Shadows on a Wall...
I cannot erase her portrait from my mind. Neither hers nor that of others I have seen, day in, day out.
That same picture, as if permanently fixed, repeating itself in Baghdad, Damascus, Amman...
She must have been around 70 years old. She looked thin. Her black abaya hanging loosely on her head. Her pale face showed no bitterness, no anger, no hate...I wished it did. They would have told me she was still alive. None of that. Just that lost look that has become like a stamp, a seal, a "made in Iraq" (or more aptly made in America or made in Iran) label, by which you can recognize us, us the "ordinary" ones.
Strands of disheveled hair escaped from under her abaya, covering one of her eyes and she let it be...
She was sqatting in the shade, propped by a cracked grey wall behind her. One hand was holding her head and the other freely hanging by her side.
She was talking to herself. A common thing these days. I personally engage in it often.
I heard her say:" What shall I tell you? They are gone. All gone and they left me behind."
Then she would stop and her gaze would drift somewhere far, somewhere beyond, as if visiting this place of no return...As if she was waiting for that moment...
She was no beggar. She begged for nothing. I do not think she was even aware that she needed anything anymore. She lost it all, she lost herself too.
I was discreetly observing her. A couple of kids passed her by and made fun. She raised her eyes and repeated that same sentence : "What shall I tell you? They are all gone...and they left me behind."
The kids ran away, frightened by what seeemed to be her "madness".
She was squatting on the edge, propping her head with one hand, whilst the other was free to reach out for "Life" in that place of no return, waiting for its final deliverance.
The other portrait which remains vivid and accompanies me all the time like some background wallpaper is the image of "another one". Another anonymous one.
Again she is around 70, a little more maybe. She has also taken up a corner, against a wall.
She, however sat on a small cardboard box. She too is not begging.
Cigarettes, not packs of cigarettes but single cigarettes, a few pencils, a rusty pair of tweezers, small packs of tissues are neatly placed in another large card box...too large for her.
She meticulously re-arranges her "goods", making sure to place them in the middle of the box, leaving the edges and margins very empty. Very empty, very much like her life.
Everytime I passed her by, she would say: " Bintee (my daughter). May God keep your family. Buy something from me. I have no one Bintee."
I call her Hijjia and she calls me Bintee.
And however much one gives, the need is so enormous, it is never enough.
Not just the material need which is great but also the other needs, the ones on the inside that virtually no one bothers to look at.
Sometimes I would take food and I'd say: " Hijjia, we just cooked this. It is fresh."
To which she replied: " Bintee, even if it is a week's old, I'd take it. It is Food."
I have just given you two portraits of two elderly Iraqi women. You can multiply these two examples a thousand times...
These were women who once had a home, a family, children, grandchildren and now they have nothing and are nothing - Nothing.
They are nothing but shadows on a cracked grey wall...
And as they secretly wait and wish for another form of "liberation" that would set them finally free from being nothing but shadows on a wall. As they are waiting...
I would like to extend to you my heartfelt congratulations on a "job well done".
Bravo and a thousand bravos for each of these shadows that you have so carefully crafted on the grey wall of our cracked existence.
Painting: Iraqi artist, Said Shnin.
She must have been around 70 years old. She looked thin. Her black abaya hanging loosely on her head. Her pale face showed no bitterness, no anger, no hate...I wished it did. They would have told me she was still alive. None of that. Just that lost look that has become like a stamp, a seal, a "made in Iraq" (or more aptly made in America or made in Iran) label, by which you can recognize us, us the "ordinary" ones.
Strands of disheveled hair escaped from under her abaya, covering one of her eyes and she let it be...
She was sqatting in the shade, propped by a cracked grey wall behind her. One hand was holding her head and the other freely hanging by her side.
She was talking to herself. A common thing these days. I personally engage in it often.
I heard her say:" What shall I tell you? They are gone. All gone and they left me behind."
Then she would stop and her gaze would drift somewhere far, somewhere beyond, as if visiting this place of no return...As if she was waiting for that moment...
She was no beggar. She begged for nothing. I do not think she was even aware that she needed anything anymore. She lost it all, she lost herself too.
