this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
in special recognition today of over 2,000 US soldiers and countless thousands of Iraqis dead
4 images, prayer, and poem below the fold
The mother, name not given, of Iraqi Industry Minister Advisor, Ayed Abdul-Ghani, grieves next to his body as a man tries to support her in Baghdad, Iraq, in this Tuesday Oct. 18, 2005 file photo. Unidentified gunmen shot him as he was driving to work Tuesday morning Maj.Falah Al-Mohammedawi of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. The number of Iraqis who have died violently since the U.S.-led invasion is many times larger than the U.S. military death toll of 2,000 in the country. In one sign of the enormity of the Iraqi loss, an Associated Press count found that in the last six months alone, at least 3,870 civilians died.
(AP Photo/Mohammed Uraibi)
U.S. Army Sgt. Joey Bozik works out in the physical therapy room next to his wife Jayme (R) at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. October 19, 2005. Bozik lost two legs and one arm from a landmine explosion in Iraq where he served with the 118th Military Police Company (Airborne) from Ft. Bragg, N.C.
REUTERS/Larry Downing
How long, O LORD? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?
Hear their arrogance! How these evildoers boast!
They oppress your people, LORD, hurting those you love.
They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. “The LORD isn’t looking,” they say, “and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.”Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on?
Is the one who made your ears deaf? Is the one who formed your eyes blind?
He punishes the nations–won’t he also punish you? He knows everything–doesn’t he also know what you are doing?…Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side — leaders who permit injustice by their laws?
They attack the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
But the LORD is my fortress; my God is a mighty rock where I can hide.
God will make the sins of evil people fall back upon them. He will destroy them for their sins.from Psalm 94
U.S. Captain Denar Joyner holds Ayya’s hands during a surgery at a military hospital at Base Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq October 25, 2005. Three-year-old Ayaa Jassem has a congenital tumor in the tongue that nearly smothered her to death. She is under treatment at the U.S. military hospital in Base Speicher, where she undergoes radio frequency ablation surgery to destroy the tumor and to reduce the size of her tongue. Surgeon Major Lisa Shiver, who is in charge of the treatment, expects results after 5 to 6 operations. Doctors at the hospital attribute Iraq’s high number of birth defects to the large number of same-family marriages and the lack of vaccines as a result of sanctions against the former government of Saddam Hussein.
REUTERS/Jorge Silva
A woman places one of 2,000 candles on the ground during a ceremony in Oakland, California, October 25, 2005 in memory of the 2,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. The death of an army sergeant pushed the U.S. military death toll in Iraq to the landmark figure of 2,000, but President George W. Bush warned more sacrifices were needed before U.S. troops could come home.
REUTERS/Kimberly White
As Well as They Can
by A. D. Hope
As well as it can, the hooked fish while it dies,
Gasping for life, threshing in terror and pain,
Its torn mouth parched, grit in its delicate eyes,
Thinks of its pool again.
As well as he can, the poet, blind, betrayed
Distracted by the groaning mill, among
The jostle of slaves, the clatter, the lash of trade,
Taps the pure source of song.
As well as I can, my heart in this bleak air,
The empty days, the waste nights since you went,
Recalls your warmth, your smile, the grace and stir
That were its element.
– – –
view the pbs newshour silent honor roll (with thanks to jimstaro at booman.)
support veterans for peace
support the Iraqi people
support the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)
support CARE
support the victims of torture
remember the fallen
support Gold Star Families for Peace
support the fallen
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support the troops and the Iraqi people
read This is what John Kerry did today, the diary by lawnorder that prompted this series
read Riverbend’s Bagdhad Burning
read Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches
read Today in Iraq
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