RALEIGH - "Katrina" was the buzzword on everyone's lips Thursday evening as protester Cindy Sheehan and her supporters met to speak out against the war in Iraq at the the McKimmon Center in Raleigh-one of 51 cities on the "Bring Them Home Now" tour.
The evening's speakers chose topics beyond the scope of the Iraq war-challenging President George W. Bush and his administration's handling of issues such as hurricane disaster relief, Sept. 11, 2001 and the invasion of Afghanistan.
"Congress, this administration and the media- the mainstream media-their hands are blood-stained," Sheehan said.
Sheehan, founder of the campaign, gained international notoriety in August by setting up camp outside Bush's home in Crawford, Texas, and demanding to speak with the president about the war. Sheehan's 24-year-old son Casey was killed in action April 2004, and she named the Texas site "Camp Casey" in his honor.
"My biggest regret is that I didn't stand-up [against the war] before my son was killed," she said. "I know I can't bring back Casey. I know I can't bring back Brooke's cousin... I can't bring back Jean's son-but you know what? We can work to save the other people who are in harm's way, we can work- to save the Iraqi people."
An anti-war march in Durham-another stop on the Bring Them Home Now bus tour-will be held Saturday. The march will begin at Brightleaf Square and continue down Main Street and Ninth Street, ultimately ending at East Campus, where "Camp Casey Duke" will be located. The march, however, is not a University-sponsored event.
Sheehan and Camp Casey have garnered a string of national supporters, including Medea Benjamin-co-founder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace-who was also present Thursday. As one of the night's highlighted speakers, Benjamin spoke strongly against the war and the validity of the original motives as presented by the administration.
"Their lives are going backwards; that is not democracy," Benjamin said, referring to Iraqi civilians. "The longer the U.S. is there the more likely civil war [in Iraq] is inevitable."
Several Triangle-area guests were also on hand to encourage the audience to spread Sheehan's message throughout the region.
"How is it possible-in the post-9/11 world-that we could be completely unprepared for a hurricane?" said David Potorti, local resident and co-director of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.
"We are less prepared, less safe- than we were four years ago."
Speakers also emphasized that a central motive of the nationwide bus tour was the promotion of an anti-Iraq war march on Washington, D.C., scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 24.
Bring Them Home Now's Thursday presentation in Raleigh was primarily sponsored by the North Carolina Peace and Justice Coalition and was hosted by North Carolina State University Campus Greens. Though the event was held on N.C. State's campus, the audience was largely-middle aged and included more than a dozen veterans.
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