***speechless in ohio***
november 3, 2004
day of mourning
day of mourning
posted by dr. lippi at
1:00 PM
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Friday, April 18, 2003
*** dead candied child ***
in iraq, as less visibly at home, the death star empire increasingly bears its ugly fangs.
~ robert fisk's harrowing account of the state of affairs in iraq today writes "everywhere are the signs of collapse. And everywhere the signs that america's promises of "freedom" and "democracy" are not to be honored."
"take the vast security apparatus with which Saddam surrounded himself, the torture chambers and the huge bureaucracy that was its foundation. President Bush promised that America was campaigning for human rights in Iraq, that the guilty, the war criminals, would be brought to trial. The 60 secret police headquarters in Baghdad are empty, even the three-square-mile compound headquarters of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.
"I have been to many of them. But there is no evidence even that a single British or US forensic officer has visited the sites to sift the wealth of documents lying there or talk to the ex-prisoners returning to their former laces of torment. Is this idleness. Or is this wilful?"
~ Less than 24 hours after issuing a press release highlighting the failures of the U.S. military's attempts to oversee humanitarian intervention in Iraq, Voices in the Wilderness was banne from meeting with iinternational journalists working out of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.
If the freedom to critique U.S. policies in Iraq regarding humanitarian issues is being curtailed already, then exactly what does this mean for building "democracy" here?
danny sleator documents several of the many outrageous ministry of propaganda lies:
~ remember the huge crowd of Iraqis cheering and pulling down a statue of Saddam? It turns out that the crowd was very small and some (all?) of the jubilant members of the crowd were actors.
~ remember the rampant looting of Baghdad? Perhaps you knew that the US didn't lift a finger to stop it. But did you know that it was encouraged by US troops as a photo op?
~ did you know that Richard Perle (a key author of the US's current Iraq policy) worked to undermine the Camp David accords in the summer of 2000?
"I fear the ignorance and power of the U.S. And the fact that it has quite suddenly become one of the most decadent societies on the face of the earth. The body of a great dead candied child." T.Merton
***partisans of the self-surpassing***
darth vader's empire may strive to wrap itself in god's cloth, but this emporer truly has no clothes.
"To be free of selfish interets does not mean to be neutral, indifferent, or to be devoid of interests, but, on the contrary, to be a partisan of the self-surpassing. god does not dwell beyond the sky. he dwells, we believe, in every heart that is willing to let him in.
"the sense of moral obligation remains impotent unless it is stronger than all other obligations, stronger that the stubborn power of selfish interests. to compete with selfish inclinations the moral obligation must be allied with the highest passion of the spirit.
"to be stronger than evil, the moral imperative must be more powerful than the passion for evil. an abstract norm, an ethereal ideal, is not match for the gravitation of the ego. passion can only be subdued by a stronger passion."
abraham joshua heschel "man is not alone"
in iraq, as less visibly at home, the death star empire increasingly bears its ugly fangs.
~ robert fisk's harrowing account of the state of affairs in iraq today writes "everywhere are the signs of collapse. And everywhere the signs that america's promises of "freedom" and "democracy" are not to be honored."
"take the vast security apparatus with which Saddam surrounded himself, the torture chambers and the huge bureaucracy that was its foundation. President Bush promised that America was campaigning for human rights in Iraq, that the guilty, the war criminals, would be brought to trial. The 60 secret police headquarters in Baghdad are empty, even the three-square-mile compound headquarters of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.
"I have been to many of them. But there is no evidence even that a single British or US forensic officer has visited the sites to sift the wealth of documents lying there or talk to the ex-prisoners returning to their former laces of torment. Is this idleness. Or is this wilful?"
~ Less than 24 hours after issuing a press release highlighting the failures of the U.S. military's attempts to oversee humanitarian intervention in Iraq, Voices in the Wilderness was banne from meeting with iinternational journalists working out of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.
If the freedom to critique U.S. policies in Iraq regarding humanitarian issues is being curtailed already, then exactly what does this mean for building "democracy" here?
danny sleator documents several of the many outrageous ministry of propaganda lies:
~ remember the huge crowd of Iraqis cheering and pulling down a statue of Saddam? It turns out that the crowd was very small and some (all?) of the jubilant members of the crowd were actors.
~ remember the rampant looting of Baghdad? Perhaps you knew that the US didn't lift a finger to stop it. But did you know that it was encouraged by US troops as a photo op?
~ did you know that Richard Perle (a key author of the US's current Iraq policy) worked to undermine the Camp David accords in the summer of 2000?
