this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
we honor courage in all its forms
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
image and poem below the fold
An Iraqi looks through the widow of the emergency room of a hospital at civilians who were wounded in a car bomb blast near a Sunni mosque, south of Baghdad. Seven Iraqis were killed and 22 wounded in the blast.
(AFP/Karim Sahib)
After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard
by Charles Wright
East of me, west of me, full summer.
How deeper than elsewhere the dusk is in your own yard.
Birds fly back and forth across the lawn
looking for home
As night drifts up like a little boat.
Day after day, I become of less use to myself.
Like this mockingbird,
I flit from one thing to the next.
What do I have to look forward to at fifty-four?
Tomorrow is dark.
Day-after-tomorrow is darker still.
The sky dogs are whimpering.
Fireflies are dragging the hush of evening
up from the damp grass.
Into the world’s tumult, into the chaos of every day,
Go quietly, quietly.
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put a meaningful magnet on your car or metal filing cabinet
read Ilona’s new blog – PTSD Combat
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
Peace
A different, but equally fitting remembrance for suffering!
17 killed, including seven policeman, in Iraq
That I am starting to become numb.
I don’t think it’s numbness, AlohaLeezy…
It could be stillness. Your heart and mind trying to find the balancing act of witnessing, rage, sadness, frustration and shock. AKA perhaps your heart is protecting you from what your eyes are seeing… because it knows you need a mental breather so you can continue.
Even when we scream… we still need a moment of silence so as to catch our breath so we can scream so more.
xoxo
could it be that we are all feeling despair and hopelessness? I know there are more days like that for me than I would like to talk about. There seems not to be any ending of all of this death. All I know is my heart aches all the time now.
To be truly honest here, I must confess that I wish I didn’t care so much sometimes. It is so painful. I am happy though that there people like you Janet, Super, Brenda…well just all of you that keep me caring.
WANTS ANOTHER STUDY OF PTSD – [below]
Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children – Innocence Lost!
“The war against Iraq is as disastrous as it is unnecessary; perhaps in terms of its wisdom, purpose and motives, the worst war in American history…. Our military men and women…were not called to defend America but rather to attack Iraq. They were not called to die for, but rather to kill for, their country. What more unpatriotic thing could we have asked of our sons and daughters…?”: William Sloane Coffin Biography – Clergyman, Social Activist 1924-
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The Caliphate Myth
by Tom Porteous, TomPaine.com
A new bad idea is being used to justify the "long war" against terrorism: the revival of the Islamic caliphate.
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“After the invasion of Iraq, I again heard from Vietnamese the excuse that Americans were good people who happened to have bad leaders. I wondered how long we can get away with that one. My fear is that we are no longer a nation at war but have become a nation of war. My hope is that we will pull back from empire and once again embrace our republic.”: Peter Davis Biography – Filmmaker, Journalist, Writer, 1937-
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Frog-marching the Media to the Gallows
By Mike Whitney
The Times has proved once again that the elite-media is a steadfast partner in mobilizing the masses for unpopular wars. Despite the countless thousands of innocent people who have already been killed by the Time's fear-mongering coverage of "imaginary" Iraqi WMD, the editors continue to use the corporate-bullhorn to call the nation to arms.
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“Part of the main plan of imperialism… is that we will give you your history, we will write it for you, we will re-order the past…What’s more truly frightening is the defacement, the mutilation, and ultimately the eradication of history in order to create…an order that is favorable to the United States.” : Edward Said Biography – Palestinian Activist, Literary Critic, Writer, Musician, 1935-2003
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France Invades U.S.
"Freedom Isn't Free"
By Jerry Ghinelli
With the French occupation of the US now entering its third year, in a surprising new development, the government of Jacques Chirac today approved vast new economic measures needed to adequately finance the liberation of the US, commonly referred to as Operation American Freedom. Called the PetroEuro Transatlantic Oil Liberation Act (Petrol for short), effective immediately, all Americans must now convert their dollars into euros in order to purchase gasoline for their vehicles.
