It's nine AM in Fallujah. Do you know where your children are?

[buycitgo]

what's going to happen today?

tomorrow?

the next day?

are we totally screwed?

not to mention the poor people of the country we illegally invaded.

does this country deserve any presence on the world stage, or are we destined to be an international pariah until we GROVEL at the feet of the rest of the world for what we've done

don't really mean "we," of course, but you know what I mean

[scottxyz]

1. Ow

I don't have anyone I know over there.

That's gotta hurt for someone who does.

[buycitgo]

2. sue me, but I care a lot more for the people we're MURDERING

over there

what if somebody did that to us?

gee, they sorta did, and we went after the WRONG people, didn't we?

[buycitgo]

3. sorry, mari333; if you see this, don't take it the wrong way

I feel very badly for the boys/girls (avg age of those killed: 20) who are stuck there, also being MURDERED by those cowardly megalomaniacs,

BUT, what are we going to do about this? I really fear we've outstayed our welcome on the world stage, regardless of whether we evict the squatter and his puppetmasters

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

6. Mari333, I've been thinking of you , your husband and Michael

all day. I did my Catholic thing today and did the Stations of the Cross and prayed for all of you in particular and every other American family that have children and loved ones stuck in this awful situation.

When will our "long national nightmare" end? I prayed today and will pray everyday that it will end on November 2, 2004.

[scottxyz]

4. Well

One thing about these unwanted wars, is it can be unfair to pile too much pressure on the soldiers and their families.

[Tinoire]

5. I fear for the Karma this is going to bring our country

The list was already long enough. There can be no apology for this madness and no apology for the people who condoned or condone this.

For God sakes, pull our troops out of there and send the neo-cons & war apologists in to do the fighting since they believe in their cause so much.

This is not America's cause. Never was and never will be.

[Career Prole]

8. Karma indeed

Shia and Sunni United In Grief and Anger

Ghafil's mother has concluded that America did not come to Iraq to help the people. "What help are they giving us?" she asks with tired eyes. "They are destroying us, not helping us."
One year after the bombing of Baghdad, when they look at the pictures of their deceased relatives, Hasan, Ghafil and their families no longer cry. All their tears and sorrow have been transformed into a seething anger at the US.
"Now, I am in pain and everyone who lost something has this pain," says Hasan. "And this pain is heading for America. It will come in a few days or months."
<snip>
Ghafil no longer dreams of marrying, as the family can not afford it. "I had many plans but now I've dropped them," he says. Now, his focus is completely on the removal of the occupation.
"The Shia and Sunnis have to unify their resistance more; a joint plan is coming," he says. "When that happens depends on the Americans. If they keep using more and more force against the people, they will push this to happen."

Bush* didn't "plant democracy" as he claimed. He planted hatred...and I pray we don't all reap the whirlwind as a result.


the boy in the front seems to be thinking karma too.

[Tinoire]

10. That was so heart-breaking to read. Bush is provoking the Iraqis

Have you read this? Chilling :( and check out the photos.

The battle the US wants to provoke


Bremer is deliberately pushing Iraq's Shia south into all-out chaos

Naomi Klein in Baghdad
Tuesday April 6, 2004
The Guardian

I heard the sound of freedom in Baghdad's Firdos Square, the famous plaza where the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled one year ago. It sounds like machine-gun fire.
On Sunday, Iraqi soldiers, trained and controlled by coalition forces, opened fire on a demonstration here. As the protesters returned to their homes in the poor neighbourhood of Sadr City, the US army followed with tanks, helicopters and planes, firing at random on homes, shops, streets, even ambulances. According to local hospitals, 47 people were killed and many more injured. In Najaf, the day was also bloody: 20 demonstrators dead, more than 150 injured.

In Sadr City yesterday, funeral marches passed by US military tanks and the hospitals were overflowing with the injured. By afternoon, clashes had resumed.

Make no mistake: this is not the "civil war" that Washington has been predicting will break out between Sunnis, Shias and Kurds. Rather, it is a war provoked by the US occupation authority and waged by its forces against the growing number of Shia who support Moqtada al-Sadr.