"I fear the ignorance and power of the U.S. And the fact that it has quite suddenly become one of the most decadent societies on the face of the earth. The body of a great dead candied child." T.Merton
***partisans of the self-surpassing***
darth vader's empire may strive to wrap itself in god's cloth, but this emporer truly has no clothes.
"To be free of selfish interets does not mean to be neutral, indifferent, or to be devoid of interests, but, on the contrary, to be a partisan of the self-surpassing. god does not dwell beyond the sky. he dwells, we believe, in every heart that is willing to let him in.
"the sense of moral obligation remains impotent unless it is stronger than all other obligations, stronger that the stubborn power of selfish interests. to compete with selfish inclinations the moral obligation must be allied with the highest passion of the spirit.
"to be stronger than evil, the moral imperative must be more powerful than the passion for evil. an abstract norm, an ethereal ideal, is not match for the gravitation of the ego. passion can only be subdued by a stronger passion."
abraham joshua heschel "man is not alone"
posted by dr. lippi at
11:08 AM
Thursday, April 10, 2003
*** regarding the suffering of others***
despite how easily we weep for war victims in the movies, the tears shed in response to this televised brutality – complete with visual special effects and theme music -- are reserved for “our own.” As susan sontag writes in her amazing new book: “victims are interested in the representation of their own suffering.”
but no one likes a bully, and death star military power basking in unquestioned and unchallenged triumph, it is essential for the propogandists to portray “us” as the victims – from the lily white female soldier rescued from the belly of the brown beast to the brave masculine warriors sacrificing life and limb for god and country.
meanwhile few of “us” dare publicly question the morality of celebrating with yellow ribbons and patriotic displays the brutal military actions causing grievous, unbearable suffering to others. And fewer still weep for the suffering caused in our names, or see the blood spilled at our hands.
a bbc news gallery archives photographs of suffering Iraqis caught up in the war and here is a harrowing photo of 12-year-old Ali Ismail Abbas, wounded during an April 5th airstrike.
robert fisk offers final proof that war is about the failure of the human spirit: "it was a scene from the Crimean War; a hospital of screaming wounded and floors running with blood. I stepped in the stuff; it stuck to my shoes, to the clothes of all the doctors in the packed emergency room, it swamped the passageways and the blankets and sheets. the Iraqi civilians and soldiers brought to the hospital in the last hours of Saddam Hussein's regime yesterday – sometimes still clinging to severed limbs – are the dark side of victory." maria tomchick describes how the televised face of this war is a lie.
here are some quotes from Iraqi doctor’s: Dr. Makki Alwash, medical professor: "Tell your people that they are responsible for this crime (the sanctions). Why don't we have good water, civilized water? Why? My own wife comes to me with a lump in her breast -- cancer. I am an oncologist -- I can do nothing, there are no treatments I can give her -- and I must watch my own wife die this way." Dr. Abdul-Hameed Yacoub, dean and professor: "In my view, the (American) people are having the facts of this tragedy masked from them by the press. If they knew, they could have more effect on their representatives in Congress. It is your unique job to communicate this message."
Neville Watson's life in baghdad writes" when war is waged it is not soldiers who are the primary casualties, it is women and children. Look up the statistics of any war. No politicians, no generals, some soldiers and tens of thousands of innocent women and children. Don't talk about 'war crimes' to me. War itself is the crime because it destroys the lives of innocent men women and children." in response to the distortion and hypocricy of the u.s. military, watson reports certainty that the damage to the market was caused by an American and not Iraqi missile:" We recovered parts of missiles with part numbers on them and the words “Radom not paint”. I've no idea what radom is but it certainly isn't Arabic."
*** darth vader at home***
so much for freedom and democracy in Iraq. evidence is mounting that democracy is the last thing on the emperor’s mind here or abroad. so far, public response to the peace movement has been marked by media silencing (media ratings), public scorn, rubber bullets in san francisco and arrests of peaceful protesters in new york city. Here is a first hand account of the brutal and unconstitutional nyc arrests: noam’s story which has gone largely unreported by media.
apparently "covering war protestors may be bad for business," according to the news consulting firm Frank Magid associates. a march 24 story reported in the industry journal "broadcasting and cable" reports that the firm, which exterts enormous influence over local and national news stations "doesn't tell news directors to avoid protests. it just says viewers tend to hate seeing them." broadcasting & cable requires a subscription.
chillingly, joshua micah marshall describes how the “chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--it's their plan. and charles clover in Najaf describes how US-backed militia terrorises town.
as for postwar iraq, molly ivins describes how Bush Offers Crooks and Warmongers to Lead Iraq. “donald rumsfeld, who seems prepared to run the world, favors one Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress, an exile-emigre group, as postwar leader (read figurehead-puppet). Chalabi is bitterly opposed by both the State Department and the CIA."
bruce murphy traces the neoconservative clout in u.s. Iraq policy and the Israeli daily haaretz describes how america's fox news network has been demonstrating since the start of the war in Iraq an amazing lesson in media hypocrisy.”