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“Kids don’t have a little brother working in the coal mine, they don’t have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the looms of the big mill towns of the Northeast. Why? Because we organized; we broke the back of the sweatshops in this country; we have child labor laws. Those were not benevolent gifts from enlightened management. They were fought for, they were bled for, they were died for by working people, by people like us. Kids ought to know that. “: Bruce “Utah” Phillips Biography – Songwriter, Storyteller, Humorist, Philosopher, 1935
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Pass It On: Time To Hunt Bigger Game
by CrooksAndLiars.com
Two Republicans -- that's right, Republicans -- said on 'Fox News Sunday' yesterday that Vice President Cheney should be investigated for his connection to the Valerie Plame leak case.
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Number Of Iraqi civilians Slaughtered In America’s War 100,000 +
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush’s War 2267
The War in Iraq Costs $240,439,939,931 See the cost in your community
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Army of Iraq war veterans 'suffering brain damage'
THE hardest part of Jason Poole's day is his early morning confrontation with the face staring back at him from his bathroom mirror. In the past 18 months, plastic surgeons have rebuilt it five times.
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“All experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for thir future security.” : The Declaration of Independence (1776)
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ANYTIME THE VA WANTS ANOTHER STUDY OF PTSD –
WE HAVE B.G. BURKETT’S “STOLEN VALOR” TO THANK!
Not having the balls to blatantly stab Veterans in the back here in the United States, B.G. Burkett and his right-wing Tugboat crew of Veterans for Bush have taken their “Stolen Valor” views to turn back the clock on research and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) across the border to Canada for discussion.
In doing follow up research on the roll of toilet paper “Stolen Valor,” I ran across this association to B.G. Burkett.
A 2005 Guest Editorial in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry called “Troubles in Traumatology” in which Burkett is thanked for his contributions and comments, although B.G. Burkett is neither a Psychiatrist nor has a PhD in Psychology. What is wrong with this picture?
CJ Publications-Guest Editorial
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"No, war is not Hell. War is worse than Hell. There are no innocent bystanders
in Hell, but war is full of them."
- CPT Benj. Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, 4077th M*A*S*H
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What ‘We’re’ Paying For The Propaganda – At Least Known!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bush Administration Spent Over $1.6 Billion on Advertising and Public Relations Contracts Since 2003, GAO Finds
t r u t h o u t | Press Release
Monday 13 February 2006
Tom Chelston – Young Vet Navy/Marine Medic of Tom Songs
Has a New Song and Flash Video Up Dedicated To His Fellow Vets
Click HERE to view or download “Veteran” an American Song with Pictures (WMV 7.74 MB)
Click the pic to see the lyrics for “Veteran”
From Toms New Veterans Page:
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KABUL (New York Times) Feb. 13 — Four American soldiers were killed today when their Humvee was hit in a remote-controlled roadside explosion as they were patrolling with an Afghan army unit in the southern province of Uruzgan. The explosion was so powerful that the four men were killed outright while still in their vehicle, the American military spokesman, Col. Jim Yonts, said.
Shortly after the explosion, the patrol came under attack from three small dwellings above the road that winds through a valley, Colonel Yonts said, forcing the convoy to call in air support, including B-52 bombers, and Apaches helicopters. The three homes were destroyed.
A soldier from 16th Air Assault Brigade training in southern England, ahead of the deployment of British troops to Afghanistan. AFP/John D McHughThe attack today came after heavy fighting erupted with a large group of insurgents in neighboring Helmand Province last week. Afghan officials said the fighting was a sign that Taliban militants may be mobilizing again as the winter snows recede. Two Afghan militia soldiers were killed and six were still missing in Helmand …
Five Afghan army soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was hit by an explosion as they were driving in Kunar Province, which borders on Pakistan.
Dems’ Template for Success: Follow Jack Murtha …
LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
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