I was discreetly observing her. A couple of kids passed her by and made fun. She raised her eyes and repeated that same sentence : "What shall I tell you? They are all gone...and they left me behind."
The kids ran away, frightened by what seeemed to be her "madness".
She was squatting on the edge, propping her head with one hand, whilst the other was free to reach out for "Life" in that place of no return, waiting for its final deliverance.
The other portrait which remains vivid and accompanies me all the time like some background wallpaper is the image of "another one". Another anonymous one.
Again she is around 70, a little more maybe. She has also taken up a corner, against a wall.
She, however sat on a small cardboard box. She too is not begging.
Cigarettes, not packs of cigarettes but single cigarettes, a few pencils, a rusty pair of tweezers, small packs of tissues are neatly placed in another large card box...too large for her.
She meticulously re-arranges her "goods", making sure to place them in the middle of the box, leaving the edges and margins very empty. Very empty, very much like her life.
Everytime I passed her by, she would say: " Bintee (my daughter). May God keep your family. Buy something from me. I have no one Bintee."
I call her Hijjia and she calls me Bintee.
And however much one gives, the need is so enormous, it is never enough.
Not just the material need which is great but also the other needs, the ones on the inside that virtually no one bothers to look at.
Sometimes I would take food and I'd say: " Hijjia, we just cooked this. It is fresh."
To which she replied: " Bintee, even if it is a week's old, I'd take it. It is Food."
I have just given you two portraits of two elderly Iraqi women. You can multiply these two examples a thousand times...
These were women who once had a home, a family, children, grandchildren and now they have nothing and are nothing - Nothing.
They are nothing but shadows on a cracked grey wall...
And as they secretly wait and wish for another form of "liberation" that would set them finally free from being nothing but shadows on a wall. As they are waiting...
I would like to extend to you my heartfelt congratulations on a "job well done".
Bravo and a thousand bravos for each of these shadows that you have so carefully crafted on the grey wall of our cracked existence.
Painting: Iraqi artist, Said Shnin.
Comments
Layla, that was a beautiful post. So sad, I was almost reduced to tears.
I emailed friends a couple of your posts and they only saw your anger. They have NOT walked in your shoes.
Before little TOT gets to this blog again, (or can you block him?) I hope the comments you allow us to make are worthy of your posts.
Your idea of the Feminine (the Goddess) is exactly where I am at. We can rage and love and bring on the true Feminine, or we can continue to watch our world deteriorate under the masculine influence.
That is our choice today.
Daphne
I would like your opinion on them if you will please.
* * * * *
As I’ve said before, the point of ‘Iran talk’ has nothing to do with an actual attack on Iran, but is a Zionist invention intended to increase Sunni-Shi’ite dissension, dissension which is being successfully exploited by Israel to work on building the Zionist Empire. Everybody who repeats ‘Iran talk’, whether lies about Iran or lies about the upcoming supposed American attack on Iran, is a Zionist fellow-traveler, as evil as Pipes or Dershowitz or Kristol or Perle."
* * * * *
I think he/she may have a point.
Daphne
In an earlier blog, you wrote about forgiveness....never, never, never, Layla, not just from the Iraqis but from all peace loving people the world over. One is filled with such deep revulsion for everything that represents the US, all this bloated, self-indulgent lump of so-called 'humanity' which only seems to wring its pathetic hands, while real humans continue to suffer and die so that vultures can have their fill. How I pray for the day when this disgusting nation is brought to its knees. The world will rejoice.
An extremely moving flow of words.
There are many anonymous's in this sad tale. Are they all like this?
Following each other on a road full of lost, sad, souls? Crying for loved ones that can never be hugged and kissed again, to be kept in the heart and mind, until the end of their days.
How can you fit a lifetime of memories in a small box?
As you say, shadows. If it was me, I would be waiting for a quick "liberation".
Now you will have plenty of "anonymous's" commenting, though a very different type.
Take care.
You said your friends only saw my anger....That is fine with me. This is exactly what they are to see coz I have nothing else to offer them but my anger. My anger at their indifference, at their complacency, at their pussy footing around "issues", my anger at thousands killed and wounded...my anger at millions of refugees, at broken down infrastructures, at destruction and apathy...So yes let them see my anger...They are my guests.
