Interesting article in NY times today. This is one is for uncle AK47 and other pro-destructionists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/opinion/25herbert.html
Nothing is so beautiful and wonderful, nothing is so continually fresh and surprising, so full of sweet and perpetual ecstasy, as the good." — Simone Weil
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the good Lord has his hands full right now.” — The Rev. Ted Oswald at the funeral Mass for Marla Ruzicka
In a horrifying incident that occurred in the spring of 2003, an Iraqi woman threw two of her children, an infant and a toddler, out the window of a car that had been hit accidentally in an American rocket attack. The woman and the rest of her family perished in the black smoke and flames of the wreckage. The toddler, whose name was Zahraa, was severely burned. She died two weeks later.
The infant, named Harah, was not badly hurt. She was photographed recently on the lap of Marla Ruzicka, a young humanitarian-aid worker from California who was herself killed a little over a week ago in the flaming wreckage of a car that was destroyed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad.
The vast amount of suffering and death endured by civilians as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has, for the most part, been carefully kept out of the consciousness of the average American. I can’t think of anything the Bush administration would like to talk about less. You can’t put a positive spin on dead children.
As for the press, it has better things to cover than the suffering of civilians in war. The aversion to this topic is at the opposite extreme from the ecstatic journalistic embrace of the death of one pope and the election of another, and the media’s manic obsession with the comings and goings of Martha, Jacko, et al.
There’s been hardly any media interest in the unrelieved agony of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq. It’s an ugly subject, and the idea has taken hold that Americans need to be protected from stories or images of the war that might be disturbing. As a nation we can wage war, but we don’t want the public to be too upset by it.
So the public doesn’t even hear about the American bombs that fall mistakenly on the homes of innocent civilians, wiping out entire families. We hear very little about the frequent instances of jittery soldiers opening fire indiscriminately, killing and wounding men, women and children who were never a threat in the first place. We don’t hear much about the many children who, for one reason or another, are shot, burned or blown to eternity by our forces in the name of peace and freedom.
Out of sight, out of mind.
This stunning lack of interest in the toll the war has taken on civilians is one of the reasons Ms. Ruzicka, who was just 28 when she died, felt compelled to try to personally document as much of the suffering as she could. At times she would go from door to door in the most dangerous areas, taking down information about civilians who had been killed or wounded. She believed fiercely that Americans needed to know about the terrible pain the war was inflicting, and that we had an obligation to do everything possible to mitigate it.
Her ultimate goal, which Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont is pursuing, was to establish a U.S. government office, perhaps in the State Department, to document the civilian casualties of American military operations. That information would then be publicly reported. Compensation would be provided for victims and their families, and the data would be studied in an effort to minimize civilian casualties in future operations.
War is always about sorrow and the deepest suffering. Nitwits try to dress it up in the finery of half-baked rationalizations, but the reality is always wanton bloodshed, rotting flesh and the lifelong trauma of those who are physically or psychically maimed.
More than 600 people attended Ms. Ruzicka’s funeral on Saturday in her hometown of Lakeport, Calif. Among them was Bobby Muller, chairman of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. A former Marine lieutenant, he knows something about the agony of war. His spinal cord was severed when he was shot in the back in Vietnam.
He told the mourners: “Marla demonstrated that an individual can make a profound difference in this world. Her life was dedicated to innocent victims of conflict, exactly what she ended up being.”
Re: The Dark Side of War
I thought the bombing of an ice cream parlor was particularly heinous. An Ice Cream Parlor. Now there is a strategic target. Who are they gonna kill at an Ice Cream Parlor? Families? Kids? Now mind you this was not just one bomb. The first bomb was exploded, then a pause while people rushed to the scene, then a second suicide car bomb drove into the middle of the onlookers. Nice. What in Gods name could these people be thinking? What possible rational could they have for this? This is not “collateral damage”. This is not an out of control prison. This is a planned attack on families enjoying ice cream. Lord help us all.
“A vehicle packed with explosives was driven into a crowd gathered in front of a popular ice cream shop in Baghdad’s western al-Shoulah neighborhood Sunday, police Maj. Mousa Abdul Karim said. Minutes later, as police and residents rushed to help the victims, a second suicide car bomber plowed into the crowd. At least 15 people were killed and 40 wounded.”
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/special_packages/iraq/11483821.htm
Re: The Dark Side of War
TOm friedman eloquently captured his thoughts on both fundo Muslims and Jews last nite on tv(CNN). His take was that Democracy is winning and is a good thing and the fundos know it so they are going to give hell. For instance the fundos in Israel killed Yitzhak Rabin and have threatened Ariel with the same act, same with Muslims they know they are going to loose this stupid insurgency so they are going to make it harder and brutal.
He used the example of Football (the real American Football not the sissy Soccer), he mentioned that we (americans and peace loving humans) are there at the 5 Yard line and the touchdown is imminent but the opposing team(fundismos) is going to give us hell for the last five yards.
Re: The Dark Side of War
I think the reason that the fundamentalists are fighting such a fearsom fight is that they know a democracy is likely to result. For those that have not noticed, our days of propping up dictators is over. Democracy, even with the likely result of electing some Islamists is viewed as the inevitable result. What the Islamic Supremacists don't realize is that a Democracy does not automatically lead to the decline of civilization, pornography, crime, loss of religion etc. A Democracy is what the majority of the people want.
The road to a true Democracy will not be linear, and it will be bumpy. There will be characters like Putin who will try to hijack it a little for personal gain. There will be those who try to derail it to suit their own personal agenda. But the days of backing strong men because we felt that the people of the Middle East were somehow genetically impaired, ande unable to rule themselves is over.
And while we are at it, it is high time that Mushy start to move too. Mushy was supposed to provide two things. Stability in the short term, and a bridge to a more democratic rule down the road. So Pakistan elects some Fundos, so what? If they are too outrageous, they will be rejected like Sami was by the EU. Smart Pakistani people will ask, if sending a regressive jerk like him to represent the country is doing Pakistanis any good.
The only solution to those who slaughter aid workers and bomb ice cream parlors is to see the good Iraqi people rule themselves and solve it in their own way. Eventually they will realize that thier current state of petty infighting is allowing the murder of their people by criminals and devils. They will realize that they must not waste time, and have much to accomplish.
Re: The Dark Side of War
You guys have a very rosy view of the situation. I think that the world is heading in a very different direction. Middle east is yesterdays news. It is irrelevant. Islamists are going to lose not because of democratic principles being shoved down their throats but because they have nothing to offer their co-faithfuls. When 2 billion people in Asia want victoria's secret, fundos don;t stand a chance. Democracy or no democracy...they are on the wrong side of history.
Re: The Dark Side of War
PD I agree with you and that is what Tom was saying as well. It is the last push towards the VS that is going to be vicious.
Re: The Dark Side of War
Look, today it is the US. In 20 years it will be US and CHina that the fundos will hate, in 35 yrs it will be US and CHina and India that these will hate. When you raise your kids to blow up cars while the kuffars in china and INdia are raising them to build cars, you are on the wrong side of history.
While the US still tries to be careful with these guys as not to offend sentiments, a bomb going off in Beijing will mean that Saudis willbe migrating to the Sudan. Somethings these chuckleheads don;t get. Countries that can kill 20-50 million of it's people for the sake of its own supposed progress, don't give a rat's ass if you feel some chip on your shoulder for some perceived wrong. it is about resources. When 2+ billion people want something and have the intelligence and the military might to get it, no amount religious righteousness is going to offer victory. SO get with the program, teach your kids Hindi or Mandarin and join in.