Cindy Sheehan, a peace activist whose son was killed in Iraq in April 2004, received the Call to Action Leadership Award at the Call to Action Conference held in the Midwest Airlines Center Saturday. Sheehan spoke with the Tribune's Joe Boesen after arriving in Milwaukee.

Q: What are you going to do at the sit-in at Washington later this weekend and next week?

A: We are going to Virginia to put civilian shoes in front of Sen. George Allen's office because he is a big supporter of the war and a big supporter of George Bush's policies. We have nearly 700,000 pairs of shoes that represent all the dead Iraq civilians.

We are going to a few Maryland polling places and will have a press conference about voting for peace. . Monday and Tuesday we are going to be calling people reminding them to vote for peace. Wednesday our actions are going to depend on what happens Tuesday. We could be saying, "Oh no, they stole another election" or the Democrats are in control and we need to keep the pressure on them and make the people who are anti-war keep their promises. It is going to take grass-roots to end the war.

Q: Why are there no widespread protests of this war like those of the Vietnam era?

A: The protests for the Vietnam War did not really start until 1966 or 1967 when the war had already been going on for years. Protests for the Iraq War started before the invasion actually began, so the protests for Iraq are way ahead of the Vietnam protests.

Q: What do you consider yourself as? A mother? An anti-war protester?

A: I consider myself a mother who is a peace activist. First and foremost, I consider myself a human being.

Q: What is the Iraq War to you?

A: To me it always has been an illegal immoral invasion, an unnecessary adventure or misadventure. It was the place where my son was killed. It is a war where over 2,700 American troops have been killed. We invaded a country that posed no preemptive threat to us. It is a preemptive, preventive, immoral war.

Q: Why do you think the killed and wounded have become a footnote in the news?

A: Well, you know, George Bush actually called them a comma. He said in history they are just going to be a comma. Our children who died in this war are going to be honored for their sacrifices, for giving up their lives for peace. The killed and wounded are an afterthought for the media because the media is a propaganda tool for the government. The government does not want us to see the horribly wounded unless they are war supporters jogging with George Bush. We do not see images of war because if there was widespread coverage, the people would not support the war.

Q: What is your message for college students? What actions can they take now to make a brighter future?

A: I speak at colleges a lot and I have a few messages for them. First of all, don't believe that one person cannot make a difference. I used to think that before my son died, and after my son was killed I thought well, if I can't make a difference, at least I'll try. I think it's up to each and every human being on the planet to try and make this place a better place. They don't have to do big things like me, or other people, but they should just pick something they care about and work for it. It could be the homeless, peace, social justice, anything you care about. Realize that this is your world today, not just your world in the future. It is up to young people to be the change that they want to see, like Gandhi said.

Q: How have your views changed since you have gained more supporters?

A: I know that one person can make a difference because I am only one person and have made a huge difference, but my views on the war have not changed but have only been refined. Also my views on war and peace have changed. I used to be a basic pacifist and thought that some wars were good, like World War II, but now I have changed my views and believe that no war is good, that violence only brings more violence. We wouldn't have had WWII if it hadn't been for WWI. So I am against any form of violence, state sponsored or individual violence. I'm going to be a Buddhist raking off the ants of the sand. I can't even kill spiders anymore.

Q: Would you say that the power and influence you have now is due to the love for your son?

A: Well, it's the love of my son – Casey is my hero – but also the love of my other children. You know I want to make the world a better place for them but also for all the children of the world. No matter what I do, I am not going to bring my son back but there are millions of people in harm's way in Iraq. They keep me motivated and help me get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and get on another plane and go all over the world to try and unite humanity as one in opposition to our leaders who are so quick to have us kill each other and if we were united as one we would not allow them to kill or brothers and sisters.

Q: What do you want from President Bush?

A: I want him to bring the troops home. He has already said a million times that he is not going to do that as president. So part of my year in 2007 is to try and build a strong coalition that would call for his impeachment and remove him from office and find some kind of punishment in the world court or whatever. I think that wars are only going to end when the people who get our countries into them, pay for them. I really think our leaders need to be imprisoned for crimes against humanity.