- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Angered
by President Bush's policy in Iraq, a group of military families whose
relatives died there is targeting the president in new television ads to
be aired ahead of the Nov. 2 election.
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- "I think the American people need to know that we
have been betrayed in this rush to war," said Cindy Sheehan, whose
son Casey is among the more than 1,000 U.S. troops who died in the
war.
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- Sheehan is joining a small group of military families
in Washington on Wednesday to launch new political ads by an interest group
called RealVoices.org, which supports Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's bid
for the White House.
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- "It's important that we get our troops home from
Iraq as soon as possible so no other families have to go through what we
are going through," said Sheehan of Vacaville, California.
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- The ads are expected to be aired nationally in the coming
weeks and in battleground cities of Las Vegas, Orlando and
Albuquerque.
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- In one ad, Sheehan is seen sobbing as she tells the story
of her son, 24-year-old Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who died in the arms of
one of his friends in Iraq on April 4, 2004.
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- Al Zappala is active in "Military Families Speak
Out" (www.mfso.org), a group that opposes the U.S. war in Iraq and
has about 1,700 families among its members. He is in Washington for the
ads and to attend a peace march on Saturday.
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- Zappala's son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed on April
26 in Iraq and was the first Pennsylvania National Guard soldier to die
in action since World War II.
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- "I feel so let down by the Bush
administration,"
said Zappala, who said Military Families Speak Out was a non-partisan
group.
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- OPPOSING VIEWS
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- Another group, "Military Moms with a Mission,"
is campaigning in 30 cities across America to tell people why they should
vote for Kerry.
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- "They are traveling the country telling people their
stories and why George Bush has let them down. Many are frustrated that
George Bush is not telling the truth about the reality in Iraq," said
Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton.
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- Countering this campaign to support Kerry are similar
groups who back Bush and his policy in Iraq.
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- Retired Air Force Capt. Linda Bergin is campaigning on
behalf of military families and others in New Jersey and says Bush is the
only leader capable of leading America following the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.
-
- She said many veterans and people still in the military
felt Kerry had been disloyal, particularly after he returned home from
Vietnam and criticized the U.S. presence there.
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- "People are heartbroken their people are over there
but out of respect of their child, they want to support the
president,"
she said.
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- Nancy Kennon, founder of the group "Security Moms
For Bush," said many military families had contacted her Web site
(www.moms4Bush.com) to lend their support and were sick of the negative
message pushed by the Kerry campaign.
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- "I have got some letters from active military moms
and they have been saddened by the negative spin," said Kennon, who
lives in Westchester, New York. She is the mother of young twin daughters
and does not have a child in the military.
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- The Bush campaign could not immediately be reached for
comment on the new ads.
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