigious university."

What keeps you home and apathetic?

Please Tell Me How

Please tell me how you do it.

321 of our brave troops have been sacrificed to the war on terror, to date, this year.

Please tell me how do you harden yourself to that fact?

2,760 of our brave troops have been sacrificed to the war on terror, to date, since Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom began on March 19th 2003.

Please tell me as you look into my eyes how this can be okay to you?

3,064 U.S. and 'coalition of the willing' forces have been sacrificed to the war on terror combined.

Please tell me how you can watch these brave men and women/boys and girls go off to this war knowing many will not come home and right yourself with that knowledge?

18,587 of our brave troops have been wounded in this war on terror. Their blood, flesh, limbs, vision, mental capacity and futures laid to waste.

Please tell me what kind of armor you put on your soul to find the loss of these braves ones futures acceptable.

42,346 innocent Iraqi civilians have been sacrificed to the War on terror and in their name for freedom.

Please tell me if you ever stop and realize that they are no different than us -- Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers living their lives as we do. Tell me if the tables were turned how would you feel seeing your loved ones slaughtered and not quite knowing for what? Please tell me how to also put those blinders on my eyes.

Thousands of Peace activists work daily to right these wrongs. Many of us are having our civil rights sacrificed in this war on terror. Millions of us should be in the streets to end this abomination.

Please tell me what keeps you home and apathetic? We are tired and need some help.

One tombstone is being placed on a grave today. The tombstone belonging to my precious and desperately missed nephew Casey who was sacrificed to the war on terror.

Please tell me where to get the patriotic shell that I can put on to accept this daily horror...

Dede
Proud, Sad Auntie of
Casey Sheehan

**********************************

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS

Congress’ Memorial Day Message to the Troops: Make Do While We Go On Vacation

On Feb. 16, 2006, President Bush requested $72.4 billion in supplemental funds for continuing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just over three months later, the current Do-Nothing Congress has yet to pass the bill, and is instead busy fighting over how much pork to keep.

Earlier this week, the conference committee that is negotiating a final bill announced that it would not complete the bill before Memorial Day. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), the chief House negotiator, said, “We have communicated with the individual military services and while it is not preferable, they have informed us that they can tolerate a delay into June,” Lewis said. “I am confident that Congress will clear the measure quickly after the Memorial Day district work period.”

But Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army’s chief of staff, takes a different view from Lewis. Because the Congress has failed to act, he said the military will be forced slow down its supply operations for the troops. According to the Hill:

Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army’s chief of staff, said the Army will be forced to slow down some of its operations’ backbone because Congress decided to postpone the completion of the 2006 emergency supplemental until after the Memorial Day break.

“We have to pull all these levers to slow down,” Schoomaker said at a breakfast sponsored by The Hill. In order to stretch its funds until a new infusion of cash is available, the Army will have to slow down its logistics and supply operations among other things, he pointed out. […]

He added that it is “ironic” the Army has to resort to such measures on the eve of Memorial Day.

Failing to pass legislation to fund the troops seems an appropriate Memorial Day message for a Congress that is on schedule to meet for the fewest days of any Congress since 1948.

***************************************

ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY?
Not with STOP-LOSS

Reserve officer files lawsuit to force Army to let him resign

By Drew Brown / Knight Ridder

WASHINGTON - When Army Reserve Capt. Bradley E. Schwan sought to resign his commission last year, he thought that getting out of the Army would just be a matter of filing his paperwork.

The 30-year-old West Point graduate had served six years on active duty and two years in the reserves. His eight-year service obligation was over. He was ready to move on to a law career.

But the Army had other ideas. In July 2005, two months after he was eligible to leave the service, Army Reserve headquarters informed Schwan that his resignation request had been denied because the Army was short on officers.

"I'd heard rumors and inklings that they were looking at resignations and deciding whether they'd let people go," said Schwan. "But I thought, well, that can't be right. This is an unqualified resignation. And sure enough, it was denied. I filed a second resignation, but it was denied, too."

Stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is under pressure to keep qualified officers in its ranks.

As the war in Iraq grows more unpopular, and with no end in sight in the war against al-Qaida, Schwan's case and others like it raise questions about the future of the all-volunteer Army and how well it can be sustained.

"You know, if they're going to ask people to serve involuntarily, then this isn't something they should ask only a very small segment of society to do," Schwan said. "We're either an all-volunteer force or a conscription force. You can't really have it both ways."

Schwan argues that by refusing to let him leave the service, the Army is resorting to what amounts to a "back-door" draft.

The term is often used by troops who are ordered to stay in the military beyond their original discharge dates. Those orders, known as "stop-loss," are usually imposed because of combat deployment or personnel shortage, and they can remain in effect for as long as 18 months.

Schwan served an extra year on active duty under stop-loss orders. He says he didn't have any complaints since he "still belonged to the government." But now he believes that he's done his duty.

Federal law requires service members to serve eight years in their initial term. This is usually done by a combination of time on active duty and in the reserves.

Schwan, who lives in Simi Valley, Calif., filed a lawsuit to force the Army to let him go. It alleges breach of contract and fraud. The suit is pending in a Los Angeles federal court.

David Bockel, the deputy executive director of the Reserve Officers Association, said that history offers no clear guide to how cases such as Schwan's may be resolved.

"This is the first mobilization (of the reserves) since World War II, and this is an all-volunteer force," Bockel said. "We're in new territory right now."

The Army says it's refused to let Schwan leave because of the war.

"The Army Reserve is facing a critical shortage of officers and the retention of every soldier is important to our mission to safeguard the United States," said Col. Wanda L. Good, an Army personnel officer, in a letter last July.

Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, then the chief of the Army Reserve, informed commanders in policy memos in 2004 and 2005 that resignations would be decided case-by-case.

