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Five Years of War
March 19, 2008 - 8:49am — Sabrina Artel
Although the mainstream media seems to be buying into the Bush administration’s surge rhetoric, there’s still lots of bad news coming out of Iraq.
As I sit here writing this while hearing the beautiful Fisk Brook race outside my window, the snow is still falling here in Liberty, and the ice is just melting as spring approaches. I brace for this continued war. What would we be doing if we couldn’t leave our homes for years or go to school or meet with loved ones or, worse yet, our loved ones were killed on the way to the market or riding their bicycle home?
One million Iraqis (almost 50% of Iraq's population is under 15 years old) and 4,000 Americans have been killed with 29,000 Americans wounded, and no one’s talking about how many Iraqis have been maimed or displaced.
And counting… And counting… And counting…
My head is filled with the complexities of living in this age of technology. We have such massive access to loads of information that this increasingly technologically tiny world gets more and more unreachable. Of course, I’ve got my own struggles, but they aren’t life-threatening or imposed on me by someone else.
Since this invasion started five years ago, I’ve spoken to the young and the old, numerous ethnicities, queer, straight, religious, atheist, Republican, Democrat, enlisted soldiers — you name it; and they have expressed their devastation due to this war. The $29 billion spent each month on this war could be paying for health insurance for every single American. What about education in this country? What about the prison industrial complex? Do you know that one in 100 adult Americans are in jail? And I bet you can guess the racism surrounding incarceration.
What’s so hideous and painful about this fifth anniversary of the Iraqi War is that this country that I love and that I am a citizen of has committed the most despicable crime of all: an invasion based on deceit and greed.
I’ve had the good fortune to speak to numerous people who continue to give me hope about the power of our collective voices. Here’s to the activists who could be sitting next to you on the B-train — like Corinne Willinger with the Granny Peace Brigade who’ll be having a knit-in today in front of the recruitment center in Times Square; or Leslie Cagan from United for Peace and Justice whom I spoke to in Rock Hill, New York who, along with her many members, has been encouraging concerned citizens to speak up against the policies that have led to the war and run for office; or Linda and Phil Waste from Military Families Speak Out, arriving in D.C. with the Bring Them Home Now Bus Tour speaking for their soldier son about what is really happening “over there.”
Linda and Phil Waste in D.C.
Or artists like Joyce Kozloff, a member of Artists Against the War who I met in New York City and, among other visual actions, made the Rainbow Peace banners that were hanging from buildings through out NYC during the RNC '04, and the Oakland hip hop artists from Mind’s Eye Collective who joined me and shared their words:
“…We’re raised by the past, and the path has been paved, and we’re slaves to the grave. Just read the epitaph that asks, 'How can you kill and not become a killer?'”
Mind's Eye Collective in NYC.
What I’m trying to do today is really remember. After all, it was pounded into my head by my Holocaust-surviving family that it is in the remembering that one can prevent the repeated cycle of violence. To Ann and Eric from Long Island, who I met at one of the Peace Marches in D.C., who said, "It's our moral obligation to speak out and act from our conscience."
Ann and Eric in D.C.
As I sit here writing this while hearing the beautiful Fisk Brook race outside my window, the snow is still falling here in Liberty, and the ice is just melting as spring approaches. I brace for this continued war. What would we be doing if we couldn’t leave our homes for years or go to school or meet with loved ones or, worse yet, our loved ones were killed on the way to the market or riding their bicycle home?
One million Iraqis (almost 50% of Iraq's population is under 15 years old) and 4,000 Americans have been killed with 29,000 Americans wounded, and no one’s talking about how many Iraqis have been maimed or displaced.
And counting… And counting… And counting…
My head is filled with the complexities of living in this age of technology. We have such massive access to loads of information that this increasingly technologically tiny world gets more and more unreachable. Of course, I’ve got my own struggles, but they aren’t life-threatening or imposed on me by someone else.
Since this invasion started five years ago, I’ve spoken to the young and the old, numerous ethnicities, queer, straight, religious, atheist, Republican, Democrat, enlisted soldiers — you name it; and they have expressed their devastation due to this war. The $29 billion spent each month on this war could be paying for health insurance for every single American. What about education in this country? What about the prison industrial complex? Do you know that one in 100 adult Americans are in jail? And I bet you can guess the racism surrounding incarceration.