***perfect nonsense***
“the motive for which men are led to fight today is that war is necessary to destroy those who threaten our peace! It should be clea from this that war is, in fact, totally irrational, and that it proceeds to its violent ritual with the chanting of perfect nonsense.” ----- Thomas Merton, 1968.
despite how easily we weep for war victims in the movies, the tears shed in response to this televised brutality – complete with visual special effects and theme music -- are reserved for “our own.” As susan sontag writes in her amazing new book: “victims are interested in the representation of their own suffering.”
but no one likes a bully, and death star military power basking in unquestioned and unchallenged triumph, it is essential for the propogandists to portray “us” as the victims – from the lily white female soldier rescued from the belly of the brown beast to the brave masculine warriors sacrificing life and limb for god and country.
meanwhile few of “us” dare publicly question the morality of celebrating with yellow ribbons and patriotic displays the brutal military actions causing grievous, unbearable suffering to others. And fewer still weep for the suffering caused in our names, or see the blood spilled at our hands.
a bbc news gallery archives photographs of suffering Iraqis caught up in the war and here is a harrowing photo of 12-year-old Ali Ismail Abbas, wounded during an April 5th airstrike.
robert fisk offers final proof that war is about the failure of the human spirit: "it was a scene from the Crimean War; a hospital of screaming wounded and floors running with blood. I stepped in the stuff; it stuck to my shoes, to the clothes of all the doctors in the packed emergency room, it swamped the passageways and the blankets and sheets. the Iraqi civilians and soldiers brought to the hospital in the last hours of Saddam Hussein's regime yesterday – sometimes still clinging to severed limbs – are the dark side of victory." maria tomchick describes how the televised face of this war is a lie.
here are some quotes from Iraqi doctor’s: Dr. Makki Alwash, medical professor: "Tell your people that they are responsible for this crime (the sanctions). Why don't we have good water, civilized water? Why? My own wife comes to me with a lump in her breast -- cancer. I am an oncologist -- I can do nothing, there are no treatments I can give her -- and I must watch my own wife die this way." Dr. Abdul-Hameed Yacoub, dean and professor: "In my view, the (American) people are having the facts of this tragedy masked from them by the press. If they knew, they could have more effect on their representatives in Congress. It is your unique job to communicate this message."
Neville Watson's life in baghdad writes" when war is waged it is not soldiers who are the primary casualties, it is women and children. Look up the statistics of any war. No politicians, no generals, some soldiers and tens of thousands of innocent women and children. Don't talk about 'war crimes' to me. War itself is the crime because it destroys the lives of innocent men women and children." in response to the distortion and hypocricy of the u.s. military, watson reports certainty that the damage to the market was caused by an American and not Iraqi missile:" We recovered parts of missiles with part numbers on them and the words “Radom not paint”. I've no idea what radom is but it certainly isn't Arabic."
*** darth vader at home***
so much for freedom and democracy in Iraq. evidence is mounting that democracy is the last thing on the emperor’s mind here or abroad. so far, public response to the peace movement has been marked by media silencing (media ratings), public scorn, rubber bullets in san francisco and arrests of peaceful protesters in new york city. Here is a first hand account of the brutal and unconstitutional nyc arrests: noam’s story which has gone largely unreported by media.
apparently "covering war protestors may be bad for business," according to the news consulting firm Frank Magid associates. a march 24 story reported in the industry journal "broadcasting and cable" reports that the firm, which exterts enormous influence over local and national news stations "doesn't tell news directors to avoid protests. it just says viewers tend to hate seeing them." broadcasting & cable requires a subscription.
chillingly, joshua micah marshall describes how the “chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--it's their plan. and charles clover in Najaf describes how US-backed militia terrorises town.
as for postwar iraq, molly ivins describes how Bush Offers Crooks and Warmongers to Lead Iraq. “donald rumsfeld, who seems prepared to run the world, favors one Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress, an exile-emigre group, as postwar leader (read figurehead-puppet). Chalabi is bitterly opposed by both the State Department and the CIA."
bruce murphy traces the neoconservative clout in u.s. Iraq policy and the Israeli daily haaretz describes how america's fox news network has been demonstrating since the start of the war in Iraq an amazing lesson in media hypocrisy.”
