this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
we honor courage in all its forms
we love and support our troops, just as we love and support the Iraqi people – without exception, or precondition, or judgement.
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, My Left Wing, and TexasKaos.
seven images and poem below the fold
ATTENTION EDITORS – VISUALS COVERAGE OF SCENES OF DEATH AND INJURY Men cry over the body of their brother, which was found along with the bodies of other bus drivers, outside a hospital morgue near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, July 12, 2006. Iraqi security forces said they had found the bodies of 20 bus drivers kidnapped earlier from a bus station in Miqdadiya.
REUTERS/Helmiy al-Azawi (IRAQ)
ATTENTION EDITORS – VISUALS COVERAGE OF SCENES OF DEATH AND INJURY A man cries near the body of a relative as he lies outside a hospital morgue with the bodies of other drivers near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, July 12, 2006. Iraqi security forces said they had found the bodies of 20 bus drivers kidnapped earlier from a bus station in Muqdadiya.
REUTERS/Helmiy al-Azawi (IRAQ)
ATTENTION EDITORS – VISUALS COVERAGE OF SCENES OF DEATH OR INJURY A man identifies his son from among bodies of bus drivers lying outside a hospital morgue near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, July 12, 2006. Iraqi security forces said they had found the bodies of 20 bus drivers kidnapped earlier from a bus station in Muqdadiya.
REUTERS/Helmiy al-Azawi (IRAQ)
ATTENTION EDITORS – VISUALS COVERAGE OF SCENES OF DEATH OR INJURY A man cries over the body of his brother as he lies outside a hospital morgue with the bodies of other drivers near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, July 12, 2006. Iraqi security forces said they had found the bodies of 20 bus drivers kidnapped earlier from a bus station in Muqdadiya.
REUTERS/Helmiy al-Azawi (IRAQ)
Family members breakdown while identifying bodies at the local morgue, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, in Muqdadiyah, 90 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Gunmen stormed a bus station northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, seizing some 24 Shiites after separating them from the crowd and killing most of them, authorities said.
(AP photo/Adam Hadei)
Family members breakdown while identifying bodies at the local morgue, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, in Muqdadiyah, 90 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Gunmen stormed a bus station northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, seizing some 24 Shiites after separating them from the crowd and killing most of them, authorities said.
(AP photo/Adam Hadei)
Morgue employees unload bodies outside a hospital in Baquba. Blindfolded, hands tied behind them, and most shot in the head, 22 bodies of kidnapped Shiites were found on Wednesday as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Iraq to review worsening security in Baghdad.
(AFP/Ali Yussef)
If We Must Die
by Claude McKay
If we must die–let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die–oh, let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;
Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
– – –
The pity I once had for foreign troops in Iraq is gone. It’s been eradicated by the atrocities in Abu Ghraib, the deaths in Haditha and the latest news of rapes and killings. I look at them in their armored vehicles and to be honest- I can’t bring myself to care whether they are 19 or 39. I can’t bring myself to care if they make it back home alive. I can’t bring myself to care anymore about the wife or parents or children they left behind. I can’t bring myself to care because it’s difficult to see beyond the horrors.
from Riverbend’s blog, Baghdad Burning, July 11, 2006
– – –
read This is what John Kerry did today, the dKos diary by lawnorder that inspired this series
love and support the Iraqi people
join CIVIC’s “I Care” photo campaign
raed in the middle’s blog
support the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)
support CARE
support the victims of torture
read Riverbend’s Bagdhad Burning
read Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches
read Today in Iraq
love and support our troops
read Ilona’s important blog – PTSD Combat
support Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
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
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 a young heart with an old soul peace takes courage (multimedia)
poetry matters poets against war
support the troops and the Iraqi people
witness every day
While speaking at the YearlyKos 2006 Convention in Los Vegas, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner said (and I paraphrase from memory): “George Bush, incompetent idiot, blah blah blah, went to war in Iraq when the real threat is in Iran.” (my emphasis)
There was a brief pause after his statement, and I regret that I wasn’t brave or quick-witted enough to yell “Bullshit!” into the silence. But the moment passed, Warner picked up his next thread in perfect cadence, and I bit into my box lunch apple.
So now what?
I’m gonna let him know that I think his statement is bullshit, and why. I’m starting here. If anyone knows of other ways, please put them in this thread.
Thanks.