What’s so hideous and painful about this fifth anniversary of the Iraqi War is that this country that I love and that I am a citizen of has committed the most despicable crime of all: an invasion based on deceit and greed.
I’ve had the good fortune to speak to numerous people who continue to give me hope about the power of our collective voices. Here’s to the activists who could be sitting next to you on the B-train — like Corinne Willinger with the Granny Peace Brigade who’ll be having a knit-in today in front of the recruitment center in Times Square; or Leslie Cagan from United for Peace and Justice whom I spoke to in Rock Hill, New York who, along with her many members, has been encouraging concerned citizens to speak up against the policies that have led to the war and run for office; or Linda and Phil Waste from Military Families Speak Out, arriving in D.C. with the Bring Them Home Now Bus Tour speaking for their soldier son about what is really happening “over there.”
Linda and Phil Waste in D.C.
Or artists like Joyce Kozloff, a member of Artists Against the War who I met in New York City and, among other visual actions, made the Rainbow Peace banners that were hanging from buildings through out NYC during the RNC '04, and the Oakland hip hop artists from Mind’s Eye Collective who joined me and shared their words:
“…We’re raised by the past, and the path has been paved, and we’re slaves to the grave. Just read the epitaph that asks, 'How can you kill and not become a killer?'”
Mind's Eye Collective in NYC.
What I’m trying to do today is really remember. After all, it was pounded into my head by my Holocaust-surviving family that it is in the remembering that one can prevent the repeated cycle of violence. To Ann and Eric from Long Island, who I met at one of the Peace Marches in D.C., who said, "It's our moral obligation to speak out and act from our conscience."
Ann and Eric in D.C.
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48 Comments
Amen....can I get a witness......
So finally someone writes what I've been thinking all this time. To let you know where I stand on this issue i'm going to copy and paste a blog I wrote on the date that the 4,000 member of our American military was killed in Iraq. Thank you President Bush, you are the most free and highest paid mass murderer I know, hope your pockets are full of blood money from your oil companies over seas that we've been fighting for all this time....just had to get that out. Please read my blog, then the link that I had added in it that goes to an article posted in Time Magazine.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Real Meaning of 4,000 Dead
Current mood: angry
Category: Life
The Real Meaning of 4,000 Dead
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1725642,00.html?cnn=yes
This is crazy. This insane war. It kills me everyday to wake up and dread looking at the newpaper, or watching the news for fear i’m going to see my friends, family, and loved ones who are fighting overseas, dead. KIA, MIA, POW....it doesn’t matter what name you give it, this war has taken to many young lives. Someone’s Mother, Father, sister, brother, husband, wife or child has fought and died for our freedom. At least thats what the government says. What really is their mission, is it really our freedom, or the billions of dollars that go into the politicians pockets every year that we maintain this bloody war. Is it the ego that we can control every country in the world because we are America the Brave. Well.....America the Brave has 4,000 dead soldiers blood on her hands all for what....to keep the price of gas down....to keep our status as the biggest and strongest country in the world who can dominate and control every other nation. For thousands of years these countries have fought each other with their holy Jihad wars, killing and blowing up each other and never once have we the Americans decided to step in, until the threat of our precious commodities come in to play, and Americans bitch at the price of gas......tell that to the 4,000 dead soldiers and their families because thats what they died for. It wasn’t because they came over here and bombed our country and killed innocent people...who are we but terrorist to them in their country. Is it really an eye for an eye, because the day we went over there thats exactly what it become. What nation has bigger balls is all it boils down to. A simple two month ass kicking would have sufficed and never letting your finger off the trigger until all the ragheads were dead would have been justice enough for me, then our brave soldiers could have come home and then maybe they would think twice next time they decide to do something. But no... as usual...we go over there, wage war then turn around and feed the bastards, send their country money, invest in their commodities which just makes their country stronger, make friends with them, and let 4,000 men and woman from our Brave Nation go over there and shed their blood so that we can keep gas below 4 dollars a gallon. Thats the only reason why we are still there. Really, those held accountable for 9/11 have been taken care of. All we do by continuing to fight them in their country is give them more reason to come back over here and do something even far worse than the last act of terrorism. Fact......They are the largest oil producing country in the world.........another fact.....The United States of America uses, wastes, and has a demand for oil, far more than ten times greater than any other country in the world. President Bush owns part of those oil companies in Iraq...has billions of his own dollars in them.......now tell me......what is the mission supposed to be and why has it taken over 5 years and over 4,000 dead with violence still increasing everyday, for us to realize we haven’t made a dent in their world over there and apparantly our mission whatever it may be, has not yet been met, so maybe we ought to come up with a bigger and better mission such as withdrawl all U.S. and Allied people from their country and put a ring of IED’s the same ones that have killed thousands of our soldiers around their dirt infested country and see how they like getting blown to pieces. Now thats a fucking mission. They wouldn’t live a year in that country if all imports and exports were stopped from their country. We could suffice, we’d have to get off our lazy ass’s but we could do without their oil. Within 6 months they’d be begging us to be friends again. Anyhow...just on my soap box as usual and most know how I feel about this damn war. Consequently.....the article above is very sad to read....it’s a 25 yr old soldiers story on the war over there....and the numbers of dead and what that means to him. It’s heartbreaking and also it angers me, because just like him I wake up every day going to the website to see if yet another friend, family, or loved ones been killed in this stupid ass war. To those who say this war is justified...I’d like to know how you can justify the deaths of over 4,000 American Soldiers for a barrel of fucking oil. Thats all I have to say to you.
