This is a Diary I hate to write. But I feel it is necessary. In this time before an extremely important election, we can never forget, nay we
must never forget our duty as a citizen of the United States to the people of Iraq. Sometimes what's going on over there seems to be a million miles away. Sometimes names and stories like "Kobe" or "Stewart" or "Peterson" seem more real, more tangible, but thousands of miles away in a strange and dusty country, people's lives are being affected.
Some of those lives are our brothers and sisters. They speak English or Spanish. They probably worship at the same houses where we worship. If we met them at our job or in our neighborhood, we'd probably be able to share a joke or a smile with them.
And some of those lives belong to our other brothers and sisters. They dress differently. They worship in a different way. Many of them don't speak English. If we saw them on the street, they'd probably stand out as different and foreign. But they too are human beings and their lives are inextricably entwined with ours because our government and our tax money is financing a brutal, deadly war in their home towns and villages.
Neither disrespecting nor ever forgetting the American men and women who have already given their lives, I dedicate this Diary to the people of Iraq.
I've never been to Iraq. I've never been anywhere close to there actually, and I can only imagine what life is like over there. Yet on
May 18, 2003 my government officially became the "Occupational Authority" of Iraq. That's a fancy way of saying that their old government, as corrupt and brutal as it was, was gone. And since then, my government has been in charge of running that country.
It seems strange to think of my American government being the de facto government of Iraq, a country much different than mine, but that's what's been going on for nearly a year. I know the people of Iraq cannot organize a police force, equip and train a military, open a school, hold political office or even walk the streets without my government's permission. I know my government has been saying it has been working towards handing sovreignty over to the people of Iraq, but right now my government is still the only authority.
But my government's duties go a lot further than just giving permission, training police officers and enforcing the laws. I know my government is fully responsible for the safety and security for the people of Iraq. I know the people of Iraq are not permitted to do this yet. And unfortunately my heart weeps because my government has done such a poor job of protecting the lives, property and safety of the people of Iraq. Saddam is gone, literally sitting in a jail cell, and yet the terror and fear is not gone from that country.
Worse yet, so many Iraqi civilians have died. I can't even begin to count the number of people assaulted, robbed, attacked, shot but not killed, stabbed, raped, kidnapped, abused, molested, violated and terrorized. Those numbers are harder to come by. But dead bodies can be counted. Dead civilian bodies. And as best as can be done, independent sources say that a minimum of 8437 civilians have been killed. The maximum is 10,282. Those are numbers gathered from mainstream press sources, from published reports and from official American and British government statements.
I'm going to quote now something which breaks my heart.
Iraqi civilian deaths were caused by the actions of the US and UK governments, voted for by the elected representatives of these two countries, paid for out of the tax revenues supplied by the citizens of these countries, and undertaken on the back of promises by the political leaders of these two countries that "everything possible" would be done to avoid civilian casualties. These factors place on the people of the USA and the UK an equally sacred duty to record every single resulting Iraqi death, so that none is missed, and none may be forgotten, and the war's true impact may be recognized.
We walked (or were led) blindly into a war for which there was, and still is, no justification. It is time we opened our eyes and discovered the full effect of this terrible mistake on the people of Iraq.
There have been many Diaries and articles and blog reports of who mislead who and who voted for what. This Diary is not an extension of who is to blame for wanting this war. This Diary is, instead, a form of electronic headstone saying "here lie the bodies of 10,000 men, women and children who wanted no war, who wanted peace, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. They died under the watch of the American government, my government, and I, as a citizen of the United States, bear some responsibility for this".
I am no friend of GW Bush. It looks like Kerry will be the man who will oppose him in November and hopefully win. My sincerest wish tonight is that I and every one of my fellow citizens never turn our eyes away from our responsibilities to the people of Iraq. To never forget that 10,000 dead civilians is a terrible, terrible loss and that the "best military in the world" has failed them. To never forget that we must bring safety, security and peace to this country immediately. The ways to do this can and shall be debated, but we must never lose our focus that it was our government which invaded and occupied their country and it is now, for better or for worse, our responsibility. We are all responsible.
I apologize to those who find this Diary offensive. I am posting it at Saturday night around midnight, so hopefully this will be posted during a lull period.
All I can say in my defense is that I had to post this Diary "lest we forget".
Peace is the only answer