As for Xymphora...I used to read his-her blog and he-she kept changing courses...one minute she would say they are attacking iran and one minute she would say they will not...I do agree howeve with what you quoted. I do not believe that Iran is anti zionist...I believe that Iran is primarily anti arab. History of the tugs betweeen Persia and "Arabia" keep repeating itself.
Best to you.
Please read link below and see if you can help in any way. It concerns an Iraqi woman with advanced breast cancer and cannot afford treatment. She is the sole breadwinner in the family...Please help in any way you can.
Her case is a drop in the ocean and the Iraqi ocean is made of many drops like her...Save one drop and it will be as if you saved the whole ocean. Thank you.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m34638&hd=&size=1&l=e
Thank you for the above link, Layla. I will spread the word....
Love you.
TRADITIONALLY loved, appreciated, respected, revered, listened to, learned from, heeded, emulated, kept NEAR the youngers as a CONSTANT SOURCE of inspiration, knowledge, virtue, strength, the very sense of IDENTITY, guaranteed shelter, protection, material and spiritual comfort in the bosom of BOTH their "small" AND their "big" families until their death, then much and dearly mourned for, rendered all honors and eternalized in the MEMORY of those they left behind, our Iraqi patriarches and matriarches have been EXILED from the Earthly Paradise into the same "Limbo" of grey, squalid and hopeless SOLITUDE as their contemporaries and fellow-"useless, burdensome and undesirable DEAD WEIGHTS" from the NEO-NAZI American and European societies.
May Mother Nature AVENGE Herself and all of us who have kept ABIDING by Her eternal non-written LAWS and RECONQUER what is Hers from that hubristic scum of FAILED civilized and civilizers.
MOst of us do NOT approve of IT and the War ,lets pray for Peace.
This kind of work will require much discomfort to self and much self-sacrifice, but wouldn't it be worth it if it helped to simply bring just security into the lives of all innocent Iraqis? Just the basic comforts (I am sure they ask for no frills) that all of us on the outside take so much for granted? The elderly citizens Layla writes about had families, loved ones, dreams, hopes, probably very difficult lives when they were younger - do they deserve this today? All these horrors are being visited on Iraqis in your collective names, Kira....I'd really hate to have this weight on my conscience and only prayers would not help to remove it.
ps. blog was hacked again i think.....i couldn't access it for an hour
Yes, I couldn't access it either! I wondered what was wrong, because the 'Blogger' home page kept coming up. Or maybe Layla was working on it, because I now see 'Word Verification' below....
Kira quit your crying Iraq is not Days of our Lives or General Hospital.
You people have a democracy yet you voted Bush into power again.
If most of you do not approve of war, where are your voices? Where were they when 1.7 million Iraqis died during the sanctions?
We don't need your support and we don't need your tears.
They have done NOTHING in the past 4 years. Go hug a tree. Just be aware, an Iraqi butchered in the street by the militia you helped train with your tax dollars may be buried underneath it.
No, there is only resistance.
And the resistance will respond to this:
This innocent Iraqi man was a father of 11 you fucking bastards!
Marine escapes jail for Iraqi murder plot
A US Marine convicted of plotting to murder an Iraqi civilian outside Baghdad last year escaped a jail sentence for his crimes, the military said.
Trent Thomas, who was found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap and murder Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania on April 26 last year, hugged his family after receiving a reduction in rank and bad conduct discharge.
The 25-year-old former lance corporal, who has been held in detention since the allegations first surfaced last year, could have faced a life prison sentence for his role in Mr Awad's killing.
On Thursday prosecutors had recommended Thomas be jailed for 15 years in order to send a message to other Marines during a hearing at the Camp Pendleton base outside San Diego.
Mr Awad, a 52-year-old father of 11, was taken from his home in a late-night raid by eight US servicemen and killed before the Marines involved covered up the incident to make it look as if Mr Awad was an insurgent planting a bomb.
The killing is one of a series of incidents that have tarnished the reputation of US forces in Iraq.
