Friday, January 21, 2005
Riverbend makes war's effects personal
She's such a good writer. Reading Riverbend is like hearing from an old friend -- one who is going through some very hard times . . .
[Note to potential critical commentators who seem to come whenever I quote Riverbend: if your comments feel slimy to me I will delete them. Disagreement is OK but slime is not. Some evidence you're a regular isen.blog reader, not a trolling Riverbend basher, would help. If you'd like some guidelines, check here, but even this is not a complete taxonomy. In the end, it is my blog and I'll decide. If it feels slimy it goes. -- David I]
Now we're being 'officially' told that the weapons never existed. After Iraq has been devastated, we're told it's a mistake. You look around Baghdad and it is heart-breaking. The streets are ravaged, the sky is a bizarre grayish-bluish color- a combination of smoke from fires and weapons and smog from cars and generators. There is an endless wall that seems to suddenly emerge in certain areas to protect the Green Zoners... There is common look to the people on the streets- under the masks of fear, anger and suspicion, there's also a haunting look of uncertainty and indecision. Where is the country going? How long will it take for things to even have some vague semblance of normality? When will we ever feel safe?***snip***
Terror isn't just worrying about a plane hitting a skyscraper…terrorism is being caught in traffic and hearing the crack of an AK-47 a few meters away because the National Guard want to let an American humvee or Iraqi official through. Terror is watching your house being raided and knowing that the silliest thing might get you dragged away to Abu Ghraib where soldiers can torture, beat and kill. Terror is that first moment after a series of machine-gun shots, when you lift your head frantically to make sure your loved ones are still in one piece. Terror is trying to pick the shards of glass resulting from a nearby explosion out of the living-room couch and trying not to imagine what would have happened if a person had been sitting there.. . . as long as I don't think about the fact that my country is the proximal source of her hard times.
[Note to potential critical commentators who seem to come whenever I quote Riverbend: if your comments feel slimy to me I will delete them. Disagreement is OK but slime is not. Some evidence you're a regular isen.blog reader, not a trolling Riverbend basher, would help. If you'd like some guidelines, check here, but even this is not a complete taxonomy. In the end, it is my blog and I'll decide. If it feels slimy it goes. -- David I]
Comments:
Riverbend makes an important point about the still imprisoned Iraqi scientists. How can it be that the US and Iraqi governments agree there were no WMDs, and yet the Iraqi scientists continue to be imprisoned indefinitely. For what? First they came for the Iraqi scientists ...
Post a Comment
# posted by 
: 1/21/2005 6:21 PM
: 1/21/2005 6:21 PM