"To Thine Own Self Be True"
Jenny
Grammar & Current Events
In peace, sons bury their fathers
In war, fathers bury their sons
Not only a sad truth, but an excellent example of parallelism!
Getcha grammar here, folks!
Credit
o ok lets not give that Bush bastard all the credit I do belive that his little bun bitch Blair had a part to play in the creation of this fucking war.
It's just so frustrating no matter how much we protest, how much we demonstrate nothing gets done. Its like the band 8 make poverty history the G8 didn't realy listen they just made the smallest of changes to give the media something they can carry all out of proportion and make it seem like therewas some Significant progress.
Its the samewith the war youhear on the news that we areretreating and that they aregettingback their independence but its all bull.
The armed forces are at their limits, the cost of this war has been a disaster but as the majority are in our day to day life are unaffected wedon't notice it. Most of the time we don't know we are at war.
Only when a friend comes home and the storys they tell make you comprehend the grose animostityof the whole fucking thing.
O.Mindas....
You're right it's a big pie...
there's so much we all have to do to get through each day and with the American economy in a disaster just paying bills can be a tremendous challenge for must of us. No health care, people loosing their homes and education sliding downward all contribute to not being able to reach out and have a political voice. Even with all of the distractions many people are speaking out, signing petitions and changing their local governments. I can only focus on the possibility for improvement and change!
Credit
o ok lets not give that Bush bastard all the credit I do belive that his little bun bitch Blair had a part to play in the creation of this fucking war.
It's just so frustrating no matter how much we protest, how much we demonstrate nothing gets done. Its like the band 8 make poverty history the G8 didn't realy listen they just made the smallest of changes to give the media something they can carry all out of proportion and make it seem like therewas some Significant progress.
Its the samewith the war youhear on the news that we areretreating and that they aregettingback their independence but its all bull.
The armed forces are at their limits, the cost of this war has been a disaster but as the majority are in our day to day life are unaffected wedon't notice it. Most of the time we don't know we are at war.
Only when a friend comes home and the storys they tell make you comprehend the grose animostityof the whole fucking thing.
O.Mindas....
While Bush dances and sings...
Yeah, I'm not kidding. The whole world learned last week that Bush was completely off his nut when he decided to do a soft shoe tap dance, later he would start singing at some event.
This is because things are going exactly the way he and the neoconservatives (known as neoliberals outside the US) wanted them to.
Kind of like Nero playing the fiddle as Rome burned to the ground.
I'll reserve judgment and hope for after January 20, 2009.
Illegitimi non carborundum
Happy Easter!
Looking at the US from Outside
For those of you who watch the crazy machinations of the US, the only thing I can say is that I believe we are a country that is largely managed via propaganda. One thing the internet has done is to open up channels of communication with other countries. The corporate take-over of our media by mammoth media conglomerates has allowed a powerful manipulation of public opinion. It is difficult to access information around the curtain our media drapes over whoever it is who's driving the bus.
We have from the start of this damn war turned out in large numbers to protest the lies that got us into it. The media overlooked those protests and minimized them in reports.
I remember standing at a gas pump about 6 months after the war started when an elderly man (probably someone who thought the war was necessary) looked at me and asked, "Do you think they lied to us?" Without going off on a diatribe, I said "I do believe they did."
