After an evening stroll through dailykos, I went surfing. I got smashed against this little coral reef:
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000196.php#more
This is inflammatory. It is meant to be. I have no idea how credible Dahr Jamail is, but given what we do know about Bush's Big Sandbox Adventure, I don't find his stories difficult to believe. . . and, if I stop to think about that, it becomes difficult to breathe. . . very difficult.
"When the soldiers entered she was in her home with her father, mother, 12 year-old brother and two sisters. She watched the soldiers enter and shoot her mother and father directly, without saying anything."
The girl managed to hide behind the refrigerator with her brother and witnessed the war crimes first-hand.
"They beat her two sisters, then shot them in the head," he said. After this her brother was enraged and ran at the soldiers while shouting at them, so they shot him dead.
"She continued hiding after the soldiers left and stayed with her sisters because they were bleeding, but still alive. She was too afraid to call for help because she feared the soldiers would come back and kill her as well. She stayed for three days, with no water and no food. Eventually one of the American snipers saw her and took her to the hospital," he added before reminding me again that he had all of her testimony documented on film.
Isolated incident? Few bad apples?
"During the second week of the siege they entered and announced that all the families have to leave their homes and meet at an intersection in the street while carrying a white flag. They gave them 72 hours to leave and after that they would be considered an enemy," he says.
"We documented this story with video-a family of 12, including a relative and his oldest child who was 7 years old. They heard this instruction, so they left with all their food and money they could carry, and white flags. When they reached the intersection where the families were accumulating, they heard someone shouting `Now!' in English, and shooting started everywhere."
You would think that after Vietnam, we would know better . . . do better. We said we did. We said we would never do it happen again.
I was only a child during the Vietnam conflict. It did not personally effect me, and it was only a footnote in my high school history book. Vietnam did not become real to me until a late night conversation between a motel desk clerk and an over-the-road truck driver. He was a combat Vet with a purple heart and a bronze star, and I was young. (No, that's a different story . . . . )
I don't know exactly why, or what prompted him, but while a Wyoming blizzard howled outside, he told me his story. He was no anti-war activist, whistleblower type. He spoke from the heart of deeply personal, infinitely painful experiences. He spoke of evil choices, of fear, death, loyalty, faith and hate. He spoke of the kinds of things you see on Dahr Jamail's site, rumored things, atrocities. The things we can't or won't quite acknowledge. Blood on our hands.
Sickened, and saddened by old memories, I eventually returned to the dailykos front page. Discussed on the threads was the big issue of whether JimJeff's homosexuality should be used to highlight the hypocrisy of the Rethugs and their closets. Homage poured out for the revered Sen. Boxer's skewering of the "lie volcano." There were odd bits of info, rants and the obligatory nods to Dean and Hillary. For its part today, MSM devoted hours to jury selection in the Michael Jackson trial.
The rage that boils inside me is hard to describe. American soldiers are killing people in our name, and we get giddy over outing a fake reporter. American soldiers are dying for our cause, and we applaud a catfight in the Senate. Americans are outsourcing torture, throwing human scraps to our more ravenous allies, and we complain about the author of a memo. Tens of thousands of Iraqis are homeless and hungry and we shake our heads because $9 Billion went missing. And it is getting very difficult to breathe.
It then occurs to me that Vietnam didn't end until the President got caught raiding the DNC's offices, a scandal that in comparison was, well, just insignificant. But Watergate captured America's attention, and it brought down the President. Blue dresses have also proven effective. Whatever brings down Bush will no doubt be equally insignificant in comparison to the horror of Iraq. Like Watergate, the scandal that fells the Bush will force a change in the political climate and will tip the balance toward ending the War in Iraq.
That is the real value in the work that is done on this site. We keep tugging at loose threads until we find the one that unravels the whole, the one that captures America's attention and forces a change. America will never admit that Iraq is one huge war crime, and we who oppose the War will never truly be vindicated. But we keep looking for the right thread, even if it turns out to be JimJeff's sexual orientation. The War will end, and we will accept the win, though it occurs as a side effect of Bush's own petty games.
I have new insight on the banality of blood politics, but it's only slightly easier to breath.