Iraq War Grief Daily Witness (photo) Day 171

11 Comments

1. 

   RubDMC on November 13, 2005 at 8:33 am

   

   Click on the candle to copy the image into your own comment (you can leave it on my server), and/or rate this one – not for mojo, but to leave a small mark after taking this moment.

2. 

   wanderindiana on November 13, 2005 at 9:31 am

   

3. 

   dada on November 13, 2005 at 10:54 am

   

   Peace

4. 

   Oui on November 13, 2005 at 11:09 am

   .

   For all victims of state terror and torture …

   Chechnya – Uzbekistan – Azerbaijan – Jordan – Syria – Israel – Saudi Arabia – Iraq – China – Russia – United States – etcetera

    

   WASHINGTON (Reuters) Nov. 3, 2005 — The United States has sought to justify the detention of thousands of foreign terror suspects in a report to a UN panel as questions mount over possible secret CIA prisons for al Qaeda captives.

   In a report sent late last month to the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva, the State Department gave its rationale for the holding “enemy combatants” in Afghanistan, Iraq and the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The report did not cover detainees held elsewhere.

   “There is no question that under the law of armed conflict, the United States has the authority to detain persons who have engaged in unlawful belligerence until the cessation of hostilities,” said the October 21 report, which was recently published on the State Department’s Web site (http://www.state.gov).

   “Like other wars, when they start we do not know when they will end. Still, we may detain combatants until the end of the war,” the report said.

   Washington’s human rights image has taken a battering abroad over a string of scandals involving the sexual and physical abuse of detainees held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and in Guantanamo Bay.  

   ###

   Sorry … Need More Candles in the 21th Century

     «« click on pic to enlarge

   “Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
   For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”

   ▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY

5. 

   shermanesqe on November 13, 2005 at 12:00 pm

   

6. 

   jimstaro on November 13, 2005 at 12:47 pm

   
   Light A Candle For
   Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
   and For Innocence Lost!

   Senator John McCain: Torture’s Terrible Toll
   Senator John McCain (R-AZ) conveys why the US should staunchly oppose ‘cruel, inhumane, or degrading’ treatment of all detainees in the course of interrogations.

   Frank Rich: ‘We Do Not Torture’ and Other Funny Stories
   From fables to false fortunes, Frank Rich views the Bush Administrations and Republicans alike as reciting compelling hyperboles of a government that does not condone torture, on the brink of a GOP victory over an anti-torture bill.

   IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE
   END THE OCCUPATION

   The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complaceny to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependency back again into bondage.
   Sir Alex Fraser Tyler: (1742-1813) Scottish jurist and historian

   When even one American-who has done nothing wrong-is forced by fear to shut his
   mind and close his mouth-then all Americans are in peril:
   Harry S. Truman

7. 

   BrendaStewart on November 13, 2005 at 1:01 pm

   

   Frankly, RUB, I will so very glad when we can get rid of your diary, once and for all!  IN the mean time, I really do appreciate you so much.  Hugs.  PEACE……

8. 

   alohaleezy on November 13, 2005 at 7:04 pm

   How many more? Three more today as far as the American soldiers go. What was it five yesterday? Love those last throes of the insurgency Darth.

9. 

   DuctapeFatwa on November 13, 2005 at 10:41 pm

   During the course of my job this past Saturday night (September 17, 2005) in St. Louis, MO I ran across a rather interesting group of US soldiers.

   The soldiers were part of a wedding party for a fellow soldier whose wedding was held in St. Louis. The wedding reception was held at Club Europe on Washington Avenue in the downtown entertainment district.

   I picked up a group of two white males and one Latino male who were dressed to party and they wanted to go Harry’s which is another popular downtown St. Louis party spot. The group was immediately rude and disruptive and within a minute I almost had a physical confrontation with the Latino male who was sitting in the backseat of my car.

   The three men were engaged in a conversation about a woman they had just seen. Without being too crude I will just say that the gentleman sitting in the front seat with me was a homosexual, and the two men in the backseat were heterosexual, and the were asking the gay man how was it possible that he could not admire the anatomy of the woman they had just seen. That is when the Latino male looked at me and called me a “fag” and asked me what I thought. At that point I attempted to remove him from my car but the other two men calmed the situation down.

   The man apologized and said “you know I’m just back from Iraq and I’m acting a little crazy… in Iraq we can do whatever. You think they put all that shit on the news? Man ask anybody we rape those bitches over there and we take their men and blow their brains out just like that and nobody ever knows.”

   Not knowing how to respond to that he changed the subject and said “I can’t wait for the race war man. I feel like killin some honkies and some Puerto Ricans. They need to invent a gun that can tell the difference between a Mexican and a Puerto Rican so we can kill all the Puerto Ricans.”

   Then he looked at me and said “You Muslim muthafucka man I should kill your faggot Muslim ass.” The other two laughed and then the gay soldier sitting next to me said “don’t worry I don’t think he is a Muslim”. This of course is wrong because I am a Muslim.

   At that point I was just ready to get them out of my car and was nervous by the fact that I had my back to the two men in the backseat and wouldn’t be in a good position to defend myself if something jumped off so I tried to make conversation with them and I asked them if they were marines.

   “Hell no we are not marines. We are army man, Special Forces. We are the muthafuckas that are over there in Iraq killing people all the time. Man that shit is fun believe me. You don’t think it is fun to just go around shootin muthafuckas and cutting their throats and nobody can do shit? You just don’t know man we are over there having fun but we are stressed.” The other man in the back seat said.

   “In Iraq when you are stressed you can just take out you stress by killing someone. You can go pull your dick out and smack it in some Muslim bitches face but here you just walk around tired and stressed and that’s why I want to go back to Iraq; but I feel like killin someone for real and when I step up in this club with my knife don’t be surprised if I kill a muthafucka.”

   Are these soldiers telling the truth or are they just boasting? Why would they lie about raping women? Who would they impress after all I don’t know anyone who is impressed by a rapist?

   What kind of psychological treatment are these men getting after coming home from Iraq? Are they reflective of other soldiers?

   What I found more disturbing was the fact that when I shared this news with people they just shrugged it off by saying things like “you know they have a tough job over there” or “man those guys are under a lot of stress.”…

   nerdified link

   • 

     Oui on November 14, 2005 at 5:37 am

     .

     “A horrible disaster.” Report from Fallujah:

     plus blog comments to article.

     Reminded me of a late report or documentary how marines managed to survive the Vietnam War, where killing the enemy became a sexual desire.

     Women Will Have to Save the World

     

     LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis

     “Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
     For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”

     ▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY

10. 

    Oui on November 14, 2005 at 5:52 am

    .

    “We aren’t here to do the decent thing” ::
    Saving Private Ryan and the Morality of War
    William J. Prior

    That this determination is intended as a reflection of the character of the nation he serves is shown by Marshall’s defense of his decision: he reads from a famous letter from Abraham Lincoln to a Mrs. Bixby, who lost her sons in the Civil War. The letter is filled with the values of national morality:

    Executive Mansion,
    Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.

    Dear Madam,

    I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

    I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

    I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

    Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

    A. Lincoln

    

    LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis

    “Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
    For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”

    ▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY