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.
image and poem below the fold
A woman reacts as she receives medical treatment at the site of a collapsed building after two early morning explosions in central Baghdad November 18, 2005. Two suicide car bombs exploded near a hotel used by foreigners in central Baghdad on Friday and initial reports said at least six people were killed, including two children, and 40 wounded, police said.
REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani
An injured man leaves a hospital in Baghdad where he was treated for injuries he sustained from a suicide bomb blast November 18, 2005. Two suicide car bombs exploded near a hotel used by foreigners in central Baghdad on Friday and initial reports said at least six people were killed, including two children, and 40 wounded, police said.
REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa) calls for the withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from Iraq while at a news conference on Capitol Hill November 17, 2005.
(Larry Downing/Reuters)
from Poem I
by Sappho
Come to me now, too, and set me free
From bitter cares, and do everything
That my heart wishes done; and you yourself
Become my ally.
– – –
view the pbs newshour silent honor roll (with thanks to jimstaro at booman.)
take a private moment to light one candle among many (with thanks to TXSharon)
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 Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors – TAPS
support Gold Star Families for Peace
support the fallen
support the troops
support Iraq Veterans Against the War
support Military families Speak Out
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
witness every day
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.
” I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”
from Dirge Without Music
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
The complete poem is included here.
Peace
Iraq suicide attacks kill dozens
…is one step closer to Peace. That I may have the strength to change a few today.
Copy and paste this to light your own candle:
<img src=”http://www.jsoucy.org/iraq/images/candle_flame_1.gif“ height=”68″ width=”52″ />
And who’s child, who’s brother, sister, mother, father shall we ask to be the last to die?
OUT OF IRAQ NOW!
.
A soldier’s life is worth how many dollars?
By James Glanz The New York Times
NEW YORK Nov. 18, 2005 — A North Carolina man who has been charged with accepting kickbacks and bribes was hired as a controller and financial officer for the American occupation authority in Iraq despite having served prison time for felony fraud in the 1990s.
The job gave the man, Robert Stein, control over $82 million in cash earmarked for Iraqi rebuilding projects.
Along with a web of other conspirators who have not yet been identified, Stein and his wife received “bribes, kickbacks and gratuities amounting to at least $200,000 per month” to steer lucrative construction contracts to companies run by another American, Philip Bloom, an affidavit outlining the criminal complaint says.
The affidavit, filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, said Stein, 50, was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, interstate transportation of stolen property and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
But the list of charges does little justice to the astonishing brazenness of the accusations described in the complaint, including a wire transfer of a $140,000 bribe, arranged by Bloom, to buy real estate for Stein in North Carolina. The affidavit also says that $65,762.63 was spent to buy cars for Stein and his wife (he bought a Chevrolet; she a Toyota), $44,471 for home improvements and $48,073 for jewelry out of $258,000 sent directly to the Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union into accounts controlled by the Steins.
Dale Stoffel, 43, of Monongahela, was shot to death Dec. 8, 2004 in a roadside ambush while returning to Baghdad after discussing the corruption claims with coalition military officials at a northern Iraqi military base. Stoffel’s business associate, Joseph Wemple, 49, of Orlando, Fla., also was killed.
The killings came after Stoffel alerted senior U.S. officials in Washington that Iraqi Defense Ministry officials were part of a kickback scheme involving a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to his company, Wye Oak Technology, to refurbish old Iraqi military equipment, the Los Angeles Times reported.
ARLINGTON, Va. Nov. 18 — The Army and Marines are recalling 18,425 Outer Tactical Vests that “do not meet contract specifications,” the Marines announced Thursday.
“The limited recall only affects the OTV and not the Small Arms Protective Inserts (SAPI),” the statement said. “The OTV is the carrier for the SAPI plates, and no vests are currently being worn without the SAPI plates.”
LEAVE … Iraq to the Iraqis
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY
Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For Innocence Lost!
Our Monsters In Iraq
by Robert Dreyfuss, TomPaine.com
The revelation of Iranian-backed, government-run torture centers and death squads makes it clear that we replaced Saddam with something equally evil.
Baghdad Burning – Riverbend
Friday, November 18, 2005 House of Horrors…
New Book by VFP member Edward Tick
War and the Soul by Edward Tick, Ph.D.
War and the Soul:
Healing Our Nation’s Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
by Edward Tick
The New England Journal of Medicine reports that 16 percent (one in eight) of returning Iraq veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Such vets typically can’t hold jobs. They are incapable of intimacy, creative work, and self-realization. Some can’t leave the house because they are afraid they will kill or be killed.