***perfect nonsense***
“the motive for which men are led to fight today is that war is necessary to destroy those who threaten our peace! It should be clea from this that war is, in fact, totally irrational, and that it proceeds to its violent ritual with the chanting of perfect nonsense.” ----- Thomas Merton, 1968.
posted by dr. lippi at
3:24 PM
Friday, April 04, 2003
***orwell in wonderland***
alice: say mr. humpty dumpty, why aren’t tomahawk missiles and moab bombs called weapons of mass destruction?
dumpty: because, silly, it’s “terrorism” when a suicide bomber kills herself and u.s. soldiers, but an “accident” when u.s. soldiers kill women and children.
"when I use a word," humpty dumpty continued in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."
"the question is," said alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"the question is," said humpty dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all."
*** a christian nation ***
baghdad is in darkness tonight and the shadow cast over the death star, though nearly invisible, is nearly as dark.
across the globe in a country of nearly 60% children on the edge of starvation after 13 years of stringent sanctions, nearly 5 million souls are being held hostage in a city in darkness and with imminent need for water.
just to the south cluster bombs liberate iraqi children from life on this earth. according to pepe escobar, as of wednesday night there were at least 61 dead Iraqi civilians and more than 450 seriously injured in the region of Hilla, 80 kilometers south of baghdad. robert fisk's guardian story echos the horror.
meanwhile, thalif deen of inter press describes in great detail how the over 8,700 pounds of bombs and 3,000 missiles fired on iraq are creating a boon to the death star’s military industrial complex (closely linked to empire builders cheney and perle) which will have to replace billions of dollars worth of weapons of mass destruction like the $22 million apache helicopters shot down by farmers last week.
deen quotes the director of a university of maryland program on global security and disarmament : "we have armed unstable regimes with our most sophisticated weapons, and have then used the widespread proliferation of the weapons as the argument for producing the next generation of more expensive weapons. the vicious cycle continues.”
and some like to call this a “christian” nation.
***
over 800 years ago the sufi mystic jelaluddin rumi cautioned against moving “the way fear makes you move.”
only 40 years ago the christian love warrior rev. martin luther king jr. urged americans to heed the love ethic & the call of conscience.
today neither the love ethic nor the call of conscience mean much on the death star. we are grasped instead by the “cold dead hand” of fear.
but don't worry -- the "christians" are coming to the rescue! friday’s guardian reports that “poised behind the troops, waiting for a signal that Iraq is safe enough for them to operate in, are the evangelical christians carrying food in one hand and the bible in the other.”
leading the charge is rev franklin graham, who delivered the invocation at bush's inauguration. the son of billy graham and a fierce critic of islam, graham is on record as calling it a "wicked, violent" religion, with a god different from that of christianity. "the two are different as lightness and darkness."
***
“keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
don’t try to see through the distances.
that’s not for human beings.
move within, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.
let the beauty we love be what we do.
there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
--- Jelaluddin Rumi, 13th century Sufi mystic.
alice: say mr. humpty dumpty, why aren’t tomahawk missiles and moab bombs called weapons of mass destruction?
dumpty: because, silly, it’s “terrorism” when a suicide bomber kills herself and u.s. soldiers, but an “accident” when u.s. soldiers kill women and children.
"when I use a word," humpty dumpty continued in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."
"the question is," said alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"the question is," said humpty dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all."
*** a christian nation ***
baghdad is in darkness tonight and the shadow cast over the death star, though nearly invisible, is nearly as dark.
across the globe in a country of nearly 60% children on the edge of starvation after 13 years of stringent sanctions, nearly 5 million souls are being held hostage in a city in darkness and with imminent need for water.
just to the south cluster bombs liberate iraqi children from life on this earth. according to pepe escobar, as of wednesday night there were at least 61 dead Iraqi civilians and more than 450 seriously injured in the region of Hilla, 80 kilometers south of baghdad. robert fisk's guardian story echos the horror.
meanwhile, thalif deen of inter press describes in great detail how the over 8,700 pounds of bombs and 3,000 missiles fired on iraq are creating a boon to the death star’s military industrial complex (closely linked to empire builders cheney and perle) which will have to replace billions of dollars worth of weapons of mass destruction like the $22 million apache helicopters shot down by farmers last week.
deen quotes the director of a university of maryland program on global security and disarmament : "we have armed unstable regimes with our most sophisticated weapons, and have then used the widespread proliferation of the weapons as the argument for producing the next generation of more expensive weapons. the vicious cycle continues.”
and some like to call this a “christian” nation.
