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 man grieves at the coffin of his son, a policeman, in the Iraqi city of Baquba, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad December 20, 2005.
(Helmiy Al-Azawi/Reuters)
A Word From the Fat Lady
by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
It isn’t how we look up close
so much as in dreams.
Our giant is not so tall,
our lizard boy merely flaunts
crusty skin- not his fault
they keep him in a crate
and bathe him maybe once a week.
When folks scream or clutch their hair
and poke at us and glare and speak
of how we slithered up from Hell,
it is themselves they see:
the preacher with the farmer’s girls
(his bulging eyes, their chicken legs)
or the mother lurching towards the sink,
a baby quivering in her gnarled
hands. Horror is the company
you keep when shades are drawn.
Evil does not reside in cages.
– – –
put a meaningful magnet on your car or metal filing cabinet
read Ilona’s important diary at MLW – Returning Vet PTSD – One Soldier’s Story as well her comprehensive series on PTSD and Iraq War vets.
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
Not one more life for lies!
Out of Iraq NOW!
.
Afghanistan? … Damnit J
.
I told the White House Travel Buro we¹ had projects in Iran!
we¹ defined as Halliburton …
perhaps I can find some excuse to hurry home?
Cheney cuts short overseas tour …
Looks much happier now!
«« click on pic to enlarge
BBC News – Afghanistan’s Future
LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Sunni bloc rejects Baghdad vote
Peace
Fuck you GWB.
Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For Innocence Lost!
US hopes of secular Iraqi state fade away:
With more than 60 per cent of votes tallied, Washington’s hopes that the former
prime minister Iyad Allawi might pull enough support to build a secular
administration have faded dramatically.
Marketing War, Selling Occupation :
The mainstream news behaves as if the American mission in Iraq, as in other
parts of the world, is based upon humanitarian principles of good will. They
would have us believe that America is not motivated by empire but by just
causes.
FOCUS | Report: The Constitution in Crisis
In brief, we have found there is substantial evidence that the president, vice president, and other high-ranking members of the Bush administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war with Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for said war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, and other legal violations in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their administration.
{Doesn’t above sound just like a Saddam Government and any other Punkish Dictator We have Installed, Supported, and Solidified Their Reigns!!!}
An insidious culture of surveillance
{From Editorial: “The one enduring lesson that conservatives used to teach effectively is that government that is not checked, balanced, and watched like a hawk can gradually become oppressive.”
Thomas Oliphant 12/20/05}
By Thomas Oliphant, Globe Columnist
In a basically free society, abuses of civil and human rights often initially
make sense, which appears to have been the case when President Bush took his
baby steps toward a system of warrant-free, electronic surveillance of persons
inside the United States — some citizens, some not.
Peace…….