The names of twenty five hundred young men and women have been erased from the chalkboard of life by the merchants of pain and death in our government.
They were erased from the list of the living by the hands of arrogant men wielding erasers soaked in the blood of tens of thousands of others who were maimed and wounded and tens of thousands of Iraqis whose deaths they will not dignify by counting or even mentioning.
It’s a number, another irritating milestone that they hope falls on Friday so that the press flap will dissipate over the weekend.
Bush’s mouthpiece Tony Snow was asked last week:
American deaths in Iraq have reached 2,500. Is there any response or reaction from the President on that?
Tony Snow: It’s a number, and every time there’s one of these 500 benchmarks people want something. The President would like the war to be over now. Everybody would like the war to be over now. And the one thing that we saw in Iraq this week is further testimony to the quality of the men and the women who are doing that, and the dedication and determination to try to ensure that the people of Iraq really do live in a free, effective democracy of their own creation and design.
What is the number Tony? What are we counting, the dead, the injured, the lost limbs, the ruined minds, the destroyed lives?
Are we counting the grief, the pain the sorrow created by the death and maiming of so many of our sons and daughters?
Add in the parents and grandparents, the mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters and friends of those you erase. Their children Tony. Their children.
Listen to their keening sobs, the somber intonations at grave sides, the sad steady wailing of those who mourn.
The number grows doesn’t it Tony? If you count the pain and sorrow, the number grows. If you count the tears of loss, the hopes and dreams shattered, the children orphaned.
The grief that has been visited upon these families will forever be a central part of their lives. I don’t know what multiple or factor to use to find the number of people harmed by the deaths of our children.
Do you have a calculator Tony? Does it do exponents? You will need them as the number grows.
You and your smirking little Master are immune from the grief and suffering of course, as the criminal architects of war always are.
While you play your pathetic games of power, using the lives of our children like tokens in a board game all that matters is the score. It’s a number Tony.
You risk nothing, you set up the game and take a piece of every hand that is dealt, You and your criminal friends reap the profits and you play without risk.
American deaths in Iraq have reached 2,500. Is there any response or reaction from the President on that?
Tony Snow: It’s a number, and every time there’s one of these 500 benchmarks people want something.
Was he told about the benchmark, the President?
Tony Snow: I don’t know. I’m sure he will hear about it.
I’m sure too Tony, some one will trouble the grinning little ass with this pesky milestone and I’m sure that when this life is over, you and he and the entire criminal gang for whom you now speak will hear about it forever.
I believe in a merciful and just God and I believe that he hears ever scream of anguish, feels the wetness of every tear, the loneliness of every orphaned child, and because God is just I’m sure that he will ask you to share in listening to these screams of pain and rage, to feel the terrible loss and suffer the endless sorrow of the mournful symphony of human misery which you have helped to write and conduct.
It’s a number Tony but only God has a calculator that can handle the infinite, the eternal.
That is how long you will be required to listen to your magnum opus Tony.
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. Omar Khayyam
Enjoy the music.
Bob Higgins