***
over 800 years ago the sufi mystic jelaluddin rumi cautioned against moving “the way fear makes you move.”
only 40 years ago the christian love warrior rev. martin luther king jr. urged americans to heed the love ethic & the call of conscience.
today neither the love ethic nor the call of conscience mean much on the death star. we are grasped instead by the “cold dead hand” of fear.
but don't worry -- the "christians" are coming to the rescue! friday’s guardian reports that “poised behind the troops, waiting for a signal that Iraq is safe enough for them to operate in, are the evangelical christians carrying food in one hand and the bible in the other.”
leading the charge is rev franklin graham, who delivered the invocation at bush's inauguration. the son of billy graham and a fierce critic of islam, graham is on record as calling it a "wicked, violent" religion, with a god different from that of christianity. "the two are different as lightness and darkness."
***
“keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
don’t try to see through the distances.
that’s not for human beings.
move within, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.
let the beauty we love be what we do.
there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
--- Jelaluddin Rumi, 13th century Sufi mystic.
posted by dr. lippi at
7:23 PM
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
*** ministry of propaganda updates ***
chip berlet and abby sher write of political profiling: police spy on peaceful activists in this month's issue of "amnesty now." they describe how under cover of the “war on terrorism,” police are collecting information on activists and how in denver intelligence files link amnesty members to “criminal extremism.”
doug ireland chronicles u.s. military suppression of independent war coverage -- from the arrest, detainment and expulsion of four international reporters from Iraq by U.S. forces to the complicity of “establishment intellectuals and journalists" in keeping the war drums beating. he also references multiple international prognostications of the utter the futility and disaster of the u.s. attack.
Ireland also links to Dexter Filkins' infamous March 29 the chick was in the way NYTimes dispatch on terrorism "u.s. marines style": "At the base camp of the Fifth Marine Regiment here, two sharpshooters, Sgt. Eric Schrumpf, 28, and Cpl. Mikael McIntosh, 20, sat on a sand berm and swapped combat tales. The marines said they had little trouble dispatching their foes, most of whom they characterized as ill-trained and cowardly. "We had a great day," Sergeant Schrumpf said. "We killed a lot of people.... We dropped a few civilians," Sergeant Schrumpf said, "but what do you do?" [In one incident], he recalled watching one of the women standing near the Iraqi soldier go down. "I'm sorry," the sergeant said. "But the chick was in the way."
and judith thomas writes: exactly what will a u.s. "victory" in iraq mean? have we already lost our souls? read this striking account from a london times reporter.
speaking of which guardian columnist george monbiot ominously concludes that every likely outcome of this "war" will be a disaster.
not to mention the theater-of-the-absurdist firing and apologetics of gulf war I “hero” peter arnett from nbc for observing, on iraqi tv, the failure of the u.s. military attack. check the guardian's perspective
*** rebel forces updates ***
~ yesterday ohio rep. dennis kucinich called for an end to the war. he says: “stop the war now before we send our troops into house-to-house combat in baghdad, a city of five million people. before we ask our troops to take up the burden of shooting innocent civilians in the fog of war. use the 10th district of ohio zip code of 44107 to write kucinich with your support.
~ all members of the christian peacemaker team, including athens, ohio resident peggy gish, have left Iraq as of yesterday. eleven were expelled on March 30th and the remainder left yesterday due to food shortages and cutbacks in baghdad. cpter scott kerr says 95% of street activity has ceased, especially since the allies have begun bombing in the day as well as in the evening. cpt reports hospitality and friendship from ordinary iraqis, including receipt of comfort and medical aid from citizens of the pulverized city of Rutba, which, with no apparent military structures had been devastated by u.s/british bombing three days earlier, including the children's hospital in which two children were killed.
~ a new "central ohio peace network" is forming and will procure a bus and recruit people for the april 12th national action in d.c. the group will also begin a new 8:30 p.m. candlelight vigil at broad and high downtown to take the place of separate neighborhood vigils. the group will also initiate a state-wide action at the statehouse on saturday, may 10, the day before mother's day, as well as work on coalition building with african-americans for peace. contact information pending.
*** prayer updates ***
The Dalai Lama has asked that the following simple practice to increase love and compassion in the world be shared with as many people as possible. The practice:
1. Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and to be loved) and we are all connected to one another.
2. Spend 5 minutes breathing in cherishing yourself, and breathing out cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway. (It's good practice!)
3. During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet. Practice cherishing the "simplest" person (clerks, attendants, etc.) as well as the "important" people in your life, cherish the people you love and the people you dislike.
4. Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you.
***
chip berlet and abby sher write of political profiling: police spy on peaceful activists in this month's issue of "amnesty now." they describe how under cover of the “war on terrorism,” police are collecting information on activists and how in denver intelligence files link amnesty members to “criminal extremism.”
doug ireland chronicles u.s. military suppression of independent war coverage -- from the arrest, detainment and expulsion of four international reporters from Iraq by U.S. forces to the complicity of “establishment intellectuals and journalists" in keeping the war drums beating. he also references multiple international prognostications of the utter the futility and disaster of the u.s. attack.