In closing arguments, military prosecutor lieutenant colonel John Baker had told the jury that the evidence presented had "proven to you that Corporal Trent D. Thomas is a murderer.''
"Corporal Thomas failed when he contracted to take part in this conspiracy and to cover up and lie,'' Lt-Col Baker said.
"This is a plan to kill somebody in cold blood. They (the squad members) were a mob. Vigilante justice is against the law. He (Thomas) might as well have put a signature on a death warrant.''
However, defence lawyers said Thomas's judgment had so been impaired by post traumatic stress disorder and brain damage following three tours of duty in Iraq that he went along with the plot.
Five other servicemen had already pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to lesser charges in connection with the incident.
One of the five, Robert Pennington, was jailed for eight years in February after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping - the same charges Thomas had denied but was convicted of.
Gary Solis, a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, who is also a former Marine judge and a leading authority on military law, said Thomas had benefited from a sympathetic jury.
"There is obviously a mixed message here. Firstly, you acquit someone of murder but convict them of conspiracy to murder.
"Secondly, you convict somebody of conspiracy to murder yet give them no brig time?,'' Mr Solis said. "Clearly the defendant had a sympathetic jury.''
Thomas' sentence was determined by the nine-member jury panel of Marines which had convicted him.
Five members of the panel have each served two tours of duty in Iraq, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Thomas had previously pleaded guilty to premeditated murder, kidnapping and other charges, only to change his plea to not guilty.
Two other soldiers, including the alleged ringleader of the plot sergeant Lawrence Hutchins, face court-martials.
Witnesses have testified Mr Awad was killed after the squad of soldiers failed to locate a suspected insurgent operating in the area west of Baghdad.
Mr Awad was allegedly dragged from his home and frog-marched to a hole, which marines had dug to look like a roadside bomb crater.
He was then bound before being shot three times in the head.
An AK-47 rifle and a shovel were left beside his body to create the impression he had been an insurgent laying a roadside bomb.
Don't worry, other US soldiers will pay for this crime. You know they will.
First of all ....
I did NOT Vote for the Idiot at the Helm..I~M against the War from the very beginning ,therefore dont judge me for the fuck ups of this Gov. ,dont judge me for having Compassion for the People of Irak . There are many Amerikans who would like a change ,many Soldiers who have enough of this War and want to go home ,and many Soldiers who are a disgrace to any Army.
YES,there many of us who are trying to put an end to this illegal Invasion.
I know the Statistics of this damnd War, I know where you are coming from,having your People killed is NEVER FAIR,I have seen War too ,BUT DO NOT blame everyone in the US for this corrupt Gov.
www.albasrah.net read what the US Soldiers have to say.
Then I found out through reading a book that Howard did not even speak to the parliament before announcing that Australia was part of the CoW!!! That's our "democracy" today.
I was so angry when I read that. All along I knew there were no WMD, and of course he knew if I knew (I had read Imad Khadduri and others) and he now stands as someone who lies to the people (very often) and works for the US and not Australians. WE HAVE NO VOICE.
Many Americans, some of whom I am in contact with, did not want this war. They voted Democrats in to stop the war. They also HAVE NO VOICE.
However, we have to RAGE enough to do more than what we are doing now. We have to rise up en masse. And because we don't, I understand your anger Layla. I do, because I feel the same.
The Americans have no democracy either.
you lost a helper here a long time ago.
good girl
[our Iraqi patriarches and matriarches have been EXILED from the Earthly Paradise]
Nice oxymoron. Stuck in a suburb with a bunch of smelly, noisy kids. I, for one, prefer eternal oblivion.
[grey, squalid and hopeless SOLITUDE]
"A man can be _himself_ only so long as he is alone; and if
he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only
when he is alone that he is really free. Constraint is always present
in society, like a companion of whom there is no riddance; and in
proportion to the greatness of a man's individuality, it will be hard
for him to bear the sacrifices which all intercourse with others
demands, Solitude will be welcomed or endured or avoided, according as
a man's personal value is large or small,--the wretch feeling, when
he is alone, the whole burden of his misery; the great intellect
delighting in its greatness; and everyone, in short, being just what
he is."
