My son, Specialist Casey Austin Sheehan, was killed in action in Sader City, Baghdad, on 04/04/04. He was in Iraq for only 2 weeks before Paul Bremer inflamed the Shiite militia into rebellion which resulted in the deaths of Casey and six other brave soldiers who were tragically killed in an ambush.

My friend Bill Mitchell, the father of Sergeant Mike Mitchell who was one of the other soldiers killed that awful day is here with us today.

This is picture of my son Casey when he was 7 months old. It's an enlargement of a picture he carried in his wallet until the day he was killed. He loved this picture of himself. It was returned to us with his personal effects from Iraq.

He always sucked on those two fingers. When he was born he had a flat face from passing through the birth canal and we called him Edward G., short for Edward G. Robinson. How many of you have ever seen your child in his or her premature coffin? It is a shocking and very painful sight. The most heart-breaking aspect of seeing Casey lying in his casket for me was that his face was flat again because he had no muscle tone. He looked like he did when he was a baby laying in his bassinet.

The most tragic irony is that if the Downing Street Memo proves to be true, Casey and thousands of people should still be alive.

I believe our leaders invaded Iraq in March 2003--I believe before our leaders Iraq in March 2003, and I am even more convinced now, that this aggression on Iraq was based on a lie of historic proportions and was blatantly unnecessary.

The so-called Downing Street Memo dated 23 July 2002, only confirms what I already suspected, the leadership of his country rushed us into an illegal invasion of another sovereign country on prefabricated and cherry-picked intelligence. Iraq was no threat to the United States of America, and the devastating sanctions and bombing against the Iraq were working.

As a matter of fact, in interviews in 1999 with respected journalist and long-time Bush family friend, Mickey Herskowitz, then Governor George Bush stated, "One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as commander in chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it.

I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency." It looks like George Bush was ready to lead this country into an avoidable war even before he became President.

From the expose of the Downing Street Memo and the conversations with George Bush from 1999, it seems like the invasion of Iraq and the deaths of so many innocent people were preordained. It appears that my boy Casey was given a death sentence even before he joined the Army in May 2000.

When a President lies to Congress and the American people, it is a serious offense. If the Downing Street Memo proves to be true, then it would appear that the President, Vice President and many members of the Cabinet deceived the world before the invasion of Iraq. As a result of this alleged lie, over 1,700 brave young Americans who were only trying to do their duties have come home in flag-draped coffins, images as if they were ashamed of our children, that our leaders won't even let the American public see.

Thousands upon thousands of Iraqis who were guilty only of the crime of living in Iraq are dead. Thousands of our young people will go through the rest of their lives missing one or more limbs, and too many will come home missing parts of their souls and humanity.

Kevin Lucey, who found his Marine son Jeffrey who was recently home from Iraq, hanging dead from a garden hose in his basement wrote to me, "We ask daily where was the urgency? Where was the necessity of rushing in? Can anyone explain to us, his mother and to his father, as to why he felt that he had to die by his own hand? Why are the ones in position of power so afraid to ask people like us to discuss what happened to Jeff? Jeff can teach us so much. This war was so misguided and had so many other agendas which had nothing to do with the country."

Kevin, who cradled his son when he was his sweet baby boy, cradled Jeff's lifeless body for the last time in his arms after he cut him down from the-- [Technical interruption.] MS. SHEEHAN: The Jeff that the Luceys saw march off to a reckless war was not the one who went home. The Jeff his family knew died in Iraq, murdered by the inhumanity of gratuitous war.

The deceptions of the trails that led to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq cost my family a price to dear to pay and almost too much to bear, the precious life of Casey. Casey was a good soldier who loved his family, his community, his country and his God. He was trustworthy and trusting, and the leadership of his country seemingly betrayed him. He was an indispensable part of our family, an bedient, sweet, funny and loving son to myself and his father, Pat, an adored big brother to his sisters Carley and Jane, and his brother Andy, and the beloved nephew to my sister, Auntie, who is here with me today. Our family has been devastated and town asunder by his murder.

I believe that the reasons that we citizens of the United States of America were given for the invasion of Iraq have unequivocally been proven to be false. I also believe that Casey and his buddies have been killed to line the pockets of already wealthy people and to feed the insatiable war machine that has always devoured our young.

