this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
we honor courage in all its forms
my special dedication today to the online community of friends that has supported this diary all through the year with steadfast love and conviction
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
image and song lyric below the fold
An appeal with the pictures of the four foreign aid workers appears in a local newspaper put up by the families of the kidnap victims held by insurgents in central Baghdad December 24, 2005. The families of the four kidnap victims has made an appeal in form of an advertisement to an Arabic newspaper for the release of the aid workers being held for more than one month now.
REUTERS/Faleh Kheiber
Stand By Me
by King/Leiber/Stoller
as sung by Ben E. King
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see
No, I won’t be afraid
Oh, I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me, so
Darling darling stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
If the mountain
Should crumble to the sea
I won’t cry, I won’t cry
No, I won’t shed a tear
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me, and
Whenever you’re in trouble
Won’t you stand by me, oh stand by me
– – –
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
Attacks across Iraq leave 22 dead
…to strife, and an opening for Peace.
Peace
as long as you allstand by me. We out it to our children all over the world!
We owe it to our children not out. Sorry folks.
This is absolutely sickening! These video games teach kids to kill. Then “they” wonder why little Johnnie goes marching into scholl and blows away ten kids in the cafeteria. This is disgusting!
As has been reported by many diaries here @BooMan’s Place, there are still too many hot spots where US and coalition special forces are engaged with Afghan Taleban forces and supporters of Osama Bin Laden. There was another broadcast in past few days from Al Zawahiri, while VP Cheney on his shortened visit announced withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Injured in road side explosion in Afghanistan
KABUL Afghanistan (Khajeel Times/AP) Dec. 26 — A roadside explosion hit a patrol of international peacekeepers in northern Afghanistan, injuring two Dutch soldiers and two Afghan civilians, officials said.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said two vehicles were badly damaged in the explosion near New Baghlan, about 200 kilometers north of Kabul. Mir Alam, the chief of police in the region, said the attack occurred at around noon, and that the explosion was caused by a remote-controlled land mine.
A German army Bundeswehr APC drives through ISAF
camp 'Warehouse' in Kabul. Some 1,400 German soldiers
will remain in Afghanistan until the end of 2006.
REUTERS/Michael Hanschke/Pool
Alam blamed Hizb-e-Islami, an Islamic faction led by renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar for the explosion, saying Baghlan was a former stronghold of Hekmatyar. Hekmatyar is believed to have joined forces with Al Qaeda and the Taleban in fighting the government.
● Afghanistan Online
● Dutch Parliament Will Decide ISAF Uzurgan Operation
LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Means “No More War”
Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children – Innocence Lost!
“Peace on Earth” Means “No More War”
BUSHIES REFUSING TO DIAGNOSE RETURNING SOLDIERS WITH POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
IMPEACH The Cabal
Lets all do some praying for peace this week. Maybe, just maybe it will start to take hold….at least lets just think it hard enough it will make headway in all societies.
.
A number of Iraqi prisoners have been killed while attempting to break out of a prison in Baghdad, police say. One official said that a prison guard and at least eight inmates had been killed at the prison in the capital’s northern district of Kadhimiya.
On Sunday, the US said it would not hand over detainees to the Iraqi authorities until they raised levels of care in prison facilities.
An official said Iraq had to meet US standards a month after the discovery of 170 detainees at an interior ministry centre, some allegedly suffering from abuse and starvation. The alleged abuse discovered by US and Iraqi troops included electric shocks and the removal of fingernails.
Sunni Arabs say the latest alleged abuse was perpetrated by Shia sectarian militias who they say had been given control of interior ministry prisoners.
LEAVE Iraq to the Iraqis
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY