Saturday, October 23, 2004
Baghdad Burning
Baghdad Burning:
"The number of Iraqis dead since March 2003 is by now at least eight times the number of people who died in the World Trade Center. They had their last words, and their last thoughts as their worlds came down around them, too. I’ve attended more wakes and funerals this last year, than I’ve attended my whole life. The process of mourning and the hollow words of comfort have become much too familiar and automatic."
"Najaf is considered the holiest city in Iraq. It is visited by Shi�a from all over the world, and yet, during the last two days, it has seen a rain of bombs and shells from none other than the �saviors� of the oppressed Shi�a- the Americans. So is this the �Sunni Triangle� too? It�s d�j� vu- corpses in the streets, people mourning their dead and dying and buildings up in flames. The images flash by on the television screen and it�s Falluja all over again. Twenty years from now who will be blamed for the mass graves being dug today?"
"So where is the interim constitution when you need it? The sanctity of private residences is still being violated... people are still being unlawfully arrested... cities are being bombed. Then again, there really is nothing in the constitution that says the American millitary *can't* actually bomb and burn."
"The number of Iraqis dead since March 2003 is by now at least eight times the number of people who died in the World Trade Center. They had their last words, and their last thoughts as their worlds came down around them, too. I’ve attended more wakes and funerals this last year, than I’ve attended my whole life. The process of mourning and the hollow words of comfort have become much too familiar and automatic."
"Najaf is considered the holiest city in Iraq. It is visited by Shi�a from all over the world, and yet, during the last two days, it has seen a rain of bombs and shells from none other than the �saviors� of the oppressed Shi�a- the Americans. So is this the �Sunni Triangle� too? It�s d�j� vu- corpses in the streets, people mourning their dead and dying and buildings up in flames. The images flash by on the television screen and it�s Falluja all over again. Twenty years from now who will be blamed for the mass graves being dug today?"
"So where is the interim constitution when you need it? The sanctity of private residences is still being violated... people are still being unlawfully arrested... cities are being bombed. Then again, there really is nothing in the constitution that says the American millitary *can't* actually bomb and burn."
