Reports continue to trickle in. First there was Haditha. Then more reports of massacres in different Iraqi cities. And in spite of all the spinning and posturing it's obvious civilian life doesn't mean much to the U.S. military. Not Iraqi civilian life.
When Zarqawi was allegedly killed (there are many possibilities beyond the official story but I don't want to get into them now), women and children also died. They are a mere footnote to the gloating of American officials over this "victory in the war on terror." They are not American, not Christian, not white. Their lives don't matter.
Reports are coming in of an internet video in which a Marine boasts, while others cheer, of his murder of Iraqi girls. They are the enemy. They don't matter.
U.S. soldiers refer to Iraqi Muslims as "hadjis." This terms of respect, referring to one who has completed the difficult ritual of hajj, has become a term of insult. Yet another example of the perversion of the official American mindset when it comes to Muslims.
I am a native-born American citizen and I expect to be treated with dignity and respect. I am also a Muslim, and often I wonder how long it will be before Muslims in this country are treated with the same level of disrespect shown Muslims in other countries--by the U.S. military and their Zionist allies.
Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. Nice words. And it shouldn't stop there. How can the American government justify the murder of Iraqi civilians and yet defend the lives of Americans? How can fundamentalist Christians insist on imposing their worldview on the rest of us? And why is it that white skin is still more highly valued? (I'm white, and sometimes ashamed of it.)
A hadji is someone who deserves respect. A civilian is someone who deserves to live. And peace does not come from waging war.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Natural disasters
I haven't forgotten the Indonesian earthquake which has killed nearly 6000 people so far. But it seems that the American media has.
I went to Jogjakarta once. It was a nice city, and very friendly. I keep wondering about the people I met there. How are they now?
It's so much to take in. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, flooding, wildfires. And a major tsunami. The body counts add up. The destruction is usually beyond imagination. Lives are torn apart. We sit at home and watch it all on the news, grateful we were spared. Until our time comes.
Some debate about the meaning of these disasters. A punishment from God. A test from God. Or merely a natural occurence.
What is certain is the suffering. The survivors are left to cry, mourn and pick up the pieces.
We can do more than be grateful it hasn't happened to us this time. We can contribute money and resources. And we can pray.
Hurricane season started today. The majority believe the government is not ready for another onslaught.
Ready or not.
I went to Jogjakarta once. It was a nice city, and very friendly. I keep wondering about the people I met there. How are they now?
It's so much to take in. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, flooding, wildfires. And a major tsunami. The body counts add up. The destruction is usually beyond imagination. Lives are torn apart. We sit at home and watch it all on the news, grateful we were spared. Until our time comes.
Some debate about the meaning of these disasters. A punishment from God. A test from God. Or merely a natural occurence.
What is certain is the suffering. The survivors are left to cry, mourn and pick up the pieces.
We can do more than be grateful it hasn't happened to us this time. We can contribute money and resources. And we can pray.
Hurricane season started today. The majority believe the government is not ready for another onslaught.
Ready or not.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
A Woman in Labor
It happens every day. A pregnant woman feels the pains of labor. She asks her husband, or someone, to drive her to the hospital. The pains become worse. They hurry. Usually they arrive at the hospital in time and, a day or two later, bring home a new baby boy or girl.
But sometimes the routine is complicated. What if the pregnant woman lives in Baghdad? What if she has to pass through a U.S. military checkpoint on her way to the hospital? What if panicked soldiers fire into the car, killing the woman and her unborn child?
Whose country is it? Does Iraq belong to the American soldiers who stand guard in the streets? Or does it belong to the Iraqi people?
I assume soldiers receive training. I assume if someone had a gun and wanted to stop a car, he could do so without killing the passengers. Shoot out a tire. Don't shoot an expectant mother.
Every time an incident like this occurs, we should imagine if something similar happened to an American. Imagine this woman is your neighbor. Or your daughter. Or your Aunt Katherine. How would you feel if this happened to your wife or your mother?
How would you feel if a coalition of countries invaded the U.S. in order to overthrow our unjust leader and stationed troops in the streets? If they raided our houses in the middle of the night. If they set up roadblocks which made it difficult to do simple things like driving to the hospital.
How ever you would feel, that's how an Iraqi feels. We're are all human under the labels.
Giving birth is not without risks. But being shot should not be one of them.
But sometimes the routine is complicated. What if the pregnant woman lives in Baghdad? What if she has to pass through a U.S. military checkpoint on her way to the hospital? What if panicked soldiers fire into the car, killing the woman and her unborn child?
Whose country is it? Does Iraq belong to the American soldiers who stand guard in the streets? Or does it belong to the Iraqi people?
I assume soldiers receive training. I assume if someone had a gun and wanted to stop a car, he could do so without killing the passengers. Shoot out a tire. Don't shoot an expectant mother.
Every time an incident like this occurs, we should imagine if something similar happened to an American. Imagine this woman is your neighbor. Or your daughter. Or your Aunt Katherine. How would you feel if this happened to your wife or your mother?
How would you feel if a coalition of countries invaded the U.S. in order to overthrow our unjust leader and stationed troops in the streets? If they raided our houses in the middle of the night. If they set up roadblocks which made it difficult to do simple things like driving to the hospital.
How ever you would feel, that's how an Iraqi feels. We're are all human under the labels.
