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.
image and poem below the fold
Children of Sunni families play inside a refugee camp near Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad July 14, 2006. Hundreds of displaced Sunni families, who fled the Shi’ite neighbourhood in Baghdad, are now living in a former tourism housing complex turned into a refugee camp near Falluja, a Sunni dominated city. The number of displaced people in Iraq has swelled by 150,000 since the bombing of a Shi’ite shrine in February pushed the country to the brink of civil war, a United Nations agency said recently. Picture taken July 14, 2006.
REUTERS/Mohanned Faisal (IRAQ)
from A Prayer for my Daughter
by W. B. Yeats
Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on. There is no obstacle
But Gregory’s wood and one bare hill
Whereby the haystack- and roof-levelling wind,
Bred on the Atlantic, can be stayed;
And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom that is in my mind.
– – –
Posted by James Wolcott
Yesterday, on one of the network news broadcasts (I was channel surfing so fast I’m not sure which of the big three it was), there was a report on the civilian reaction in Beirut to the attacks which showed a young Lebanese mother in headscarve, who with her children had fled from their home to safe haven, arguing that they–Hezbollah–should return the two soldiers, it wasn’t worth all the misery that was being inflicted on everyone. Whereupon a burly older man, hearing her criticism, bulled forward and angrily reprimanded, asking (demanding) to know why she was talking this way to the press, and displaced her in the camera frame to hold forth and spout defiance-militance-whatever.
It was an instructive moment, the male prerogative chestily asserting and inserting itself, and a dramatic reminder that although wars and organized violence have their social-national-ethnic-religious-tribal vectors, they are also brute expressions of patriarchal force…male arrogance and insanity sheathed in metal. The mother was sensibly, rationally decrying the cost of conflict on the lives of her children and other civilians, while the older man (a stranger? a relative?–it wasn’t clear) was trying to squelch such talk as ignorant and disloyal. He was the stand-in for every other male blowhard (on every side of the debate) who thinks he knows best and loves to hear himself talk tough. Meanwhile, the children are weeping, or being pulled in bloody pieces out of smoking debris.
– – –
support a young heart with an old soul peace takes courage (multimedia)
witness every day
The candle that DianeL first lit many months ago, and which has become such an important part of these diaries since, is still available here.
You can copy that image into your own comment (you can leave it on my server), craft your own image, and/or rate this one – not for mojo, but to leave a small mark after taking this moment – as a sign that you know, but do not approve, and are not resigned.
“It is like trying to ignite – to pass on the responsibilities as much as possible to everyone else.” – Ravi Shankar
Attack on Iraqi market kills 42
peace
Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children – Innocence Lost,
And Future We May Have Given Them!
“We Can’t Make It Here Anymore”
by James McMurtry
New Flash Video Using James Song and New Pics
You can view it HERE
Or view James singing it Live:
You can view this one HERE
UK troops attacked in Afghanistan
British troops say they have come under fire from Taleban fighters hiding in a hospital in southern Afghanistan.
Guard low on relief trucks
In the second month of hurricane season, the Florida National Guard is still short of trucks, trailers and other equipment that soldiers use in the immediate aftermath of violent storms.
With at least 400 of its trucks, Humvees and other vehicles left behind in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Guard’s rolling stock is at its lowest level in years, Guard leaders say.
Probe: Robbers Used Weapons Smuggled From Iraq by Soldier
The gang that carried out a series of commando-style bank robberies in the Washington area two years ago used fully automatic assault rifles that were smuggled from the battlefields of Iraq by a soldier in the U.S. Army Reserve, according to investigators.
{Why is it when there’s Domestic criminal activity, involving a weapon, it’s never stated wether the Irresponsible weapons owner is a member of the NRA, but have any Crime Report, and if a Vet or Military Person involved, it’s duly noted, and should be?}
Taxi ride into war zone is long, eerie trek
At the border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, the taxi driver becomes jumpy. Israeli jets had struck the area hours earlier, and they could strike again at any time. He wants to move on as fast as possible.
14 Points of fascism
THE PEACE PATRIOTS – OPENING SEGMENT Watch the film’s first
4 1/2 minutes which includes the opening narration by Air America Radio host Janeane Garofalo, instrumental music by John Sheldon, and the song, “Not In Our Name Pledge of Resistance” read by poet Saul Williams with music written and performed by DJ Spooky (Paul MIller).
With More Viewing Links At Site
Freedom IS Free: It Comes From Within
As always. Thanks for the commentary on Beirut, also.