Lezbeth
Yes Yes Yes! S
Yes Yes Yes!
S
Last letter home, from Iraq...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wqnPjkqu20
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
Passing this on for anyone
Passing this on for anyone in the area who may be interested in attending...
Join us for 4 days of art, activism and action against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on April 10th - 13th in Downtown Los Angeles!!
War or Bush/Cheney get rich and payback Saudi Arabia
sngbyrd
Yesterday Cheney responded to the question, 'What do you think about the majority opinion that is against this war?'
Cheney said: "SO" with a srug of his shoulder and a smirk.
Japan is killing the U.S. with kindness. They are loaning us the money to pay for this war.
As democratics we are divided on which candidate to support and we run the risk of allowing McCain to continue our plung into chaos.
My generation took the fight to the streets over Vietnam. We were willing to spill our blood for what we knew to be the right thing to do, get out of Vietnam! The government had to accept defeat and allow that country to work out its problems. So the argument that Bush makes about the middle east falling into chaos is probably true but, in the words of Dick Cheney, so.
A "wonder"land
i'm not a U.S. civilian and don't live there either.however from all the informations i got about you that truly makes me feel ambivalent ! for some that i learned you are a land where most approve and stand up for human rights, freedom,equality etc., but somehow in Iraq you chose to told them these by WAR, how convining you are!!and you warning people the globe is keep on warming,but also, you are the one ran away from Kyoto Protocol.well...strange thing happenes,but just nereve expect it comes from all the same place.this is a quite interesting phenomenon which keeps me wondering.
There have been millions of
There have been millions of Americans speaking out against this War in Iraq. The grassroots movements in this country have been mobilizing and working on many levels and the anti-war movements haven't been so large since the Vietnam War. One of the terribly dangerous and devastating aspects of the USA's foreign policies under this administration is our terrible standing in the world today.
S
There have been protests in
There have been protests in the streets every single day all over the US. And one of the biggest protests happened during the Republican Party 2004 National Convention, held in NYC.
And to those that don't know...many of the protesters came out speaking against the war...
"The convention faced unprecedented protests in New York City throughout the week, including a massive march on the Sunday preceding the convention and repeated infiltration of the convention by protesters. 1806 people were officially arrested during the week, the vast majority on minor charges. Mass arrests and illegal detentions (for which the City of New York was fined) led Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) to comment that "The performance of police was decidedly a mixed one. While hundreds of thousands of people were able to make their voices heard, the right to protest was severely undermined by the mass arrests of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators and bystanders, the pervasive surveillance of lawful demonstrators, and the illegal fingerprinting and prolonged detention of [more than] 1500 people charged with mostly minor offenses."
Found here and here and here and here
You'd think that that would make headline news here and be all over the the news on various channels (I mean we do have quite a few channels that do the news daily). But no. I get both the NYC and Philly stations and neither of them reported on it - but I did catch it on C-span. Hardly anyone watches C-span. Seriously.
It's like if people know that other's have been protesting, then we'll all rise up and take action.
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
Yes for five days and nights
I was right in the middle of the protests, the riots, the under cover police and the police helicopters with Trailer Talk. There was a massive turnout of people speaking out and taking action.
S
I wish I had know about the
I wish I had know about the protesting before, but then I had my son with me - it would have been too easy to lose him in chaos. He's not one for walking right next to me at all times. I know if the next president does not make plans to exit this fucking war, I'm so there...
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
time to act
thank you sabrina for bringing this subject to attention. i met leslie cagan in nyc, i am too a member of united for peace and justice. it's time to act, to join organizations and to demand and obtain
- bush's and cheney's impeachment (this evil duo has destroyed america's reputation, raised antiamericanism at a level never to be touched again i guess, so now, americans might really fear some attacks, because everybody knows that the 9/11 ones have the evil duo behind them, not the arabs - just to name a few of their abominations, not even to start with economy and domestic issues)
- restoration of the civil rights that have been dictatorially taken away from the "beautiful couple"
- a president who gives a shit about what its citizens think and want
i remember mr clinton impeached for a lie "i did not have sex with that woman", how many more for bush before it happens? the wonderful pair will be in office until january 20, still a lot of time to damage this country forever.
i am not american, still, i enjoyed my time here, i have known fantastic people, in this website too (thank you fastgurrrl and rossi for being out there), this country has so much to give and say, still, to be thrown in the garbage just like this!
