Photos From Berkeley Vigil for Cindy Sheehan: Acton St

Too bad you don't have a 16 or 17-35mm 2.8 but otherwise, professional quality.

CINDY UNLEASHED: 'THE BIGGEST TERRORIST IN THE WORLD IS GEORGE W. BUSH'

"We are not waging a war on terror in this country. We’re waging a war of terror. The biggest terrorist in the world is George W. Bush!"

So declared Cindy Sheehan earlier this year during a rally at San Francisco State University.

Sheehan, who is demanding a second meeting with Bush, stated: "We are waging a nuclear war in Iraq right now. That country is contaminated. It will be contaminated for practically eternity now."

Sheehan unleashed a foul-mouth tirade on April 27, 2005:

"They’re a bunch of fucking hypocrites! And we need to, we just need to rise up..." Sheehan said of the Bush administration.

"If George Bush believes his rhetoric and his bullshit, that this is a war for freedom and democracy, that he is spreading freedom and democracy, does he think every person he kills makes Iraq more free?"

"The whole world is damaged. Our humanity is damaged. If he thinks that it’s so important for Iraq to have a U.S.-imposed sense of freedom and democracy, then he needs to sign up his two little party-animal girls. They need to go to this war."

"We want our country back and, if we have to impeach everybody from George Bush down to the person who picks up dog shit in Washington, we will impeach all those people."

This sounds like still more black propaganda from the right.

See:

http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/08/1760006_comment.php#1760088

What are the aims of the peace movement? If the US withdraws from Iraq, who will rule? The proposed constitution would create a decentralized reasonably democratic country, probably controlled by the Shi'ite and Kurdish majority. Or will the Saddamist Sunni minority establish a military dictatorship again? Without the US forces who could stop them? I have not seen word one of anyone discussing this here.

We have no more right to decide who rules Iraq than Iraqis have to decide who rules America.

"will the Saddamist Sunni minority establish a military dictatorship again? Without the US forces who could stop them?"

The Shia majority with it militias (which are not part of the new Army) would pretty easilly fend off any former Bathist group from taking over Iraq. They cant "defeat" the Sunni insurgency ans stop all attacks but neither can the US. Sunni insurgency isnt a united group anyways, there are some seculra Baath nationalists but also religious groups completely at odds with them and the former government of Saddam.

The Kurds are well armed and well organized so the chance of anyone (including an elected central government) imposing their will on Northern Iraq seems pretty small. Thi bigest risk there is that a seperate Kuridsh state will likely result in crowss border raids by Kurdish groups into Turkey and Turkish military into N Iraq (which has alaerdy happened on a small scale).

The real danger of a new Iraq (with the US involved or not) is that most of Iraq or at least S Iraq will turn into an Iranian style theocracy. The religious Shiita groups won the most votes in the last election, are well armed and have a pretty solid leadership structure in Sistani and other Shia clergy. The Sunni and even the Kurds are not nearly as united.

The US being in Iraq delays things a bit but doesnt change the situation expcet for uniting most Iraqis against any group cooperating with the US (Jaafari's political future was probably made worse in the long run by his getting elected) If the US pulled out there could be major clashes between militia groups and perhaps evn a Yugoslavia scale ethnic conflict but its alos possible that attacks would decrease since they are already at high levels and the major groups in Iraq have similar goals; both the Kurdish militias and Shia militias want the country divided in two while Sunni groups just want to not be marginalized. A 3 state solution (2 united states and a failed state inbetween) would probably happen shortly after a US withdraw with alost all remaining fighting happening in central Iraq which would at least decrease fighting in the North and South.