Ireland also links to Dexter Filkins' infamous March 29 the chick was in the way NYTimes dispatch on terrorism "u.s. marines style": "At the base camp of the Fifth Marine Regiment here, two sharpshooters, Sgt. Eric Schrumpf, 28, and Cpl. Mikael McIntosh, 20, sat on a sand berm and swapped combat tales. The marines said they had little trouble dispatching their foes, most of whom they characterized as ill-trained and cowardly. "We had a great day," Sergeant Schrumpf said. "We killed a lot of people.... We dropped a few civilians," Sergeant Schrumpf said, "but what do you do?" [In one incident], he recalled watching one of the women standing near the Iraqi soldier go down. "I'm sorry," the sergeant said. "But the chick was in the way."
and judith thomas writes: exactly what will a u.s. "victory" in iraq mean? have we already lost our souls? read this striking account from a london times reporter.
speaking of which guardian columnist george monbiot ominously concludes that every likely outcome of this "war" will be a disaster.
not to mention the theater-of-the-absurdist firing and apologetics of gulf war I “hero” peter arnett from nbc for observing, on iraqi tv, the failure of the u.s. military attack. check the guardian's perspective
*** rebel forces updates ***
~ yesterday ohio rep. dennis kucinich called for an end to the war. he says: “stop the war now before we send our troops into house-to-house combat in baghdad, a city of five million people. before we ask our troops to take up the burden of shooting innocent civilians in the fog of war. use the 10th district of ohio zip code of 44107 to write kucinich with your support.
~ all members of the christian peacemaker team, including athens, ohio resident peggy gish, have left Iraq as of yesterday. eleven were expelled on March 30th and the remainder left yesterday due to food shortages and cutbacks in baghdad. cpter scott kerr says 95% of street activity has ceased, especially since the allies have begun bombing in the day as well as in the evening. cpt reports hospitality and friendship from ordinary iraqis, including receipt of comfort and medical aid from citizens of the pulverized city of Rutba, which, with no apparent military structures had been devastated by u.s/british bombing three days earlier, including the children's hospital in which two children were killed.
~ a new "central ohio peace network" is forming and will procure a bus and recruit people for the april 12th national action in d.c. the group will also begin a new 8:30 p.m. candlelight vigil at broad and high downtown to take the place of separate neighborhood vigils. the group will also initiate a state-wide action at the statehouse on saturday, may 10, the day before mother's day, as well as work on coalition building with african-americans for peace. contact information pending.
*** prayer updates ***
The Dalai Lama has asked that the following simple practice to increase love and compassion in the world be shared with as many people as possible. The practice:
1. Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and to be loved) and we are all connected to one another.
2. Spend 5 minutes breathing in cherishing yourself, and breathing out cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway. (It's good practice!)
3. During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet. Practice cherishing the "simplest" person (clerks, attendants, etc.) as well as the "important" people in your life, cherish the people you love and the people you dislike.
4. Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you.
***
posted by dr. lippi at
2:37 PM
Saturday, March 29, 2003
***calls to action***
our voices for peace are needed more now than ever. our participation in local demonstrations and vigils; writing letters; making phone calls; forwarding email and links; creating public dialogues in schools, neighborhoods, houses of worship; and initiating neighborly conversations make a difference. check the new links on the right side this page for ideas and contacts.
*** Rep. John Conyers is conducting a pre-survey to judge whether to bring articles of impeachment against Bush. Please send him your opinion.
*** buried in yesterday’s nytimes business section, but front page in al-jazeerah, was the news that iraq war architect richard perle (see my diary entry 3/26 for more on perle) has been forced to resign from the influential pentagon advisory board due to revelations of conflict of interest. his resignation came about in large part due to an investigation instigated by rep. john conyer’s and a letter by sen. carl levin. thanks brothers!
*** here's my most recent letter to congressional reps and local newspapers:
Dear Senator/Congressman/Editor:
I am writing to voice my strong opposition to the U.S. war with Iraq on moral and religious grounds. I urge you to join me and other people of conscience in opposing this immoral action.
Many people now supporting the U.S. attack on Iraq seem to underestimate the fact that bombs kill people, destroy neighborhoods, tear apart families, and pollute the environment just like planes loaded with fuel crashing into skyscrapers. And it is becoming clear that in order to “win” (whatever that means), the U.S. will have to fight in ways that place many more lives -- both Iraqi and American – in jeopardy. Today’s AP news reports that 100,000 more U.S. troops are scheduled be sent over in the next month. And already the number of civilian casualties outnumber military casualites -- we have yet to calculate the number of civilian casualties caused indirectly by this war.