The key to healing, says psychotherapist Ed Tick, is in how we understand PTSD. In war’s overwhelming violence, the soul–the true self–flees and can become lost for life. He redefines PTSD as a true identity disorder, with radical implications for therapy. First, Tick establishes the traditional context of war in mythology and religion. Then he describes in depth PTSD in terms of identity issues. Finally, drawing on world spiritual traditions, he presents ways to nurture a positive identity based in compassion and forgiveness.
War and the Soul will change the way we think about war, for veterans and for all those who love and want to help them. It shows how to make the wounded soul whole again. When this work is achieved, PTSD vanishes and the veteran can truly return home.
No ‘Respect’ For Our Service To Country, Just Hunger For HUGE Profits Made With HUGE Defense Budgets, That’s ALL THEY STAND FOR!!!!
Yesterday, an extraordinary congressman, former Marine Drill Sergeant and decorated Vietnam veteran, spoke out on the war in Iraq. He didn’t come to that moment lightly. He spoke his mind and spoke his heart out of love for his country and support for our troops. No sooner had the words left his lips than the vicious assault on his character and patriotism began.
Today, in a statement on the Senate floor, in interviews with the national media, and in this message to you, I am seeking out every opportunity to defend a brave American hero that the Republican attack machine has set their sights on.
I urge you to do the same. Whether you agree or disagree with Jack Murtha is irrelevant. These despicable attacks on Jack Murtha’s patriotism and courage must be met with an enormous public outcry. Call your local talk radio show, write a letter to the editor, phone your members of Congress – join me in acting now to reject these “Swift Boat” style attacks on Jack Murtha.
It disgusts me that a bunch of guys who have never put on the uniform of their country have aimed their venom at a marine who served America heroically in Vietnam and has been serving heroically in Congress ever since. No matter what J.D. Hayworth says, there is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha’s character and conscience.
Dennis Hastert — the Speaker of the House who never served — accused Jack Murtha of being a coward. Well let me tell you, Jack Murtha wasn’t a coward when he put himself in harm’s way for his country in Vietnam and earned two purple hearts — he was a patriot then, and he is a patriot today. Jack Murtha’s courage in combat earned him a Bronze Star, and his voice should be heard, not silenced by those who still today cut and run from the truth.
Instead of letting his cronies run their mouths, the President for once should stop his allies from doing to Jack Murtha what he set them loose to do to John McCain in South Carolina and Max Cleland in Georgia.
The President should finally find the courage to debate the real issue instead of destroying anyone who speaks truth to power as they see it. It’s time for Americans to stand up, fight back, and make it clear it’s unacceptable to do this to any leader of any party anywhere in our country.
I urge you to join today in a massive public outcry that rejects the attempt to demonize and destroy anyone who dares to disagree with George W. Bush’s aimless “stay for as long as it takes” policy on Iraq.
Please act now. Call and email your elected officials. Flood talk radio with calls rejecting these vicious smear tactics. Send a letter to the editor. Express your outrage about the tired old Rovian “Swift Boat” style attacks on Jack Murtha.
Sincerely,
John Kerry
Please Give and Help This Orginization Grow
Veterans Add Service To Signature – And Start Adding It To Everything You Send, Sign, Whatever!!!!! [I did and do after Last Name, And I’m Declaring A Non-Violent WAR on ChickenHawks and Swift Boaters, I’m Sick and Tired of the VERBAL SPITTING and DESECRATING OUR SERVICE TO COUNTRY]
Join The Bill O’Reilly Blacklist
Join Bill O’Reilly’s Blacklist:
Bill O’Reilly recently put the city of San Francisco on notice
“If Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we’re not going to do anything about it.”
O’Reilly insisted that this statement was “not controversial” and blamed the uproar on “far left Internet smear sites.”
Then O’Reilly promised to publish a blacklist to publicly intimidate his “enemies”:
“I’m glad the smear sites made a big deal out of it. Now we can all know who was with the anti-military Internet crowd. We’ll post the names of all who support the smear merchants on billoreilly.com.”
In this case, being on O’Reilly’s enemy list is an honor. Join Bill O’Reilly’s blacklist by entering your name below. I’ll collect the names and hand deliver them to Mr. O’Reilly the next time I’m on the Factor (and if he won’t have me back, I’ll bring them to his studio anyway).
Join the O’Reilly Blacklist HERE
The days of American occupation are now numbered, for the struggle in Congress has finally begun, but I grieve for those who will lose thier lives between now and then and all those lost before.
some day we will all look abavk at this and say shame, shame shame………
Peace……….
a stop to this madness. Thank you, Thank you Rep. Murtha for your courage this week.
I light this candle in honor of Congressman Murtha finally seeing the light…