The Army Reserve's authorized manpower strength is 205,000, but its actual strength is around 185,000, according to Pentagon statistics.

Reserve officers can resign if their career fields are at least at 80 percent strength, or if they served in Iraq, Afghanistan or in a domestic security mission since the 2001 terror attacks, or if they had personal hardships, Helmly wrote.

Schwan served in Bosnia, but not in Iraq, Afghanistan or homeland defense. What's more, he's a military intelligence officer, a field that the Army says is below 80 percent strength.

Officers who've completed eight years of service and aren't in an Army Reserve unit can resign as long as they haven't received mobilization orders, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman for personnel issues.

But officers who haven't completed eight years and those with reserve commitments "can't just resign," Hilferty said. "We're not McDonald's."

Most officers who ask to resign are approved. Army Reserve officials say that 256 of 432 requests were approved in 2004. In 2005, 505 requests were approved and 190 were rejected. So far this year, the Army Reserve has approved 119 requests and rejected 34.

Military law experts say that other officers have sued because their resignations were denied since the war in Iraq started. Army officials were unable to provide firm numbers.

The government is fighting Schwan's case, citing a clause in the 1952 Armed Forces Reserve Act that says officer commissions "are for an indefinite term and are held during the pleasure of the president."

For the Army and government lawyers, the clause means that commissioned officers can be required to serve until hostilities are over or until the president or military commanders decide that they're no longer needed.

Others disagree.

"Contrary to the government's premise, this does not give the president authority to extend the (military service obligation) of a Reserve officer, but only allows discretion for the early removal of such officers," said attorney Donald G. Rehkopf in court papers filed in support of Schwan's case.

It's also "inconceivable" that the phrase could be construed under the Constitution to mean "a potential lifetime obligation in the apparent never-ending `war' on criminal terrorism," said Rehkopf, a retired Air Force Reserve judge advocate.

Schwan said he "loves the Army and everything it stands for," but feels that he's done his part. "It's not like I'm getting out because I hate the government or I'm against whatever conflicts we're involved in," he said.

Happy 27 Birthday Casey Sheehan, You Are Missed!

Casey Sheehan's grave receives its headstone By Julie Kay/Staff Writer

A gravestone now marks Casey Sheehan's resting place at Vaca-Elmira Cemetery in Vacaville. (Joel Rosenbaum/The Reporter) Memorial Day will be different this year at the Vacaville-Elmira Cemetery, where Casey Sheehan, a soldier from Vacaville, lies buried. Until this week, more than two years after his death in Iraq, Casey's grave has been marked only by a small plaque. On Thursday, it received a headstone. The elegant marble slab is thick and emblazoned with a cross and delicate thickets of trees on both sides. "Our Casey," reads an inscription on the front. "Ever faithful, kind, and gentle, good son, beloved brother, brave soldier, dear friend, you loved your family and lived your life serving others to the end." Six icons grace the other side, representing a military insignia, the theater, Eagle Scouts, Van Halen, the World Wrestling Federation and Superman. Also on the front are Casey's name and the dates of his life and death, which reveal an uncanny synchronicity. In addition to Memorial Day, Monday will also be Casey's birthday, the day on which he would have turned 27. The installation of the headstone on Casey's grave is likely to get more notice than the vast majority of such installations. Casey's mother, Cindy Sheehan, has become a well-known anti-war activist since Casey's death, frequently in the spotlight in front of a highly divided crowd. The absence of a headstone on Casey's grave became fodder for Sheehan's critics last year, who accused her of being negligent and disrespectful. Sheehan did not publicly respond for the first several months of such charges. But on April 10, she wrote a blog entry excoriating her critics and recounting the torturous experience of burying her son. "I didn't want to put a tombstone on my son's grave," she wrote, capitalizing the letters of the word "tomb." "I didn't want one more marble proof that my son was dead." For the first year after Casey died, wrote Sheehan in the entry, she referred to the place he was buried not as a cemetery, but as "Casey's Park." During that time she visited the cemetery nearly every day, she wrote, placing fresh flowers weekly on Casey's grave. Sheehan also said that her estranged husband Patrick had taken on the responsibility of handling Casey's gravesite. On Friday, Sheehan answered questions about the headstone via e-mail from Australia, where she has spent the week speaking out against the country's support of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq. Sheehan said she had paid for the tombstone herself and was part of a family effort to put it up, even though its installation saddened her. "It is important for the rest of Casey's family to have one," she wrote Friday. "I guess the pain of seeing it etched in marble that he is dead is another pain I will have to deal with." That pain, said Sheehan, stems from her belief that Casey should still be alive. "I still feel he was killed for lies," she wrote. The headstone was very expensive, Sheehan wrote. She said that the government should have paid for it because of its responsibility for his death. But Sheehan said money is not the main issue. "It's about the lies that are still killing our children and innocent Iraqis," she wrote. "It's about unnecessary tombstones all over the world because of the Bush regime." The new headstone on Casey's grave won't impact her relationship with her son, concluded Sheehan. "Casey's shell lies in the grave in Vacaville," she wrote. "He is with me always and in the hearts of people all over the world who know his story and are working for peace." Patrick Sheehan did not return phone calls by press time Friday. UPDATE: More people who sicken me. And More. And even more. And would you believe MORE This is why we are so divided. One side stands for the truth and saving lives of other people which will bring us peace. The other side lives in fear and with their fear they breed more hate which only bring more killing. They will say anything (lies) to discredit people who they don't agree with. You should never judge another person until you walk in their shoes. And even then, we all make different choices of action when really bad things happen to us. The Sheehan family are proof of that. God Bless all of them, but I feel they will never be blessed again with Casey gone from their lives FOREVER. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASEY! May peace be inside all of us. Peace begets Peace, Killing begets Killing. What side are you on? Remember them, Cindy

We The People WILL TAKE BACK OUR NATION!