ACT NOW! join groups, write to your representatives, march, rally for peace, we can do it!!! remember ghandi, WE CAN, (not to be intended as the barak obama bullshit) talk to your friends and friends of the friends... let's be visible in the streets of america. you know why this war is still on? because PEACE is not as profitable as WAR but we must break this marriage. WE MUST. WE CAN.
h&j
i'm agree
(sorry if you can`t understand my english)
first i will love to don't hear anymore America like the name of USA, i'm american, i'm latinamerican and i'm not part of that country. anyway i like your position but i think it's not just about this war, it's about all the interventionist politics that USA has... i insist, we don't need a father country, noone need it. and don't make me speak why the power-rich-people of USA want to be a father... they always want something... call: money and more power... or try to control everything to keep the power and the money.
Sorry if i speak with rage but you probably know that the interventionist politics make awfull things here, in CHile,killing our president Allende because he was socialist and helping Pinochet a killer who died wihtout a judgment.
LWORDIANA CHILENSIS
Muchas gracias por compartir
Muchas gracias por compartir esta información muy importante.
S
YOURWELCOME... DE NADA
I WILL LIKE TO SPEAK FROM THE OTHER SIDE
MY COUNTRY HAVE A BIG SCARE BECAUSE THE INTERVENTION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF USA...THAT SCARE WILL BE IN IRAK TO...
LWORDIANA CHILENSIS
bushyouneedtomakelovenotwar
sorry...i don't speak english
i'm so tired of this 'president', i'm so tired of all the politics about a Usa invader... i'm chilean i know, and i lived the horror of Pinochet thanks of this politics.
god people what can we do to change the politic's view ... live us in peace... live the 'third world' in peace. i know it's not the people of USA is just a few people with a lot of power.
señor gobierno de estados unidos de norteamerica, primero no se hagan llamar américa, que nosotros no queremos ser parte de su porquería y segundo dejen a los países en paz... dejen de jugar al padre protector cuando en verdad son una jauría de lobos que quiere sacarnos lo que tengamos
Francisca
LWORDIANA CHILENSIS
It sucks but...
This war really does suck and its gone on for too long. And the numbers, on both sides, are crazy high. Fortunatly I didnt go down range the whole 4 years i served but most of my friends are there RIGHT now, or on their way. Its scary and it sucks. My girlfriend just got back from Kuwait and managed to slip out with a back injury, so she didnt go to Iraq. But as soldiers, you sign up knowing that there is a high chance that you could go downrange, and you could die. On the media you will see a soldier say "Its what needs to be done. They need us.. Im glad to be here, blah blah". Haha, but once those cameras shut off, everyone, including camera crew is cursing about the heat and how stupid and pointless it is to be there and what you would do for a krispy kreme donut. You cant change something that has been currupted for so long over night. We are being stubborn. I think regardless of what we do over there, there is always going to be that somebody who is going to go against whatever is going on.
I hate this fucking war and
I hate this fucking war and what we have done to countless (literally countless - because the corporate media refuses to acknowledge the greater scale and the true numbers) of people.
Shortly after 9/11, my brother was to go back to Insirlik, Turkey - a place where he had been stationed previously. You might remember troops being left in the harbor aboard their ships do to Turkey's refusal of letting them off. Else we would have attacked from the north. Well my brother worked massive overtime because this was the main base that did the northern no-fly zone patrol and he was a fuel specialist.
There was no planning, and then people (non-military) came in and were making 2 and 3 times that of my brother, doing the exact same job. He hated them. My brother's military contract was coming to an end and he thought of giving Uncle Sam the middle finger and working for these other contractors.
He did leave the military, and sat around like Tasha, for a few months. He had made a family out of his Turk friends and he went back for about 4 weeks. I think he was saying good bye to his Turk boyfriend, but being military, he doesn't talk about that.
He could have easily worked for Haliburton or any of those private contractors, but the employees at Vons started a strike and my step brother-in-law was a head manager, so, my bro decided to work for Vons instead.
My brother decided to make $7 an hour oppose to making over $60,000-$100,000 a year. Why? Because he knew it was wrong...the whole war and reasons and the way it's being handled...the whole fucking thing is wrong.
The media needs to start reporting the truth..
This war is not protecting us, in fact - we are going to have one hell of a backlash on our hands. America doesn't really know what it's like to wake up every day with the stench of bombs and blood still in the air.