[May Mother Nature AVENGE Herself and all of us who have kept ABIDING by Her eternal non-written LAWS and RECONQUER what is Hers from that hubristic scum of FAILED civilized and civilizers.]
"The general character of the world, on the other hand, is to all eternity chaos; not by the absence of necessity, but in the sense of the absence of order, structure, form, beauty, wisdom, and whatever else our aesthetic humanities are called. Judged by our reason, the unlucky casts are far oftenest the rule, the exceptions are not the secret purpose; and the whole musical box repeats eternally its air, which can never be called a melody - and finally the very expression, "unlucky cast" is already an anthropomorphizing which involves blame. But how could we presume to blame or praise the universe? Let us be on our guard against ascribing to it heartlessness and unreason, or their opposites; it is neither perfect, nor beautiful, nor noble; nor does it seek to be anything of the kind, it does not at all attempt to imitate man! It is altogether unaffected by our aesthetic and moral judgments! Neither has it any self-preservative instinct, nor instinct at all; it also knows no law. Let us be on our guard against saying that there are laws in nature. There are only necessities: there is no one who commands, no one who obeys, no one who transgresses. When you know that there is no design, you know also that there is no chance: for it is only where there is a world of design that the word "chance" has a meaning. "
You know who else considered both Schopenhauer and Nietzsche as his "maitres à penser", don't you ?
Stick all three up your Ameronazi SA broken ass and get lost.
I actually sat there trying to work out the above copy&paste, but gave up.
I do know I rather like being alone, but that's the only info I got from it...
What I am having real problems with is that other people can't get angry or emotional or anything about the destruction of Iraq. And Afghanistan. And Palestine. And I'm sure most people actually think we live in the most civilised countries in the world... and we do not, and we will go down in history as barbarians.
Why is it that the US seems to value American lives, more than Iraqi lives?
Something tells me that murder most foul, in the US, would be punished, while murder in Iraq is not.
If this has happened in Bush's home state, Texas, where the death penalty is advocated, the murderer would have been put on Death Row.
It is a sad state of affairs that Iraqi's have to endure, to what end, I have no idea.
There is no justice in the outcome of this murder, and most probably, many, many others.
We most certainly do have a voice and we will use it soon. The Federal Election is pretty close, and it's time for a change of government.
Look at Abbott's book, with stinging remarks about JH. It is bringing them undone. Also the Dr Haneef affair is turning into an absolute scandal.
It's too late for Howard now, the damage has been done.
I can't wait to wave goodbye.
There is justice. It may not be served immediately, but we in the Middle East wait a long, long time for our cause to be served.
It is the way of the desert.
You will find justice in the klashinkov of the Iraqi resistance, in the scope of the Iraqi sniper, in the pen of such Iraqi heroines as Riverbend and Layla Anwar.
I am not pessimistic at all. History is judge.
in the UK, the war criminal has gone. What has changed? Nothing. In the US, the democrats have come to power. What has changed? Nothing. What will change when the war criminal Bush goes? Nothing. The same in Canada, the same - I guesss - in Australia. Why? Because all these countries are ruled by the exceptionalist fascist imperialist elites of Anglo-Saxon blood/descent (the most ruthless and treacherous tribe on earth) who are under the greedy murderous zionazis' heels. As long as these elites remain in power, there's little hope for change ...
Truthaboutiraqis- "it is the way of the desert". Then what are you bitching about? shut up and let history run it's course.
daphne-War has always been and will always be, get used to it, because it's not ending anytime soon. I'm sure it will be on someone's else turf tomorrow.
In fact, the only reason you care now is because it's on your turf. You didn't give a shit, when it was in another country 10, 15, or 20 years ago. (albeit, you may be young).
barabie go bang you're head against the wall. It might help your self esteem and make you a better person.
FUTUETEIPSUMETMATREMTUAM!
Blair has gone, Brisish troops are spread to thin on the ground. They are withdrawing now. A good thing, yes?
In the US, democrats are in power, but Bush is still President and can and will veto withdrawl. The American public is getting peed off with Bush. His time will come soon.