Casey died saving his buddies, and I know so many of our brave young soldiers die doing the same thing. But he and his fellow members of the military should never have been sent to Iraq.

I know the family of Sergeant Sherwood Baker who was killed guarding a team that was looking for the mythic WMDs in Baghdad, the same WMDs that were the justification for invading Iraq as outlined in the Downing Street Memo. Sherwood's brother Dante Zappala and his dad Al Zappala are here with us today.

I believe the Downing Street Memo proves that our leaders betrayed too many innocents into an early grave. The lives of the ones left behind are shattered almost beyond repair.

I also believe an investigation into the Downing Street Memo is completely warranted and a necessary first step into writing the wrong that is Iraq, and holding someone accountable for the needless, senseless and avoidable deaths of many thousands.

As far as I an concerned, it doesn't matter if one is a Democrat or a Republican, a full investigation into the veracity of the Downing Street Memo must be initiated immediately.

Casey was not asked his political affiliation before he was sent to die in Iraq.

The innocent that are having their blood shed by the bucket full in Iraq don't even know or care what American partisan politicking is all about. Every minute that we waste in gathering signatures on petitions or arguing about partisan politics, more blood is being spilled in Iraq. How many more families here in America are going to get the visit from the grim reaper dressed in a U.S. military uniform while we are trying to get our congressional leadership to do their duties to the Constitution and to the people of America?

I believe that Congress expediently abrogated their constitutional responsibility to declare war when the passed the War Powers Act and they bear at least some responsibility for the needless heartache brought on this world by our government. I believe that supporting a full investigation into the

Downing Street Memo is a good beginning for Congress to redeem itself for abandoning the Constitution and the American people. There are too many stories of heartache and loss to tell at a hearing like this. I have got testimonies of other families who have been devastated by the war. Their soldiers' names are Sergeant Sherwood Baker, Kevin--04/26/04, First Lieutenant Neil Santoriello, killed in action 08/13/04, Sergeant Mike Mitchell, killed in action 04/04/04, Specialist Casey Sheehan, also killed in action 04/04/04, Lieutenant Jeff Taylor (ph), killed in action 04/07/03, Specialist Kevin Russell (ph), killed in action 04/19/05, Specialist Jonathan Castro killed in action 12/21/04, Private First Class William Pritchard killed in action 02/11/04, Specialist Joseph Blickenstaff killed in action 12/08/03, and First Lieutenant Kenneth Ballard killed in action 05/30/04.

I would like to the testimony put into the record and recorded for all to read the words of boundless love, bottomless loss and deep despair.

MR. CONYERS: Without objection so ordered. S. SHEEHAN: There are few people around the U.S. and a couple of my fellow witnesses who are a little justifiably worried that in my anger and anguish over Casey's premeditated death I would use some swear words as I have been known to do on occasion when speaking about the subject. Mr. Conyers, out of my deep respect for you, the other Representatives here, my fellow witnesses and viewers of these historic proceedings, I was able to make it through an entire testimony without using any profanity. [Laughter.]

MS. SHEEHAN: However, if anyone deserves to be angry and use profanity, it is I. What happened to Casey and humanity because of the apparent dearth of honesty in our country's leadership is to profane and it defines even my vocabulary skills.

We as Americans should be offended more by the profanity of the actions of this administration than by swear words. We have all heard the old adage that actions speak louder than words, and for the sake of Casey and our other precious children, please hold someone accountable for their actions and their words of deception.

Again I would like to thank you for inviting me to testify today and giving me a chance to tell my story which is the tragic story of too many families here in the U.S. and in Iraq. I hope and pray that this is the first step in exposing the lies to the light and bringing justice for the ones who can no longer speak for themselves. More importantly, I hope this is a step in bringing our other children home from Irq. Thank you.

MR. CONYERS: Very well said. We'll try to meet all of the commitments that you'd like us to. Ms. Sheehan, we thank you so much. HEARING ON THE "DOWNING STREET" MEMO

Thursday, June 16, 2005

2:30 p.m.

HC-9 The Capitol

Washington, D.C.

[TRANSCRIPT PREPARED FROM AN AUDIO RECORDING.]

�We will now call on the founder of the
8 Gold Star Families for American Peace, Ms. Cindy Sheehan. Welcome to this forum.

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