America has pockets of bad neighborhoods that see violence everyday, but it's nothing compared to what we have done to the country of Iraq. We can't take back the violence that we have done - but we can put an end to destroying any more life.
"One million Iraqis (almost 50% of Iraq's population is under 15 years old) and 4,000 Americans have been killed with 29,000 Americans wounded, and no one’s talking about how many Iraqis have been maimed or displaced. And counting… And counting… And counting…"
No one is talking...out of sight, out of mind...
And we need to give back to them what we have stolen! Unfortunately we can't bring back the most precious...life.
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
Ditto
I have lots of respect for your brother. Not an easy decision to make. I'm relieved he's safe at home.
S
me too...
Thanks, Sabrina. I have a lot of respect for him too. And I am so glad he didn't take that road...
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
FYI
Henry_e_june posted a blog http://www.ourchart.com/node/360347 where the traitor, also referred to as cheney (I refuse to capitalize his name) says he/they do not care about what the American people think in regards to this occupation.
Hmmm...what do we do about people such as this...is letting the clock run out on their shift enough?
Peace, Jodie
sometimes
sometimes i think that we are so complacent...i must confess, i have done nothing. i have been disgusted by this war, but i have not protested, i have not given to our troops...
where are we? what are we doing? why should our government listen to us? all we do is "talk."
I've posted this before but it bears repeating
Could someone please give George Bush a blow job in the Oval Office so that we can impeach his lying war-mongering ass?
Your friend,
Rusty
[lesbian humor; what a concept]
+ + + + + + + +
~ I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it.
Groucho Marx
I refuse to give him a BJ,
I refuse to give him a BJ, but if someone would give me a golden strap-on I'll fuck his ass with an angry passion. I'll have Gigi video tape it and we'll send it to Ellen...
rovermom :)
Life is a 3D puzzle and everyone has a piece!
NEW! OurChart Photo Assignment and My Blog
Eeew!!!
Eeew!!!
Other figures
Thanks for your post, Sabrina. I would like to add some figures people usually forget to mention on this war in Iraq:
* As CBS news reported, only in 2005 more than 6,250 veterans committed suicide and more than 100,000 veterans are receiving treatment in relation to mental health diseases, mainly related to PTSD.
* There are more than 4 million Iraqi refugees who have been displaced from their homes, in what has been called by UN Refugee Agency "one of the biggest refugee crisis in the world" (Iraqi refugees are not allowed to work nor receive assistance in most neighbor countries).
* The true long-term cost of the war could be of US$ 3 trillion, according to Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard University public finance Professor Laura Bilmes (http://www.sfgate.com/c/a/2008/03/17/MNBVVL9GK.DTL).
* According to the United Nations Children's Fund, at least 2 million Iraqi children lack adequate nutrition, and about 1 million children may be out of school due to violence and insecurity; in addition, at least 1/3 of Iraqi children in rural areas are not receiving any type of medical assistance (including basic immunization).
* As per the United Nations' report on the situation in Iraq, it may take more than 20 years for Iraq to recover from damages caused by the war; however, this 20-year term is based on the assumption that there is no civil war (which seems to be the most likely scenario right now), or further ethnic terrorist attacks, which make that term quite unlikely in practice.
As our lovely Tex said, all this money could have served for better causes, but most importantly, a truly informed decision could have saved the lives of more than one million people (and counting... and counting... and counting, as Sabrina said).
Cris
Cris, thanks for adding this
Cris, thanks for adding this very important, painful and true information. Scootch Grace, I'm going to help myself to Ilene's booze and pills now.
S
wow
Thanks Sabrina for this post and Cris for adding the additional points. Because the media never gives us facts such as this, I try to find them for myself, but it seems there is so much being under reported (or not reported at all) that it's hard to catch up!
"Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself."
- Richard Bach
Five Years!
Five Years! Billions spent and billions made! Oh, what we could do with the roughly $290 billion dollars that will have been spent on this war before we can get Bush out - desalination plants and eradication of world hunger, affordable alternative energy sources, health care for all, subsidized living for the elderly,......and a lifetime of love and care for those who bravely fought and died in this war.
Thank you for all you do - if you need a "roady" to hookup, unhook, and level - I'm here, Hon!
Nothing but love
Tex
You've got my heart pounding...
Tex,those might be the sweetest words I've ever heard.