I got this off John Conyers Blog

I really think people have had enough! I wish they would have noticed on Nov 4, 2004 - we still wouldn't be living through this crap. EVERYONE MUST VOTE IN NOVEMBER - AND MAKE SURE YOUR VOTE IS COUNTED. It's the only way we can end the madness.

May peace beinside all of us,
Cindy

2,458

Do you know how many today as you go about your day?

Triumph - Allied Forces - 1981

Artist: Triumph
Album: Allied Forces

Song: Ordinary Man

Look in the mirror tell me what do you see
Or can you lie to yourself like you're lyin' to me
Do you fall asleep real easy feelin' justified and right
Or do you wake up feelin' empty in the middle of the night
You want to think you're different, but you know you never can
You're just another ordinary man

Hey politician, can't believe a word you say
Almighty media, whose truth d'you sell today?
Watchdog of justice, who keeps their eye on you?
Con man, song in hand, who you singin' to?
The more I get to see, the less I understand
I'm just another ordinary man

Chorus:
Ordinary man
Comes a time to take a stand

No rest for the wicked - they get it while they can
The preachers and the teachers and your local congressman
Everybody plays the game they played since time began
Lawyers and accountant - your media man

Everybody's talkin' but nothin's gettin' said
You're looking for the truth you better look inside your head
I see the flash of lightnin'
I hear the thunder roll
A hungry knive, a slice of life
It cuts another soul

Power finds a way to those who take a stand
Stand up ordinary man

Once I thought the truth was gonna set me free
But now I feel the chains of its responsibility
I will not be a puppet I cannot play it safe
I'll give myself away with a blind and simple faith
I'm just the same as you I just do the best I can
That's the only answer...for an ordinary man

Chorus
Ordinary man
Comes a time to take a stand

No such thing as easy answers
You play to win and you take your chances

Chorus
Ordinary man
Comes a time to take a stand

Here's to health, here's to wealth
May you never doubt yourself

Chorus
Ordinary man
Comes a time to take a stand

Remind Howard who's boss, Sheehan urges

Remind Howard who's boss, Sheehan urges

Renew anti-war stance ... peace activist Cindy Sheehan has arrived in Sydney and she wants people to speak out against the conflict in Iraq. Reuters

A prominent American anti-war campaigner is urging Australians to take to the streets in protest against the Iraq war.

Cindy Sheehan, who has campaigned against the war since the death of her son Casey in Iraq in 2004, is visiting Australia to address a peace conference.

She says Prime Minister John Howard had no mandate to involve Australia in the war, which began in 2003.

"I think Australians, they just need to get out on the streets and they need to say, 'John Howard, you work for us'," Mrs Sheehan said.

"'We want our troops withdrawn and we don't want you to support America.'"

Mrs Sheehan has questioned Mr Howard's friendship with US President George W Bush.

"George Bush isn't even popular in America any more so I don't know why any leaders in any countries who claim to govern their countries with the consent of the people they govern would align themselves closer with George Bush," she said.

Mrs Sheehan rose to prominence in the anti-war movement when she staged a month-long protest outside Mr Bush's Texas ranch last year.

"I was pretty visible and well-known in the progressive peace movement in the United States but not known by mainstream Americans or internationally known until I camped out," she said.

Logic questioned

She says her campaign against the war is motivated by a television address Mr Bush gave.

"[When] 14 Marines were killed one day, George Bush went on the TV and said they died for a noble cause ... and he had to complete the mission to honour their sacrifices," Mrs Sheehan said.

"I wanted to know what noble cause and I wanted him to stop using Casey's name to continue and to justify more killing."

Mrs Sheehan denies she is a "a pin-up girl for the loopy left and for global terrorists", as claimed by an Australian newspaper columnist.

"I believe George Bush is the greatest recruiter for Al Qaeda in Al Qaeda's history," she said.

"You don't kill innocent Iraqi people, you don't fight a war on terror with a war of terror and that's what George Bush is doing and that's what [the Australian] Government is doing in support of George Bush.

"To say I'm a tool of the loopy Left, let me tell you almost 70 per cent of Americans agree with me."

She says her views have prompted death threats but she is not intimidated.

"I found on April 4, 2004 that there's worse things than dying," she said.

"One of the worse things is burying your oldest child.

"The death threats, the personal attacks, they don't bother me because if I can save one life by what I'm doing, it'll be worth it."

Easily Dispensable: Iraq's Children

Easily Dispensable: Iraq's Children

By Dahr Jamail
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 22 May 2006

Cherishing children is the mark of a civilized society.
- Joan Ganz Cooney

If, as I would like to believe, the above quote suggests all children and not merely those born in Western democracies, I am no longer certain that we live in a civilized society.

That women and children suffer the most during times of war is not a new phenomenon. It is a reality as old as war itself. What Rumsfeld, Rice and other war criminals of the Cheney administration prefer to call "collateral damage" translates in English as the inexcusable murder of and other irreparable harm done to women, children and the elderly during any military offensive.

US foreign policy in the Middle East manifests itself most starkly in its impact on the children of Iraq. It is they who continue to pay with their lives and futures for the brutal follies of our administration. Starvation under sanctions, and death and suffering during war and occupation are their lot. Since the beginning of the occupation, Iraqi children have been affected worst by the violence generated by the occupying forces and the freedom fighters.

While I had witnessed several instances of this from the time of my first trip to Iraq in November 2003, I was shaken by a close encounter with it, a year later, in November 2004.

