Working all day muddies my head with many thoughts. When I do repetitive work I tend to do a lot of thinking abstractly, though sometimes on very specific and important matters. I require something to allow me not to focus on a task that would otherwise surely leave me insane from mediocrity and slow time.
I’ve been relucant to write much about the occupation of Iraq as of late. Since I’ve been unable to follow it as closely as I would like, I haven’t been fully confident in commenting on the events unfolding there. What can not be denied, even from the least broad vantage, is that the suffering of the Iraqi people is unnecessary and a terrible crime. You can plainly see the torture inflicted upon the Iraqis in the photos shared in this article, published by China Daily. The looks of anguish on the faces of the two girls and one man depicted should be a clear sign of the horrendous losses being suffered by the Iraqis. The Americans and Iraqis (and those few other nations involved in the conflict) who have embraced violence with such enthusiasm should be filled only with shame for harming so many innocents. There is no excuse for such recklessness. The Iraqis are in my thoughts.
2 comments on “Blue Veins”
My friend Erik from the post office was in Desert Storm. Yesterday, while I was talking with him, a boy came in to ask him a question about Selective Service papers. I say “a boy” because that’s all he was; a boy that’s starting his first year of college and hopes to have a bright future, but may not if the draft gets re-instated. I’ve heard that it’s highly unlikely, but I’ve also heard that if it gets re-instated it will probably include women this time. I know that I would never be sent to war due to my poor health, but it makes one think.
I know that a lot of soldiers are in this conflict because they were angry and wanted revenge for 9-11, but there are also a lot of soldiers over there that enlisted for the college money. My upstairs neighbor, Mike Martinez, is one of those. His wife just had a baby this past week, and if it hadn’t been for his mother’s digital camera and my patience uploading files, he wouldn’t have been able to see his daughter.
My own brothers both enlisted before this conflict ever started, as well as most of their friends, all with the intention of going to college. If my brother David hadn’t been injured, he would have been deployed; he was in Mortuary Affairs, an Army Reserves unit that was activated for “clean-up” at the Pentagon and has hardly been home since. My brother John (who will be 22 next week) just finished his 4 years of active duty in the Navy and is crossing his fingers not to be re-activated. Hector, one of our best friends, is a Sergeant now; he’s a computer technician, which means he’s generally safe, but he has to travel so often for training that even his wife hardly sees him anymore. He’s leaving again in 2 days for probably another 6 months of who-knows-what.
My point is that not everyone in this war wants to be in it. Nearly everyone doesn’t. We’re all really scared for each other right now. I know that those of us on the sidelines are physically safe, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know how bad it is, how unfair, and how stupid.
I know that many people don’t want to be involved in this war, on both sides. It’s a shame it happened at all. What disgusts me are those who allow the violence to take over their lives without asking questions, or realizing that a cycle of this same sort of horrors is being created with every bullet fired.