this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
we honor courage in all its forms – today for Kevin Eping
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 TexasKos.
image and poem below the fold
Relatives of victims of a bus ambush sit on the bloodstained floor of a hospital hall in Baghdad July 11, 2006. Sectarian violence rocked Baghdad on Tuesday as gunmen ambushed a minibus driving through a Sunni neighbourhood, taking Shi’ites home from a funeral, and killed 10 of those aboard, police said.
REUTERS/Ali Jasim (IRAQ)
Coastal Plain
by Kathryn Stripling Byer
The only clouds
forming are crow clouds,
the only shade, oaks
bound together in a tangle of oak
limbs that signal the wind
coming, if there is any wind
stroking the flat
fields, the flat
swatch of corn.
Far as anyone’s eye can see, corn’s
dying under the sky
that repeats itself either as sky
or as water
that won’t remain water
for long on the highway: its shimmer
is merely the shimmer
of one more illusion that yields
to our crossing as we ourselves yield
to our lives, to the roots
of our landscape. Pull up the roots
and what do we see but the night
soil of dream, the night
soil of what we call
home. Home that calls
and calls
and calls.
– – –
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.
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
Bomb strike at Baghdad mosque kills 14
the short clipping about him. Sorry I spelled his name wrong…my error.
I spent some time with his mom this afternoon and she took me by my hand and showed me to the memorial garden she started for him, in her back yard. She had started it sometime ago but did not have an idea that she would be dedicating this for her son. She and I will have some long talks over coffee once this is done and over with and everything sets in over this loss. You see, we both lost children. My Chris was 30 and Kevin was 31 when they passed on. It is so very hard to have your children go before you, as a parent. The emotions change on a daily basis and as time goes on the memories become more cherished. Just the little things as a parent we remember when they were young or when they were babies and just the little things. Later on, is when it will become almost imbearable. Such a sad loss…Thanks, Rub for remembering him.