In Aus, we have sent training troops. We are not happy about this and neither is the Opposition Leader, who will soon be elected by an angry public. He plans to withdraw over the next few months, afer the election.
As to the comment about Daphne and the war on her turf, and my turf too, by the way, is nonsensical. We have no war, and have never claimed one as our own.
The 'you didn't give a shit about war in another country', how do you know that? Very judgemental, go for the man, when you have not other source of information.
tomorrow is sunday, so I anticipate another brilliant post.
See what happens when you start something good?!
You've all lost your damn minds!
Truthaboutiraqis- "it is the way of the desert". Then what are you bitching about? shut up and let history run it's course.
daphne-War has always been and will always be, get used to it, because it's not ending anytime soon. I'm sure it will be on someone's else turf tomorrow.
In fact, the only reason you care now is because it's on your turf. You didn't give a shit, when it was in another country 10, 15, or 20 years ago. (albeit, you may be young).
barabie go bang you're head against the wall. It might help your self esteem and make you a better person.
--
shut the fuck up u stupid twat
Layla
tomorrow is sunday, so I anticipate another brilliant post.
See what happens when you start something good?!
--
i always like sunday posts
why don't you go and tell your vandalizing and massmurdering mercenaries and crusaders to put down their arms and to wave the white flag? How can you be so shameless!
Hello and thank you for the accolades. I agree with your overall analysis concerning Iran however I differ with you on one very important point that may have eluded you.
You mentioned in your reply to Layla Anwar that the US is not the eternal enemy...
I deduce that you have hope in the enemy.
I need to remind you, was it not for the Americans, the Iranians would have not been able to wreck as much havoc as the US in Iraq.
Was it not for the Americans and their "ethnic divisional plan", we would have not witnessed the partition of Iraq and Iran controlling the whole of the South, Najaf and Kerbala and Baghdad.
Was it not for the Americans, we would not have the Kurds turning the North of Iraq into a playing ground for the Israelis and Iranians alike...
Let us call things by their names.
It is a Dual occupation, nay triple, nay quadruple...USA. Iran, Israel, GB and now you can add Turkey....
Yalla welcome all to Iraq.
I get a "little" irritated when you ask us Iraqis to "differentiate" between the good american soldiers and the not so good.
I get " a little irritated" when you demand of the Iraqis to understand the subtleties of your democracies - the wonderful nuances between democrats and republicans and the fallacies or failings of "Democracy"...
Frankly this is NOT our problem...that is your problem.
Your B.52's, depleted uranium, phosphorus, cluster bombs. Your 13 years of sanctions that killed over 1.5 million of Iraqis. Your liberation of 1 million iraqis into mass grave yards and 4.2 million into exile did not differentiate between the "good iraqis and the bad iraqis". It hit it all indiscriminately- except the ass licker puppets in the green zone. So why do you ask us for nuances. Is that not the same western ethos of demanding from the victim to understand the intricacies of thepredator?
Besides where were your voices during the 13 years of draconian sanctions....How come we did not hear anything then?
Ya3nee Zebalah.
You are judging all Americans / and /or People who live in the US and fail to see the Point that many of us ARE against this War ?Invasion ,and this make me a "little" irritated. And dont tell me that I for one should have done this or that,you DONT know anything about me ,who I`m and what I do !
War is ugly , always has been,and more Hate will NOT solve it.
"War is ugly , always has been,and more Hate will NOT solve it." is -as far I know - zionazi talk! No normal human being speaks like that, except the ameronazis and zionazis! This is the language used by those who perpetrate wars and try to defend their crimes they commit! Barbarians!
First of all, Saddam has never been to the United States.
Secondly it is not a War but an illegal occupation and an invasion.
Thirdly, I do not think I have any lessons to receive in the morality of love and not hating.
I think they are best saved for the invader and the supporters...and the anti war movement who has proved to be a total failure..4 years down the line and even fared much worse during the sanction years.
So kindly spare me your patronizing.
If you think that Saddam was not in the US look again,find the Pictures of the event .Now I will have some Chai and go to Bed!!
just as in Jugoslavia all all Hell broke lose after Tito left !!!
