Prison photos on covers of Brit tabloids, all over tv; emailed Blair...

[DeepModem Mom]

For a few years, I live most of the time in Britain. I woke up here at 7 a.m. to the Abu Ghraib photos on Sky News, and almost wall-to-wall tv news coverage (along with Falluja). I went for an appointment, and to read while I waited I was presented with a magazine and a tabloid paper with one of the pictures covering the entire frontpage. I was sick, and turned the paper over, ashamed of my American accent. I said nothing.

Back home, I googled and found an email form for Tony Blair at 10 Downing. I emailed Blair, begging him to separate himself from George W. Bush. Surely, I said, he must now realize what he supports when he supports Bush and his right-wing American political faction. I added that, besides Iraq, I had a more selfish reason for my request: that I feared for the survival of my country's democratic system under Bush and his right-wing associates and supporters. I said he must not realize how extreme they are, and that they seek to impose a theocracy on my country, which the framers of our Constitution feared and forbade. I wrote about many of the things we discuss here. I said that I and many other Americans believe Bush became President through extra-democratic means.

I begged him -- for the sake of the world, my country and his own, and, I suspected, the sake of his own conscience, heart and soul -- to separate himself, before the world, from George W. Bush, now.

[skooooo]

1. Wow, what a complete embarrassment...

...for America.

[donhakman]

2. even on NBC Today show

[skooooo]

4. Love the Hogan's Heros motif!! NT

[donhakman]

6. from last year

[LittleApple81]

3. Now I know why you post so late at night (or early in the morning)...

Thanks for being there posting when I cannot sleep.
I am planning to go live in Europe by the end of this year or the beginning of next (independent of what is happening here, just personal reasons) and I am embarrased having questions asked like "why did YOU Americans allow this to happen?"
Well, hopefully by that time we will have another president-elect.

[skooooo]

5. ya know....

...you can't defend the indefensible. But there really aren't too many countries that haven't committed things like this. So...guess I'm trying to say, don't let them rub your nose in it. At least the US press has exposed it and we are examining it.

[DeepModem Mom]

9. People have not been so bad over here, esp. in Britain --

We had one incident, on a night just before the war started, when some guys on a Paris street heard my daughters' American accents and started yelling at them to go home. They were a bit shaken, and didn't know whether to say they opposed the war, too, or just get out of the situation (they got out). Brits have been nice, especially older people for whom WWII is still their defining experience. People would often bring up and discuss things, giving me a chance to express my views.

When Michael Moore had a book signing in Piccadilly, the line (queue) ran for blocks -- so maybe there's an understanding that many Americans don't support Bush. Americans were placed at the front of the February 15 anti-war march. More recently, I had a chance to attend a social function with people present from four continents, and concern for what America was doing with its power in the world was at a very high level. People want to know if Kerry can win.

Even more recently, people don't seem to say much. I may be paranoid, but it makes me wonder if people have finally turned against us, and don't feel like talking about world issues with an American.

[2Design]

7. can other countries help us

We can't seem to get help from our media and our government has become so corrupt, I am wondering if we inform other governments how bad this administration is...if we could get them to clamp down on this government.....oust it from the UN, put embargos.....do whatever is necessary to curb these fanatics.

[DeepModem Mom]

10. That's why, even if only one individual, I emailed Tony --

[ugarte]

8. Jeez, aren't liberators entitled to blow off a little steam?

Has anyone considered that maybe these Iraqis were so happy being free they just took off their clothes and jumped in a pile?