weapon of mass indignation

this wasn't a very nice thing to do to the leader of the free world.

reuters reports:

"In a sign of lingering anger over the war that will define the Republican president's foreign policy legacy, an Iraqi journalist shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," and hurled his shoes at Bush during a news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki."

would we could dispatch osama bin laden with the same ease as the security men who dragged this screaming protester from the room.

friendly fire death of british soldier in iraq

saw the video on pandagon, and here is the youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV_16PdWnBo

it is impossible to see what they are looking at, but the subtitles of the conversations are very clear. one pilot thinks there may be friendlies below, but the main command says there aren't any in the area. the pilots are told that the orange signs they see are actually rocket launchers, and that they are to destroy them. they obey, and just as they have fired their missiles, they get the news that there are actually friendlies in the area. in the second video, we hear their reaction. at the end, one of the pilots is weeping.

i am speechless.

remembering the dead

monument to dead gi's in iraq
Originally uploaded by ravaj.

i found this photograph online this week. the helmets, rifles and dogtags of these dead soldiers have been planted by their comrades in memory of their sacrifice.

the photo makes these items look like the aliens that came out of the ship in 'close encounters', or e.t. himself.

and for what did they die?

bring our troops home!

weekend of remembrance

omaha beach by maira kalman
Originally uploaded by ravaj.

from kristallnacht to poppy day our thoughts are directed towards the world wars of the 20th century. we mourn those who gave their lives voluntarily through military service, and those who were unwilling victims of hatred and persecution.

the question for me is, however, will such thoughts and ceremonies have any effect on the wars and persecution of today?

rumsfeld is gone. hurrah. the troops, however, are still dying in iran and afghanistan. look at the graves. what next?

the war on terror

do go read riverbend (click on the baghdad burning link to the right). she does not post that often, but it's a good opp to hear from an ordinary person living in the middle of it all. here is a snippet responding to the recent u.s. "success":

"So now that Zarqawi is dead, and because according to Bush and our Iraqi puppets he was behind so much of Iraq's misery- things should get better, right? The car bombs should lessen, the ethnic cleansing will come to a halt, military strikes and sieges will die down… That's what we were promised, wasn't it? That sounds good to me. Now- who do they have to kill to stop the Ministry of Interior death squads, and trigger-happy foreign troops?"