Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009

Anti-war activist to speak in Brunswick County

ASH, N.C. -- Peace activist Cindy Sheehan will give a speech Monday at Brunswick Community College that likely will include much more than ending America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and aim at a broader concept than that of an anti-war agenda.

Sheehan wants to end the military-industrial complex she believes is at the base of the country's inability to deal with other pressing problems and hopes to create a broad-based coalition of support.

Sheehan first rose to international fame when she camped out at former President George Bush's Texas ranch seeking to talk with him after her son, Casey Sheehan, was killed in the Iraq war in 2004.

Her upcoming appearance has given birth to a drive for a "support the troops" demonstration at the college shortly before she speaks. But college officials say demonstrators have not yet applied for a required permit to rally on college property, and Sheehan said they are improperly motivated if they are protesting her appearance because they believe she demonstrated at a military funeral, as one of the organizers said.

"That's absolutely 100 percent false," she said Monday. "The only military funeral I've ever been to is my son's."

The demonstration is the idea of Brunswick resident Christy Judah, who ran unsuccessfully for the Brunswick County Board of Education last year.

Judah said she is upset because she believes Sheehan protested at a military funeral. She could not give specific details about the funeral she says Sheehan protested, but said it was covered on national news.

Judah, a Democrat, doesn't argue with Sheehan's right to her opinion and insisted the demonstration she wants has nothing to do with politics.

"This is an America issue," she said. "This is a support the U.S. military issue."

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Bowman is to appear with Sheehan at five stops in North Carolina.

Bowman is a Vietnam veteran who directed the Strategic Defense Initiative during the administrations of former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. He also is the former director of the Advanced Space Programs Development for the U.S. Air Force and founder of the United Catholic Church, according to a biography provided by N.C. Peace Action, which organized the joint tour.

For 30 years, the biographical information said, he has devoted his life to peace.

The two are to give speeches in their 7 p.m. appearance at Odell Williamson Auditorium and to discuss what they feel is the best course to achieve their goals. Their speeches will be preceded by a presentation of the history of the anti-war movement in the United States and followed by a question and answer session, said Barbara Stanley of Shallotte, who helped to organize the event.

Stanley said she's afraid that news of the counter-demonstration will scare away some who otherwise would have gone to see Sheehan and Bowman.

But the college's rules for such demonstrations make that highly unlikely. The college limits such demonstrations to a courtyard between two buildings at its main campus, some distance from the auditorium.

The college's rules stipulate that demonstrators are not allowed to yell at or try to intimidate others. Those who do not follow the rules may be subject to criminal prosecution, according to the school's free speech policy.

Sheehan said she may seek out Judah and invite her inside to hear the program.

Sheehan said she and Judah likely share more than most would think. She calls herself and the rest of the middle class the other class. Those in higher economic strata she calls the robber class, and says that having members of the middle class fight among themselves is to the benefit of the robber class, which benefits from the strife.

"I have more in common with [Judah] and she has more in common with me," Sheehan said, "than [for instance] I support Barack Obama and she supports George Bush."