Sadr is the younger, more radical rival of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and portrayed by his supporters as a cross between Ayatollah Khomeini and Che Guevara. He blames the US for attacks on civilians; compares the US occupation chief, Paul Bremer, to Saddam Hussein; aligns himself with Hamas and Hizbullah; and has called for a jihad against the controversial interim constitution. His Iraq might look a lot like Iran.

<snip / fascinating read!>

At the front of the square was the statue that the Americans put up in place of the toppled one of Saddam. Its faceless figures are supposed to represent the liberation of the Iraqi people. Today they are plastered with photographs of Moqtada al-Sadr.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1186566,00.html

Pictures of the March 19 Protest March in Baghdad can be viewed here: http://indybay.org/news/2004/03/1674128.php

[Career Prole]

11. It was a fascinating read...thanks.

When you read this, did you think "Proceed in an orderly manner to the free-speech zone!" Wow...just like home.:(

On Sunday, all these explosive forces came together when thousands of demonstrators filled Firdos Square. On one side of the plaza, a couple of kids climbed to the top of a building and took a knife to a billboard advertising Iraq's new army. On the other side, US forces pointed tanks at the crowd while a loudspeaker told them that "demonstrations are an important part of democracy but blocking traffic will not be permitted".

[Tinoire]

12. Thought the same thing... The hypocrisy...

I'll bet the Iraqis can't wait to see these "Free Speech Zones" :(

[TheWizardOfMudd]

7. Are you talking to Iraqi parents?

If so, the answer is:

Probably in body bags.

[buycitgo]

9. never even thought of that......guess I meant US parents

but your point is very well taken

here's this, from another place:

I saw some footage of American soldiers bragging about their exploits on Link tonight that made me realize that this whole damn war is our fault. All of us who said "Don't blame the soldiers". The fact is we enabled this genocide by not holding them to standards we would hold anyone else in the world to - they're over there just mowing down men women and children because they feel that the folks back home support them.

They're not brainless automatons, they're guilty of murder but they feel they have a license to kill because we let them think that it is OK.

from baghdad burning

Today, the day the Iraqi Puppets hail "National Day", will mark the day of the "Falloojeh Massacre"… Bremer has called for a truce and ceasefire in Falloojeh very recently and claimed that the bombing will stop, but the bombing continues as I write this. Over 300 are dead in Falloojeh and they have taken to burying the dead in the town football field because they aren't allowed near the cemetery. The bodies are decomposing in the heat and the people are struggling to bury them as quickly as they arrive. The football field that once supported running, youthful feet and cheering fans has turned into a mass grave holding men, women and children.

The people in Falloojeh have been trying to get the women and children out of the town for the last 48 hours but all the roads out of the city are closed by the Americans and refugees are being shot at and bombed on a regular basis… we're watching the television and crying. The hospital is overflowing with victims… those who have lost arms and legs… those who have lost loved ones. There isn't enough medicine or bandages… what are the Americans doing?! This is collective punishment … is this the solution to the chaos we're living in? Is this the 'hearts and minds' part of the campaign?

A convoy carrying food, medication, blood and doctors left for Falloojeh yesterday, hoping to get in and help the people in there. Some people from our neighborhood were gathering bags of flour and rice to take into the town. E. and I rummaged the house from top to bottom and came up with a big sack of flour, a couple of smaller bags of rice, a few kilos of assorted dry lentil, chickpeas, etc. We were really hoping the trucks could get through to help out in the city. Unfortunately, I just spoke with an Iraqi doctor who told me that the whole convoy was denied entry... it seems that now they are trying to get the women and children out or at least the very sick and wounded.

The south isn't much better… the casualties are rising and there's looting and chaos. There's an almost palpable anger in Baghdad. The faces are grim and sad all at once and there's a feeling of helplessness that can't be described in words. It's like being held under water and struggling for the unattainable surface- seeing all this destruction and devastation.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

is this what we've become, or what our country's always been?