"Roadie, hookup, unhook, and level", wow I might be in love.
Great knowing you're here!
S
And I've got Tex's six ...
Sabrina:
I'm so sorry it's taken this long to post on one of your blogs. Tex was right, this is the one I can't just pass by - my blood pressure just rang the bell.
The Republicans have been busy selling everything that's not nailed down. You correctly cite our shameful 1/100 prisoner to free ratio. What most civilians don't know is that Bush and his friends have contracted our Federal prisons out to Rent-a-Jail corporations that don't follow Bureau of Prison guidelines - or have a clue about basic procedures.
The War? Hell, I thought we'd stopped all that back in the 70's when we tossed Tricky Dick out on his keester. Big surprise folks: we hated that war, and we stopped it. Maybe we just had fewer toys and privileges to lose?
I don't know how much longer I can walk on past the steps of the Library, where the Grandmothers Against the War stand patiently, all day and night in the heat/cold/ rain/sun, holding signs that say "Stop this War!" I belong on the steps with them. I owe it to my grandchild.
We thought your generation would pick up our banners and carry them. Here's a clue: hand wringing isn't enough.
Sisterhood,
Alix
"It isn't nice to block the doorway
It isn't nice to go to jail
There are nicer ways to do it
But the nice ways always fail
It isn't nice, it isn't nice
You told us once, you told us twice
But if that is Freedom's price
We don't mind.".
Malvina Reynolds
Hi Alix
Great hearing from you, sorry about your blood pressure!It's true when one begins to trace the profits being made in the various realms(health care, prisons, war on and on)it's easy to feel dis-empowered and voiceless but I value the strength of the wise voices out there and the many citizens who are speaking out in the various arenas to bring more justice and compassion to the world. I see them out there but so often the mainstream media is silencing them.
S
Have mercy!!!!
A woman who gets my puns!
Nothing but love
Tex
Sorry, had to come back and edit and be serious - Thank you for the kind words!
Re: our Veterans
"...a lifetime of love and care for those who bravely fought and died in this war."
You are so right, Tex. I have a product on my Lion that allows for a scrolling led message just below my license plate, also functioning as an additional brake light (please don't ram me from behind!). I've had a variety of messages on there, like just before the 4th of July, "Give me liberty or give me death." Just before Veteran's Day, I changed it to, "Wish Veterans proper care and happiness." Sitting at stoplights I have had people give me the thumbs up and a "right on!"
Peace, Jodie
Right on, Sabrina
Here's an oldie, but a goodie. Look at Con-duh-sleeza's face. To Ms. Desiree Farooz, I salute you, and I thank you for your tenacity, and for representing me in this photo, solidarity my fellow citizen.
http://indefatigable-indolence.org/sitebuilder/images/Condi_Blood-428x27...
Peace, Jodie
P.S. Lice is an ankle. Why an ankle? Because an ankle is even lower than a word I rarely use, and that I reserve solely for such dispicable creatures as this "woman."
re: Con-duh-sleeza's face
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj9j-u6_nj4
To Desiree Farooz for
To Desiree Farooz for representing us all with amazing courage and tenacity. Jodie I don't think a beautiful and useful ankle should be used to describe Condi either. I'm at a loss for the words to describe her though: criminal, inhumane...?
S
To my friends who got
To my friends who got arrested this morning in Washington during an anti-war protest... Bummed I couldn't be there. I'll see ya there in June! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wos-dDxpJlQ
Valentina Rossi, thanks for the video!
John Lennon *sigh* how I wish he hadn't been killed. I love him so much. Peace, Jodie
P.S. This video www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zA7L--DzMI on your profile gave me chills and made me want to cry.
Here's to your friends for
Here's to your friends for showing up!
S
that's what I was thinking...
all the Iraqi's who have died. that, among all the other things, is on my mind. i/we have no idea what it is like to live like they do everyday. and i think geo. bush said today that they will be studying the war in the future as some sort of text book case for how well things can go in war?! is he fucking KIDDING? so sad - he's so off - so far off. i also heard an npr correspondent iraqi native speaking about how he regrets getting his wife pregnant and bringing a child into the world of present day iraq. to regret bringing life into the world makes me speechless- i understand his point and it breaks my heart that my country is responsible for his pain, their deaths, and the implosion of their society. what a fucked off war.
We're all making the change
We're all making the change and thankfully Bush's time is up!
S