While many of us are now aware of the unimaginable human suffering concealed by the military euphemism "collateral damage," we still hear war-supporters, good utilitarians all, say things like: "This is war after all. If a few thousand people have to die in order to spare many millions, that's simply the cost of war."
But after witnessing the carnage and aftermath of that dreadful September morning, how can we speak so callously about any human life? How can all our compassion, care and sympathy for the victims of 9/11 and their families melt into cold indifference when the blood of “other” people is to be spilled. Am I not obliged to love my neighbor as myself?
How many more Iraqi world trade centers will it take for us to stop?
Sincerely yours,
***
our voices for peace are needed more now than ever. our participation in local demonstrations and vigils; writing letters; making phone calls; forwarding email and links; creating public dialogues in schools, neighborhoods, houses of worship; and initiating neighborly conversations make a difference. check the new links on the right side this page for ideas and contacts.
*** Rep. John Conyers is conducting a pre-survey to judge whether to bring articles of impeachment against Bush. Please send him your opinion.
*** buried in yesterday’s nytimes business section, but front page in al-jazeerah, was the news that iraq war architect richard perle (see my diary entry 3/26 for more on perle) has been forced to resign from the influential pentagon advisory board due to revelations of conflict of interest. his resignation came about in large part due to an investigation instigated by rep. john conyer’s and a letter by sen. carl levin. thanks brothers!
*** here's my most recent letter to congressional reps and local newspapers:
Dear Senator/Congressman/Editor:
I am writing to voice my strong opposition to the U.S. war with Iraq on moral and religious grounds. I urge you to join me and other people of conscience in opposing this immoral action.
Many people now supporting the U.S. attack on Iraq seem to underestimate the fact that bombs kill people, destroy neighborhoods, tear apart families, and pollute the environment just like planes loaded with fuel crashing into skyscrapers. And it is becoming clear that in order to “win” (whatever that means), the U.S. will have to fight in ways that place many more lives -- both Iraqi and American – in jeopardy. Today’s AP news reports that 100,000 more U.S. troops are scheduled be sent over in the next month. And already the number of civilian casualties outnumber military casualites -- we have yet to calculate the number of civilian casualties caused indirectly by this war.
While many of us are now aware of the unimaginable human suffering concealed by the military euphemism "collateral damage," we still hear war-supporters, good utilitarians all, say things like: "This is war after all. If a few thousand people have to die in order to spare many millions, that's simply the cost of war."
But after witnessing the carnage and aftermath of that dreadful September morning, how can we speak so callously about any human life? How can all our compassion, care and sympathy for the victims of 9/11 and their families melt into cold indifference when the blood of “other” people is to be spilled. Am I not obliged to love my neighbor as myself?
How many more Iraqi world trade centers will it take for us to stop?
Sincerely yours,
***
posted by dr. lippi at
10:55 AM
Thursday, March 27, 2003
as smoke, sand and the cries of human suffering thicken the air from baghdad to basra, so the dense fog of propaganda thickens the air in this stange place we call, without a hint of irony, the "home of the brave."
unbearable human suffering is occurring in iraq, and yet the ministry of propaganda here on the death star busies itself with keeping our eyes and hearts closed to the shameful fruits of our labor.
~ Both the arabic web al jazerra and the english web versions of al-jazeera news service (the arab equivilent of cnn), which had been airing graphic photos of dead and injured Iraqi children, women, and men, is today silent.
in an irony beyond compare, yesterday al-jazeera called upon the u.s. to live up to its free press braggadocio after the ny stock exchange banned its reporters from the building and its web sites were "myseriously" hacked.
~ another "rebel forces" news service, yellowtimes an independent san francisco outfit devoted to exposing “politicians to the public and inform the world of these injustices against mankind” was shut down yesterday by more of those pesky hackers. yellowtimes too had recently been posting images of injured iraqi civilians on their website.
~ not to mention the previously reported shut down of kevin sites a cnn correspondent who had been keeping a first-person blog with photos from the frontlines in iraq.
~meanwhile, paul krugman yesterday reported that those ubiquitous but sparsely populated pro-war rallies that keep popping up all over the place are being funded and organized by "key players in the radio industry with close links to the bush administration.