By Phil Rockstroh
At present, George W. Bush is unpopular with the majority of the American public not because of the murderous mayhem he has unloosed in Iraq; rather, his standing has plummeted, due to the fact, he didn't deliver the goods.
Americans are fine with fueling our republic of road rage using the blood of Iraqis (or any other distant and darker people) as long as "the mission" doesn't drag on too long or reveal too much about ourselves.
How did we come to be a nation of vampires who live by sustaining ourselves on the blood of others? Is our mode of collective being so toxic in the United States that a writer must bandy about metaphors culled from Gothic horror fiction to describe it?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18027.htm
Absolutely right - USans are not against the occupation because they care about Iraqis...it's because they have not 'won' - despicable barbarians and parasites.
And you know what? I would probably feel exactly as you feel for each of us if the tables were turned.
Angel, yes, we will probably get Howard out next year. However, Beazely was part of the Lib/Lab system, and I cannot trust that Rudd is not too at this time.
One thing I know is that Australians mostly do not want to know about Iraq and that I find incomprehensible and utterly beyond my capacity to fortgive.
You would do better to try to make common cause with Americans who are seeking to end this war. What did you do when Saddam invaded Kuwait? Did you personally get out in front of his tanks to stop him? If you had done that, would it have stopped him?
How do you like having your logic turned back on yourself? By your own logic, you are Personally to blame for Saddam's attack on Kuwait, EVEN IF YOU WEREN'T ALIVE AT THE TIME, since your comments about Americans imply that every foreign policy crime ever committed by this country that helped pave the way to what is going on now can be laid at the feet of every American living today.
Your writing is magnificent, fwiw. It could do a lot of good. It could help bring an end to the occupation.
Let's talk about 911. Should I blame you personally for 911? I don't know you, but you're a Muslim, aren't you? That attackers were Muslims, weren't they? See, that's collective blame at work and, whether you like it or not, it works both ways.
What if Al Queda blows up some people in America again? I can tell you, Layla, that a lot of people in America would, if that happened, probably call for an all out holocaust against all Muslims. What do you think of that logic? Of that kind of collective blame? Does it make any sense for you to contribute to that kind of attitude?
What we need is less collective blame, not more.
what a brainless hubristic American bumpkin you are! A perfect ameronazi!
you do have a point ,but i know some will dispute it.
keep up the educational work,but there will be many who are not accepting facts.
you too shall wake up.
I'm an active supporter of the British & Irish 9/11 Truth Campaign (we don't have 'members'). I want to bring everybody's attention to the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967, which was a previous '9/11' attempt to control Middle East oil and which has parallels with 9/11. When you research it, you'll see it's relevance. And it can bring new converts to 9/11 Truth, through seeing a murderous precedent by LBJ and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in collusion with elements in Israel. Following is a little info, and a couple of sites :
In 1967 Israel launched a murderous attack on the USS Liberty, attacking it with HE bombs, napalm, machine gun fire, cannon, rocket and even brought in 3 MTB's who torpedoed it, and machine-gunned the liferafts both on deck and in the water. The US threatened the survivors with courts martial, prison OR WORSE, if they breathed a word to anyone, even their families, about the attack. To this day there hasn't been a proper inquiry. You may know all this already; what you probably didn't know is that the US Sixth Fleet launched nuclear-armed planes to bomb Egypt in 'retaliation' for Israel's (but to be blamed on Egypt) attack, and they were recalled with 3 minutes to target. Check out the sites below, and also Peter Hounam's book 'Operation Cyanide' .
This stuff is really dynamite, and very useful in exposing US/Israeli machinations, with an immediate application in throwing a spanner in plans to attack Iran. PLEASE CHECK THIS STUFF OUT. The survivors have a website, and are still trying to get a proper inquiry.
Here are a couple of sites: (See 'Loss of Liberty'
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7267134620652018859 and 'Dead in the Water' http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5073.html ) 'Dead in the Water' is BBC programme commissioned from Peter Hounam (who broke Mordechai Vanunu's story about Israel's nuclear arsenal) who also wrote the excellent 'Operation Cyanide' on the same subject. The book is even more revealing. Paul,London UK