In a major Baghdad hospital, 12-year-old Fatima Harouz lay in her bed, dazed, amidst a crowded hospital room. She limply waved her bruised arm at the flies that buzzed over the bed. Her shins, shattered by bullets when American soldiers fired through the front door of her house, were both covered in casts. Small plastic drainage bags filled with red fluid sat upon her abdomen, where she had taken shrapnel from another bullet.

She was from Latifiya, a city just south of Baghdad. Three days before I saw her, soldiers had attacked her home. Her mother, standing with us in the hospital, said, "They attacked our home and there weren't even any resistance fighters in our area." Her brother had been shot and killed, his wife wounded, and their home ransacked by soldiers. "Before they left, they killed all of our chickens," added Fatima's mother, her eyes a mixture of fear, shock and rage. A doctor who was with us as Fatima's mother narrated the story looked at me and sternly asked, "This is the freedom … in their Disney Land are there kids just like this?"

The doctors' anger was mild if we consider the magnitude of suffering that has been inflicted upon the children of Iraq as a direct result of first the US-backed sanctions and then the failed US occupation.

In a report released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on May 2nd of this year, one out of three Iraqi children is malnourished and underweight.

The report states that 25% of Iraqi children between the ages of six months and five years old suffer from either acute or chronic malnutrition. In addition, the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) press release on the matter added, "A 2004 Living Conditions Survey indicated a decrease in mortality rates among children under five years old since 1999. However, the results of a September 2005 Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis - commissioned by Iraq's Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology, the World Food Program and UNICEF - showed worsening conditions since the April 2003 US-led invasion of the country."

Also this month, on May 15th , a news story about the same UN-backed government survey highlighted that "people are struggling to cope three years after US-forces overthrew Saddam Hussein." The report added that "Children are ... major victims of food insecurity," and described the situation as "alarming." The story continued, "A total of four million Iraqis, roughly 15 percent of the population, were in dire need of humanitarian aid including food, up from 11 percent in a 2003 report, the survey of more than 20,000 Iraqi households found.… Decades of conflict and economic sanctions have had serious effects on Iraqis. Their consequences have been rising unemployment, illiteracy and, for some families, the loss of wage earners."

But the hearts of small children are delicate organs. A cruel beginning in this world can twist them into curious shapes.
- Carson McCullers

Iraq's ministries of Health and Planning carried out the survey with support from the UN World Food Program and UNICEF. A spokesman for UNICEF's Iraq Support Center in Amman, Jordan, David Singh, told Reuters that the number of acutely malnourished children in Iraq had more than doubled, from 4% during the last year of Saddam's rule to at least 9% in 2005. He also said, "Until there is a period of relative stability in Iraq we are going to continue to face these kinds of problems." UNICEF's special representative for Iraq, Roger Wright, commenting on the dire effects of the situation, said, "This can irreversibly hamper the young child's optimal mental/cognitive development, not just their physical development."

This past March, an article titled "Garbage Dump Second Home for Iraqi Children" addressed the appalling situation in the northern, Kurdish-controlled Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah where young children assist their families in searching the city garbage dumps. It said that children as young as seven often accompany their parents to the dumps before school, in order to look for reusable items such as shoes, clothing and electrical equipment which is then resold in order to augment the family income.

This disturbing news is not really news in Baghdad. Back in December 2004 I saw children living with their families in the main dump of the capital city.

Poverty in Iraq has plummeted acutely during the invasion and occupation. Those who were already surviving on the margins due to years of deprivation have sunk further, and the children of such families have recourse to no nutrition, no health care, no education, no present and no future. Those from less unfortunate backgrounds are now suffering because the family wage earner has been killed, detained, or lost employment. Or the source of the family's income, a shop, factory or farm have been destroyed, or simply because it is impossible to feed a family under the existing economic conditions of high costs and low to nil income in Iraq.

As execrable as the current situation is for Iraqi children, most of the world media, appallingly, does not see it as a story to be covered. Even back in November 2004, surveys conducted by the UN, aid agencies and the interim Iraqi government showed that acute malnutrition among young children had nearly doubled since the US-led invasion took place in the spring of 2004.

A Washington Post story, "Children Pay Cost of Iraq's Chaos," read, "After the rate of acute malnutrition among children younger than 5 steadily declined to 4 percent two years ago, it shot up to 7.7 percent this year, according to a study conducted by Iraq's Health Ministry in cooperation with Norway's Institute for Applied International Studies and the U.N. Development Program. The new figure translates to roughly 400,000 Iraqi children suffering from "wasting," a condition characterized by chronic diarrhea and dangerous deficiencies of protein."

Not only is the US occupation starving Iraq's children, but occupation forces regularly detain them as well. It is common knowledge in Iraq that there have been child prisoners in the most odious prisons, such as Abu Ghraib, since early on in the occupation. While most, if not all, corporate media outlets in the US have been loath to visit the subject, the Sunday Herald in Scotland reported back in August 2004 that "coalition forces are holding more than 100 children in jails such as Abu Ghraib. Witnesses claim that the detainees - some as young as 10 - are also being subjected to rape and torture."

The story read, "It was early last October that Kasim Mehaddi Hilas says he witnessed the rape of a boy prisoner aged about 15 in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. 'The kid was hurting very bad and they covered all the doors with sheets,' he said in a statement given to investigators probing prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib. 'Then, when I heard the screaming I climbed the door … and I saw [the soldier's name is deleted] who was wearing a military uniform." Hilas, who was himself threatened with being sexually assaulted in Abu Ghraib, then described in horrific detail how the soldier raped 'the little kid.'"

The newspaper's investigation at that time concluded that there were as many as 107 children being held by occupation forces, although their names were not known, nor their location or the length of their detention.

