Representative Press Blog

Cindy Sheehan, Mother of Spc Casey Austin Sheehan KIA 04/04/04, Sets the Record Straight or Not?

Sheehan says someone else made up the "my son died for Israel" quote that has been attributed to her

COOPER: You were also quoted as saying, "My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism." How responsible do you believe Israel is for the amount of terrorism in the world?

SHEEHAN: I didn't say that.

COOPER: You didn't say that? OK.

SHEEHAN: I didn't -- I didn't say -- I didn't say that my son died for Israel. I've never said that. I saw somebody wrote that and it wasn't my words. Those aren't even words that I would say.

I do believe that the Palestinian issue is a hot issue that needs to be solved and it needs to be more fair and equitable but I never said my son died for Israel.

COOPER: OK, I'm glad I asked you that because, you know, as you know, there's tons of stuff floating around on the Internet on sites of all political persuasions.

SHEEHAN: I know and that's not -- yes.

COOPER: So, I'm glad we had the opportunity to clear that.

SHEEHAN: Yes, and thank you because those are not my words. Those aren't -- that doesn't even sound like me saying that.

COOPER: OK. I'm very glad we got that...

SHEEHAN: And I have read it. I have read it. I'm glad you did too.

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES One Woman's Protest Aired August 15, 2005

This is a quote that was attributed to her on the Internet, it is false according to Sheenan: "Am I emotional? Yes, my first born was murdered. Am I angry? Yes, he was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. Am I stupid? No, I know full-well that my son, my family, this nation, and this world were betrayed by a George Bush who was influenced by the neo-con PNAC agenda after 9/11. We were told that we were attacked on 9/11 because the terrorists hate our freedoms and democracy...not for the real reason, because the Arab-Muslims who attacked us hate our middle-eastern foreign policy. That hasn't changed since America invaded and occupied Iraq...in fact it has gotten worse."

UPDATE: Sheehan is charging the person who she asked to send the email with "anti-Semitism"*

"Sheehan now says she never wrote that, insisting her e-mail was "doctored" by a "former friend who is anti-Israel and wants to use the spotlight on me to push his anti-Semitism." In fact, the man who sent Sheehan's letter to ABC, James Morris, has posted his own messages on-line, condemning the war in Iraq as "all about Israel." But Morris says Cindy Sheehan's letter was "in no way doctored." - Brit Hume Fox News

"The email that Cindy Sheehan sent to me (which included a request to forward it to ABC's 'Nightline' on her behalf) was in no way doctored. I forwarded the original email (as received from Cindy this past March)to Emily Lenzner (who is handling the matter for ABC News) as she confirmed that she received it yesterday." - James Morris

"Indeed, it is the charge of “anti-Semitism” itself that is toxic. For this venerable slander is designed to nullify public discourse by smearing and intimidating foes and censoring and blacklisting them and any who would publish them." - - Patrick J. Buchanan The American Conservative

Sheehan's denial doesn't change the facts about the motives for attacking Iraq. In reference to Iraq, Philip Zelikow said during a war-on-terror forum at the University of Virginia Law School on Sept. 10, 2002: "Why would Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us?" he asked a crowd at the University of Virginia on Sep. 10, 2002", Philip Zelikow explains, "I'll tell you what the real threat [is] and actually has been since 1990 -- it's the threat against Israel. And this is the threat that dares not speak its name because...the American government doesn't want to lean too hard on it rhetorically because it's not a popular sell." Good research by David Peterson and William Blum

Philip Zelikow, was executive director of the September 11 commission. He also served on the National Security Council. He was on the Bush transition team, and was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 2001 to 2003. - Business Week Online ("Blame Bush for What Came After 9/11; The real issue isn't why the U.S wasn't ready for the attack, but why the Administration used the tragedy to invade Iraq," April 15). "Therein, the author, Ciro Scotti, quotes a speech that the 9/11 Commission's Executive Director, Philip D. Zelikow, delivered at the University of Virginia Law School on September 10, 2002---several months before the Bush regime empanelled the 9/11 Commission, and therefore several months before it appointed Zelikow to be its Executive Director." - David Peterson

Zelikow ADMITS that he said the war on Iraq was really about Israel's security and not about US security. See link: Philip Zelikow Executive Director for the 9/11 Commission on C-SPAN

"The Israeli lobby
Philip Zelikow is of the type of whom it is customarily said: "He has impeccable establishment credentials". He is currently executive director of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Between 2001 and 2003 he served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which reports directly to the president. Before his appointment to PFIAB he was part of the Bush transition team in January 2001. And in 1995 he co-authored a book with Condoleezza Rice.
It's recently been revealed that in 2002 he publicly stated that a prime motive for the upcoming invasion of Iraq was to eliminate a threat to Israel." The Anti-Empire Report, No. 9, April 3, 2004 by William Blum

*Was Sheehan pressured into denying what she originally wrote about the motive for the War on Iraq or is she under so much pressure that she doesn't remember correctly? Why isn't the media exploring if powerful individuals influenced our government to attack a country that didn't attack us, didn't threaten to attack us and had no connection to 9/11? Are Sheehan's PR people (Fenton Communications) the reason she is now backpedaling about writing the letter?

"Sheehan subsequently implied, through a spokesperson at Fenton Communications, that Morris had hacked into her e-mail. Later, Fenton Communications and Sheehan backed off the hacking claim, but both maintain that the words in the letter about Israel are not her own." — Blake Wilson Slate.com

"There is other proof that Sheehan wrote the whole letter. After she sent the letter to Morris, Sheehan also e-mailed it to several other people, including Tony Tersch, a retiree living in Thailand, and Skeeter Gallagher. Both belong to a small Internet bulletin board called Bull Yard. Tersch had become her correspondent after contacting her out of personal and political sympathy. At Gallagher's request, Tersch posted Sheehan's letter to Bull Yard on March 17. Here is the letter as it appears there. This is the version that has been circulating, and from which Slate quoted. Tersch has confirmed that he received the letter from Sheehan directly and has stated that he did not doctor the e-mail before posting it.

Unless Sheehan is the victim of an elaborate Morris-Tersch conspiracy quietly put in motion on March 17, months before she became famous, those are her words." — Blake Wilson Slate.com

"I believe Pat Buchanan's comment is right on track and useful. The late Ambassador George Ball said on several occasions that Israel lobby's most powerful instrument in intimidating critics of Israel is the reckless charge of anti-Semitism. Cindy is now under that reckless charge and trying to escape. I feel sorry for her. I hope I live long enough to see the day when the news media and the public at large permit unintimidated free speech in discussing U.S. policy in the Middle East. It is a sad but clear fact that Israel's lobby--consisting of both ultra-Orthodox and secular Jews as well as fundamentalist Christian elements--has a tight grip on U.S. policy in that region. It's the proverbial elephant in the room. Everyone knows the elephant is Israel, but hardly anyone is willing to mention it. Today, no one, not even a Gold Star mother, can note the gross pro-Israel bias in U.S. policy and its dreadful cost to the American people without being accused of anti-Semitism. Retired General Anthony Zinni is one of the rare exceptions. He identified the elephant publicly and stood his ground." - Paul Findley 08/20/2005

Paul Findley served 22 years as an Illinois congressman and was a senior member of the House Middle East Committee. Findley points out that there is an unwillingness for open debate among politicians with regard to U.S. policy in the Middle East and blames AIPAC. He points out the cause and effect of US support of Israel and the anger around the world because of this unjust support and the violent reactions to US support of Israel like the attacks on 9/11.