Giving birth is not without risks. But being shot should not be one of them.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
You cannot excuse a crime
When I was a little girl and I got in trouble, I would start to explain what had happened. "I didn't mean to hit my sister. But I was reading and I had just gotten to the best part and she came up and startled me." Like that.
Every time, my father, who as a rule didn't say much, said "No excuses."
It's taken me a long time to internalize this lesson. To the point that if I'm late on a writing assignment I don't need to tell the editor about my family problems, car problems, health problems, and how I tried so hard to overcome the obstacles but simply could not do it. All I need to say is, "I'm sorry." Then move on.
So I've learned the lesson, and try to apply it. What about the American media?
When American Marines go balistic and massacre twenty-four Iraqis, the behavior is excused. "They 're under pressure."
When an Army truck sped through Kabul and crashed into several cars at an interseciton, killing several people, the speed at which the truck traveled was excused. They had to speed because of concerns about attacks. (Haven't they told us Kabul is under military control?"
I had more examples but I will have to excuse myself. I won't bother you with details about how heavy my eyelids have suddenly become and how inviting it seems to go to sleep.
But I won't make excuses. Good night.
Every time, my father, who as a rule didn't say much, said "No excuses."
It's taken me a long time to internalize this lesson. To the point that if I'm late on a writing assignment I don't need to tell the editor about my family problems, car problems, health problems, and how I tried so hard to overcome the obstacles but simply could not do it. All I need to say is, "I'm sorry." Then move on.
So I've learned the lesson, and try to apply it. What about the American media?
When American Marines go balistic and massacre twenty-four Iraqis, the behavior is excused. "They 're under pressure."
When an Army truck sped through Kabul and crashed into several cars at an interseciton, killing several people, the speed at which the truck traveled was excused. They had to speed because of concerns about attacks. (Haven't they told us Kabul is under military control?"
I had more examples but I will have to excuse myself. I won't bother you with details about how heavy my eyelids have suddenly become and how inviting it seems to go to sleep.
But I won't make excuses. Good night.
Monday, May 29, 2006
"Idol" atry
This happened last week, so it's already old news. But it points to a larger problem.
A new winner was selected on American Idol. I never watch the show and I couldn't care less. The point is, the event was a major news item. I wish I could remember exactly when TV shows became news. Even though I don't watch the show, I was inundated with information about it. I found myself switching channels, trying to avoid learning more details.
The hot news right now isn't the recent "Idol"atry, but the birth of another celebrity baby. I know the child's name and that she was born in Namibia. I learned this while, again, trying to avoid these useless tidbits. But they are relentless.
Sports is news. Entertainment is news. Celebrities are news.
Rarely we here real news. It took three days for the networks to adequately cover the earthquake in Indonesia. Some of them glossed over the riots in Afghanistan. I had to read the initial allegations of a massacre in Iraq on the the internet because only one network covered it, and then very briefly. (Although the neglect was almost better than when I heard a Sunday political commentator allege that perhaps the Iraqi civilians deserved to be killed.)
Today Memorial Day is news. This always perplexes me too. Holidays come consistently every year. Why are they news? We anticipate them. Rituals never really change. What's new about that?
I miss Walter Cronkite.
A new winner was selected on American Idol. I never watch the show and I couldn't care less. The point is, the event was a major news item. I wish I could remember exactly when TV shows became news. Even though I don't watch the show, I was inundated with information about it. I found myself switching channels, trying to avoid learning more details.
The hot news right now isn't the recent "Idol"atry, but the birth of another celebrity baby. I know the child's name and that she was born in Namibia. I learned this while, again, trying to avoid these useless tidbits. But they are relentless.
Sports is news. Entertainment is news. Celebrities are news.
Rarely we here real news. It took three days for the networks to adequately cover the earthquake in Indonesia. Some of them glossed over the riots in Afghanistan. I had to read the initial allegations of a massacre in Iraq on the the internet because only one network covered it, and then very briefly. (Although the neglect was almost better than when I heard a Sunday political commentator allege that perhaps the Iraqi civilians deserved to be killed.)
Today Memorial Day is news. This always perplexes me too. Holidays come consistently every year. Why are they news? We anticipate them. Rituals never really change. What's new about that?
I miss Walter Cronkite.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Haditha: Why do "they" hate "us"?
Reports are now becoming public of the massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians. The incident happened last November and was perpetrated by Marines who were angry about the death of one of their comrades. They reportedly went house to house and killed whole families.
Five hundred Vietnamese were killed in My Lai when soldiers, stressed over loss of their comrades, raided a village and slaughtered indisciminately.
In 1890 US troops killed two hundred Native Americans, including women and children, who posed no threat at all.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Inalienable rights. For all.
Haditha did not produce as many deaths as Wounded Knee or My Lai, but it was still an act of senseless murder. While the network news programs work feverishly to convince us that American troops are helping Iraqis, the headlines keep proving otherwise.
Do they hate us for our freedoms? Or is there another reason?
Five hundred Vietnamese were killed in My Lai when soldiers, stressed over loss of their comrades, raided a village and slaughtered indisciminately.
In 1890 US troops killed two hundred Native Americans, including women and children, who posed no threat at all.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Inalienable rights. For all.
Haditha did not produce as many deaths as Wounded Knee or My Lai, but it was still an act of senseless murder. While the network news programs work feverishly to convince us that American troops are helping Iraqis, the headlines keep proving otherwise.
Do they hate us for our freedoms? Or is there another reason?
Thursday, May 25, 2006
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