In June 2004 an internal UNICEF report, which was not made public, noted widespread arrest and detention of Iraqi children by US and UK forces. A section of the report titled "Children in Conflict with the Law or with Coalition Forces," stated, "In July and August 2003, several meetings were conducted with CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) … and Ministry of Justice to address issues related to juvenile justice and the situation of children detained by the coalition forces … UNICEF is working through a variety of channels to try and learn more about conditions for children who are imprisoned or detained, and to ensure that their rights are respected."

Another section of the report added, "Information on the number, age, gender and conditions of incarceration is limited. In Basra and Karbala children arrested for alleged activities targeting the occupying forces are reported to be routinely transferred to an internee facility in Um Qasr. The categorization of these children as 'internees' is worrying since it implies indefinite holding without contact with family, expectation of trial or due process." The report went on to add, "A detention centre for children was established in Baghdad, where according to ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) a significant number of children were detained. UNICEF was informed that the coalition forces were planning to transfer all children in adult facilities to this 'specialized' child detention centre. In July 2003, UNICEF requested a visit to the centre but access was denied. Poor security in the area of the detention centre has prevented visits by independent observers like the ICRC since last December [2003]."

A section of the report which I found very pertinent, as I'd already witnessed this occurring in Iraq, stated, "The perceived unjust detention of Iraqi males, including youths, for suspected activities against the occupying forces has become one of the leading causes for the mounting frustration among Iraqi youth and the potential for radicalization of this population group."

On December 17, 2003, at the al-Shahid Adnan Kherala secondary school in Baghdad, I witnessed US forces detain 16 children who had held a mock, non-violent, pro-Saddam Hussein the previous day. While forces from the First Armored Division sealed the school with two large tanks, helicopters, several Bradley fighting vehicles and at least 10 Humvees, soldiers loaded the children into a covered truck and drove them to their base. Meanwhile, the rest of the students remained locked inside the school until the US military began to exit the area.

Shortly thereafter the doors were unlocked, releasing the frightened students who flocked out the doors. The youngest were 12 years old, and none of the students were older than 18. They ran out, many in tears, while others were enraged as they kicked and shook the front gate. My interpreter and I were surrounded by frenzied students who yelled, "This is the democracy? This is the freedom? You see what the Americans are doing to us here?"

Another student cried out to us, "They took several of my friends! Why are they taking them to prison? For throwing rocks?" A few blocks away we spoke with a smaller group of students who had run from the school (in panic). One student who was crying yelled to me, "Why are they doing this to us? We are only kids!"

The tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles that were guarding the perimeter of the school began to rumble down the street beside us, on their passage out. Several young boys with tears streaming down their faces picked up stones and hurled them at the tanks as they drove by. Imagine my horror when I saw the US soldiers on top of the Bradleys begin firing their M-16's above our heads as we ducked inside a taxi. A soldier on another Bradley, behind the first, passed and fired randomly above our heads as well. Kids and pedestrians ran for cover into the shops and wherever possible.

I remember a little boy, not more than 13 years old, holding a stone and standing at the edge of the street glaring at the Bradleys as they rumbled past. Another soldier riding atop another passing Bradley pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the boy's head and kept him in his sights until the vehicle rolled out of sight.

One of the students hiding behind our taxi screamed to me, "Who are the terrorists here now? You have seen this yourself! We are school kids!"

The very next month, in January 2004, I was in an area on the outskirts of Baghdad that had been pulverized by "Operation Iron Grip." I spoke with a man at his small farm house. His three year old boy, Halaf Ziad Halaf, walked up to me and with a worried look on his face said, "I have seen the Americans here with their tanks. They want to attack us."

His uncle, who had joined us for tea, leaned over to me and said, "The Americans are creating the terrorists here by hurting people and causing their relatives to fight against them. Even this little boy will grow up hating the Americans because of their policy here."

The slaughter, starvation, detention, torture and sexual assault of Iraq's children at the hands of US soldiers or by proxy via US foreign policy, is not a recent phenomenon. It is true that the present US administration has been brazen and blatant in its crimes in Iraq, but those willing to bear witness must not forget that Bill Clinton and his minions played an equally, if not even more devastating role in the assault on the children of Iraq.

On May 12, 1996, Clinton's Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was asked by Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" about the effects of US sanctions against Iraq, "We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?"

In a response which has now become notorious, Albright replied, "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it."

We are guilty of many errors and many faults but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer "Tomorrow." His name is "Today."
- Gabriela Mistral

To all Americans who, despite voluminous evidence to the contrary, continue to believe that they are supporting a war for democracy in Iraq, I would like to say, the way Iraq is headed it will have little use for democracy and freedom. We must find ways to stop the immoral, soulless, repugnant occupation if we want the children of Iraq to see any future at all.

---

Dahr Jamail is an independent journalist who spent over 8 months reporting from occupied Iraq. He presented evidence of US war crimes in Iraq at the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York City in January 2006. He writes regularly for TruthOut, Inter Press Service, Asia Times and TomDispatch, and maintains his own web site, dahrjamailiraq.com.

akermanp@dailytelegraph.com.au IS ONE F'ed UP PERSON

People like this sicken me.

Flawed ideology comes to grief

May 23, 2006

CINDY Sheehan, pin-up girl for the loopy Left, global terrorists, and the anti-US, anti-Howard, anti-Iraq war push, is entertaining her addled fans in Sydney tonight.

It should be enlightening – not.

Using her soldier son Casey's coffin as a soapbox, Sheehan has become a counter-culture celebrity in the US, best-known for camping outside President George W. Bush's ranch and the White House and making herself available to the liberal media 24/7.

Expect to see her interviewed at length in the Fairfax Press and by the ABC's numerous competing news and current affairs programs.

Don't expect however to see any of the tough questions put to her.

Sheehan has been shrilly exploiting her son Casey's death for the past two years but her rambling monologues rarely reflect the reality that the former altar boy, Eagle Scout and church youth group leader was also a volunteer with the US Army's 1st battalion, 82nd field artillery regiment in Iraq in 2004 when he was killed.

Indeed, Cindy has herself been quoted in left-wing journals as saying her son told her: "Mom, this is what we trained for. I'm ready. It's my job. Because the sooner I get there, the sooner I'll come home."

Further, Casey Sheehan not only joined the military voluntarily in May, 2000, but when he also voluntarily re-enlisted in 2003, he was fully aware that he was most likely going to serve in Iraq.

And, as other heroic and conscientious soldiers have done throughout history, he selflessly died in an action he need not have been involved in, attempting to rescue friends caught in a firefight.

As Cindy Sheehan herself acknowledges, his sergeant said "Sheehan you don't have to go," because he was a mechanic, and, again according to Cindy, her son said: "Where my chief goes, I go."

With her callous desire to paint every aspect of the US involvement in the Iraq war as evil, Cindy Sheehan even claimed of her son's desire to volunteer for a rescue mission that he "and 20 of his buddies were sent into a raging insurgent uprising to rescue wounded soldiers".

Given Casey's decision to enlist, re-enlist and volunteer for a dangerous mercy mission, it seems unlikely that he would have warmed to either this characterisation or the manner in which his mother has so enthusiastically embraced a broad coalition of left-wing American groups including the Malcolm X Grassroots Organisation (which proudly labels those convicted of the murder of police officers as "political prisoners"), the International Socialist Organisation, or Code Pink, a group which sent money to those fighting US troops in the terrorist-held city of Fallujah.

For Cindy, who has claimed her son was "murdered . . . for lies and a NeoCon agenda to benefit Israel", giving terrorists and their supporters a boost has become something of a habit.

She has also praised "civil rights" lawyer Lynne Stewart who was convicted on five counts of passing on messages for her client, the notorious terrorist Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, also known as the Blind Bomber, who was jailed for his role in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing, to his evil accomplices in Egypt.

In fact a study of her web journal and reported remarks indicates that she is prone to taking one position one day, and a contrary position the next.

Thus, after first meeting President Bush in 2004, she said she found him to be a man of compassion, "sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis . . . I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he is a man of faith."

Now, of course, she has radically recanted and believes her family's meeting with Bush was one of the most disgusting experiences of her life.

In our country she enjoys the support of lesser lights of the international Left like the Greens, Fair Go for Palestine, the Stop the War Coalition, the Evatt Foundation, the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (Australia), and Stop the War Coalition Sydney, the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and Sydney University's whacky Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Cindy Sheehan will probably receive a warmer welcome from the disaffected Left who attend her public meetings in Sydney and Melbourne this week than she would if she visited members of her late son's family.

Last year, her husband Patrick was in the process of divorcing her and Casey's aunt and godmother Cherie Quarterolo released a statement on behalf of Casey's distressed grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins distancing them from Cindy's public posturing.

"The Sheehan family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving," the statement read.

"We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She appears to be promoting her own agenda and notoriety at the expense of her son's good name and reputation.

The rest of the Sheehan family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect."

Cindy Sheehan is fortunate that she is visiting Australia, a generous, hospitable and freedom-loving nation, not unlike her own, and not a country controlled by the terrorists who would gain the most should our troops – or America's – cut and run from Iraq as she and supporters would like.

It is only countries like ours in which intolerant ideologues like her are tolerated.

akermanp@dailytelegraph.com.au

I had to email them and stand up for my friend Cindy Sheehan.

You sure are filled with hate! People like you are the reason why we are killing and torturing so many people, because you live in fear.


You are one F'ed up person! I'm proud of my friends Cindy Sheehan, Carlos Arredondo and all the other parents who are standing up to the killing machine of our government for the greed of power and money. And most of the country stand with them also. It's people like you who bring our country down!

Divided we stand
Cindy

Melida Arredondo also emailed this person and forwarded me a copy

Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 13:36:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Melida Arredondo Subject: When you know grief, you may judge grief To: letters@dailytelegraph.com.au CC: akermanp@dailytelegraph.com.au

To the editor of the Daily Telegraph:

This letter is directed to the writer of the story "Flawed Ideology Comes to Grief."

Madam or Sir, have you ever had a child die? Have you ever had a child die violently be it from a murder or during warfare? Have you ever had to hear day in and day out how other kids just like your own are dying the same way without any end in sight?

If not, I find your deep insight into the psyche of Cindy Sheehan as someone whose "remarks indicate that she is prone to taking one position one day, and a contrary position the next" not just an indicator of a lack of compassion but also truly judgemental.

The whole world had been provided different information as to why the war in Iraq began in 2003 versus the knowledge that exists today. The US president and journalists knew this knowledge prior to re-election. The American public did not.

However, per your analysis of Cindy Sheehan's mindset, "she has radically recanted and believes her family's meeting with Bush was one of the most disgusting experiences of her life." Government lies have been exposed publicly yet US fellow countrymen excuse those in executive power from any culpability. Those lies have led to 2459 US deaths just like Cindy's child. This is maddening to anyone but, Cindy's level of grieving and loss are incomprehendible. If anything, she is channeling her grief into peace.

For a war parent, the loss does not end. It's not like a broken leg. The goal of "recuperation from grief" is to somehow learn to live without a very essential piece of one's puzzle. I describe such grief as similar to losing a leg. Often the person feels phantom pains forever. However, that person may learn to walk, even run and do many of the things a two legged person can do. Yet, that pain lingers inexplicably. The brain does not comprehend.

Perhaps its because your own perspective is jaded. My guess is you have not experienced a similar trauma, have no empathy and no experience writing on this topic. You believe that there must be some political motivation to Cindy's actions. You do not comprehend Cindy's loss of a son and, indeed, her whole life as she knew it. Casey volunteered not just to fight but also to defend the freedom's that his Mother is exercising.

Semper pax, Melida Arredondo, Roslindale, Massachusetts


UPDATE: I received a return email from this person

Cindy: I don't live in fear. I am a community volunteer, I am listed in the telephone book, I walk openly where I wish to. Why would you think I am afraid? I don't hate. Why are you so angry? I suggest you get some psychological assistance before you harm yourself or others. Best wishes Piers Akerman

Piers - You are afraid. Anyone who would slam a mother who's son was murdered by her government is afraid. You buy into the "terrorist are out to get you" theory. Thus, you live in fear.

Don't lie to yourself. You are full of hate. Anyone that writes crap like you wrote
"CINDY Sheehan, pin-up girl for the loopy Left, global terrorists, and the anti-US, anti-Howard, anti-Iraq war push, is entertaining her addled fans in Sydney tonight.It should be enlightening – not." is full of hate. To say things you did about a woman who you don't know, who you have only read about is full of hate. And, I have to say, you got a lot wrong about my friend. You better check your facts. Stop listening to the killing neocons. They make up more stories about people, oh wait, you are a neocon, aren't you? Yeah you are because only the neocons are hateful-hurtful people who say vile things about other people who they don't know to make themselves feel better.

I am angry because people like you spread lies to flame the killing machine. How much death is OK with you? Cindy Sheehan, Carlos and Melida Arredondo are standing up fighting so that other children like theirs aren't murdered. Melida also sent you an email. Her husband, my neighbor blew up the government van when they brought the news of his son's Alex's death on his birthday. When you live in their shoes you can write such hateful things about another parent, until then, keep your oppinion of Cindy and others like her to yourself.

Thank GOD your not in this country. We have enough of your kind here.
May peace beinside all of us,
Cindy

UPDATE AGAIN:

Cindy: Get a life! Eighty eight Australian kids were killed when they were on holiday in Bali. Not even in a war. Just holidaying, they were killed by people who Cindy Sheehan and her lunatic followers have supported. Am I afraid? Only of idiots who haven�t a clue of what goes on beyond the limits of their own comfort zones. Peace be with you, Piers Akerman

See, you are filled with hate!

Like I said, you are one FUCKED UP PERSON!

I have a life- thank you very much. More than I can say about my friend Carlos. His and others like him will never be the same because of your hate and fear.

All these emails are getting posted on my blog and being sent to Gold Star Families. Want to send me more?

Divided We Stand
Cindy

UPDATE: Another email

Cindy

I do hope you hope these responses on your blog because they illustrate the utter mendacity of your mindless movement.

I am amused by your resorting to gutter language and the defence of those who oppose liberty, equality and freedom for others. Please disseminate this as widely as possible.

Best wishes

Piers Akerman

Piers - Ah, you didn't get that I called you Fucked up in my first email.
You are heartless. Like I said, THANK GOD you live there and not here.
I, Cindy Sheehan, Carlos Arredondo and others like us are the meaning of liberty, equality and freedom. We fight for it everyday. You on the other hand can only write vile things about a good person. Both of our true colors are showing. Yours filled with hate and condoning killing, mine fighting for my friends and life of others and truth.

I hope you find some love in your heart for other humans before it destroys you.

Now, Go away - play with others. I'm done with your nonsense.
Cindy

****************************

Do you know how many today as you go about your day?
2,456

U.S. Marine Killed in Western Iraq Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. Marine was killed in action in Iraq's volatile western Anbar province, the U.S. Command said Monday. The Marine, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, died Sunday but gave no further details. The Marine's name was withheld pending notification of relatives.

Protest Music Good For The Soul

I have to say, I love all the new protest music coming out. I knew it would happen. It just took a long time for the passion to hit the hearts of the artist. How long will it take to hit the hearts of the public to force themselves into action. Do you know how many will die today while you go about your day? I've had enough. My voice alone is nothing but all of our voices together is America, OUR COUNTRY! When will we stand up and do the right thing? We all know killing and torture is wrong - why do we do it anyway? Because of fear......

May peace be inside all of us,
Cindy

Protest music takes a bow

David Menconi, Staff Writer

George W. Bush's approval ratings might be plummeting, but the president still has his loyalists. Chief among them are the Right Brothers, a Nashville rock band making the Internet rounds with a catchy song called "Bush Was Right."

The tune, recorded last year, is built on an uptempo pop-rock arrangement similar to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," over which the Right Brothers lay out a defense of Bush's foreign and economic policies ("Revenue is going up / can you say tax cuts?"), leading up to the titular chorus, "Bush was right!" And while they're at it, they include a roll call of shame:

Ted Kennedy -- wrong!

Cindy Sheehan -- wrong!

France -- wrong!

If the Right Brothers were recording "Bush Was Right" today, they'd probably expand their list of the wrong-minded. Pink, whose latest album includes a scathing folk song with the Indigo Girls called "Dear Mr. President," would probably be there. So would the Dixie Chicks, whose unrepentant attitude is summed up by a song title on their new album: "Not Ready to Make Nice." Or Jackson Browne, whose mid-'80s song "Lives in the Balance" has been turned into an updated video with images from the war in Iraq (www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11924.htm).

But the two names most likely to be there are Neil Young and Pearl Jam, whose latest albums take dead aim at the Bush administration: Young's "Living With War" on Reprise Records and Pearl Jam's eponymous release on J Records.

The coincidence of the albums' releases brings to mind Neil Young's stellar 1995 album, "Mirror Ball," which featured Pearl Jam. The link to the new releases isn't a matter of politics but quality. Since "Mirror Ball," both acts have had periods where they seemed to lose the thread.

Young's music got flabby and unfocused on 1996's "Broken Arrow." He sounded complacent on 2000's "Silver & Gold" and deadly dull on 2002's undercooked "Are You Passionate?" Signs of life returned with 2003's rough-hewn "Greendale" and last year's soft-spoken "Prairie Wind," made under the shadow of Young's near-death from an aneurysm. But that left fans wondering whether the 60-year-old Young had much rock left in the tank.

Pearl Jam, meanwhile, spent the mid-1990s locked in an ugly spat with Ticketmaster, which limited its touring for years. A series of increasingly dense, difficult albums further shrank the band's audience. By the turn of the century, Pearl Jam had evolved into a grunge equivalent of the Grateful Dead -- playing to a large cult audience, but increasingly irrelevant to the mainstream.

Now, both Young and Pearl Jam have regained their sense of purpose. Part of the energy comes from current events, but part of it comes from reconnecting with the rock-first-and-think-later immediacy that made both acts great in the first place.

'Metal folk protest'

Young recently told Rolling Stone that one of the inspirations for "Living With War" came in late March, when he saw a USA Today photo of a military cargo plane that had been turned into a flying hospital. The photo's publication followed a strong nudge earlier that month at South by Southwest, the music-industry convention in Austin, Texas.

Young served as keynote speaker to promote his new concert movie, "Heart of Gold." South by Southwest managing director Roland Swenson, making the introduction, declared, "We need another 'Ohio,' " a reference to Young's Vietnam War-era protest song about the 1970 shootings at Kent State University.

Six weeks later, "Living With War" was in stores.

"I didn't mean to put him on the spot," Swenson says now. "I was just trying to talk about why I admired him and to show how powerful music can be. Then, after it was over, I was kind of freaking out: 'Oh my gosh, I just challenged Neil Young. What was I thinking?' But here it is, although I don't want to take any credit and I certainly don't deserve any."

Young describes "Living With War" as "metal folk protest." Packaged in a plain brown wrapper, "Living With War" seems less like a record than a collection of protest songs to chant at a rally. As such, it will probably have the shelf life of a "Daily Show" episode. But rushing the album was definitely the right thing to do.

"Living With War" plays out as a Pete Seeger-style sing-along, set to Young's electric-guitar squall and cheesy trumpet (credited to the aptly named Tommy Bray). Throw in a 100-voice choir and presto: Kumbaya.

Young doesn't do that song, or "We Shall Overcome." But "Living With War" does close with an a cappella version of "America the Beautiful." The effect is similar to "The Deer Hunter," director Michael Cimino's wrenching 1979 Vietnam film, which closed with the cast singing "God Bless America." It sounds a note of reconciliation, holding out hope for better times ahead.

First, though, we have to get through the present. "After the Garden" opens "Living With War" with, "Won't need no shadow man / Runnin' the government / Won't need no stinkin' war." "Shock and Awe" describes the Iraq war as a hopeless quagmire with no winners. And "Flags of Freedom" has the unforgettable image of a young man marching off to war as his sister watches, wearing headphones, "Listenin' to Bob Dylan singin' in 1963."

The song getting the most attention is "Let's Impeach the President." It has a feel similar to 1979's "Powderfinger," in which Young described being a combat casualty with heartbreaking pathos ("Then I saw black / And my face splashed in the sky"). But where "Powderfinger" was reportorial, "Let's Impeach the President" aims to provoke. It starts off with a trumpet playing Taps and concludes with sound bites of President Bush as the choir chants, "Flip flop."

No surprise that Fox News attacked "Let's Impeach the President" before the song was even available. Writing on the Fox Web site last month, commentator John Gibson said of Young and Pink, "They are forgetful. They have amnesia. They blame the wrong leaders. They are proud of their opposition. And they couldn't be more wrong."

Rock the mainstream

A self-titled album implies an attempted rejuvenation, and "Pearl Jam" accomplishes that feat. The album even got Pearl Jam back on "Saturday Night Live" for the first time since 1994, an April 15 performance most notable in that lead singer Eddie Vedder looked and sounded as though the last 12 years had never happened.

After years of half-successful tangents, "Pearl Jam" is the group's attempt to reclaim the center by rocking the house. It's the band's equivalent of U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind," a back-to-basics move that should remind everyone why Pearl Jam was worth paying attention to in the first place.

Although not as politically direct as Young's album, "Pearl Jam" fires plenty of salvos at the Bush administration. "World Wide Suicide" speaks of a dead soldier, "A handsome face that the president took for granted / Writing checks that others pay." "Army Reserve" evokes the families of troops serving in Iraq, and "Marker in the Sand" decries those who are "killing in God's name."

Apart from a few quieter numbers, most of the 13 songs are terrific riff-rock that would have fit right in on "Ten" or "Vs.," the twin peaks of Pearl Jam's early-'90s dominance. Perhaps more important, the album has put Pearl Jam back into the center of the cultural conversation at a time when the band's political views seem more mainstream by the day.

"Pearl Jam" has been noncontroversial enough for Vedder to throw out the first pitch and sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at a Cubs baseball game in Chicago last weekend. One of Pearl Jam's few appearances on the opinion pages this year was a relatively flattering mention in the comic strip "Doonesbury." Told that she can spend the summer following Pearl Jam on tour, teenage Alex Doonesbury gushes, "Why, yes! And they've stopped sucking! Perfect!"

Perfect, yes.