~oh, and nicholas kristof reports that the bush administration spent $250,000 for a hollywood producer to build the set for its central command press briefings.
i'd say fr. thomas merton had the last word back in 1963:
"how i hate what i see in the magazine "life." it looks like a parody of american existence. if it wanted to be a deliberate satire, it could not do better. or has the parody now become completely real? i have not yet reached the point where my despair would believe this."
***activism***
~today the moveon.org folks have issued a call for a mediacorps, a new citizen media activism campaign of letters and calls to media organizations protesting their sanitizing this war.
~also, yesterday the public converstions project posted a new link to encourage more community dialogue about the war.
***
unbearable human suffering is occurring in iraq, and yet the ministry of propaganda here on the death star busies itself with keeping our eyes and hearts closed to the shameful fruits of our labor.
~ Both the arabic web al jazerra and the english web versions of al-jazeera news service (the arab equivilent of cnn), which had been airing graphic photos of dead and injured Iraqi children, women, and men, is today silent.
in an irony beyond compare, yesterday al-jazeera called upon the u.s. to live up to its free press braggadocio after the ny stock exchange banned its reporters from the building and its web sites were "myseriously" hacked.
~ another "rebel forces" news service, yellowtimes an independent san francisco outfit devoted to exposing “politicians to the public and inform the world of these injustices against mankind” was shut down yesterday by more of those pesky hackers. yellowtimes too had recently been posting images of injured iraqi civilians on their website.
~ not to mention the previously reported shut down of kevin sites a cnn correspondent who had been keeping a first-person blog with photos from the frontlines in iraq.
~meanwhile, paul krugman yesterday reported that those ubiquitous but sparsely populated pro-war rallies that keep popping up all over the place are being funded and organized by "key players in the radio industry with close links to the bush administration.
~oh, and nicholas kristof reports that the bush administration spent $250,000 for a hollywood producer to build the set for its central command press briefings.
i'd say fr. thomas merton had the last word back in 1963:
"how i hate what i see in the magazine "life." it looks like a parody of american existence. if it wanted to be a deliberate satire, it could not do better. or has the parody now become completely real? i have not yet reached the point where my despair would believe this."
***activism***
~today the moveon.org folks have issued a call for a mediacorps, a new citizen media activism campaign of letters and calls to media organizations protesting their sanitizing this war.
~also, yesterday the public converstions project posted a new link to encourage more community dialogue about the war.
***
posted by dr. lippi at
9:34 AM
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
***the difference***
darth vader and his cabal are beginning to reveal their fangs more publicly now. harry shearer’s le show sunday featured excerpts from a friday guardian editorial by richard perle, chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an advisory panel to the Pentagon which laid the groundwork for overthrowing Saddam through military means, bragging about the death of the u.n. and the “fantasy of world government.” friday's guardian also has a new storythat links perle to a UK "intelligence company" that stands to profit from the Iraq war and its accompanying worldwide terror.
then yesterday my friend dave sent a financial times article about perle and his generals spewing toxic waste at the american heritage institute about radical reform of the UN, regime change in Iran and Syria, and"containment" of France and Germany.
almost worse, perle showed up on my local pbs station last night --- after a terrifying yet dubious documentary (i.e. few sources, decontextualized perspective, and fearful "real tv" aesthetic etc.) on saddam’s horrific poison gassing of the kurdish people stitched together with a scary narrative about iraq’s purported training school for al queda terrorists. afterwords, in a cheesy infomercial-style interview (whatever happened to infomercials?) perle, described as a “private” citizen, unabashedly amplified the propaganda.
~ as if chemical warfare didn’t begin with small pox infected blankets sent by the u.s. to "comfort" native children.
~ as if mustard gas wasn’t invented by u.s. military.
~as if napalm were some kind of balm,
~and the american nuclear-devastation of hiroshima and nagasaki only a bad dream.
not even to mention that it was the cia who trained and armed bin laden, like they trained and armed sadam in 1963. nor that american-made helicopters delivered the gas on the kurds in the 1980s with no comment from the u.s. nor that during sadam's 1992 slaughter of the kurds, amerian pilots in the area wanted to intervene but were ordered to stand by and let it happen. (see dennis hans' article lying us into war or the recent Frontline documentary long road to war)
~meanwhile, no safe water supply in basra last night. on canadian broadcasting, an Iraqi man surrounded by rubble shakes his fist in despair and shouts “what do they want from us? there are no weapons around here.”
april hurley, md, from the Iraq peace team reports from Al Kindi Hospital Emergency in baghdad. she writes: "In America: If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." IPT has posted photos of civilian bomb victims in the hospital.
and last night, saddam (maybe) on tv saying “impending defeat can be portrayed as a sign of victorious reististance.” tony blair: “we must be clear that our conflict is not with the iraqi people but with the government.”
yeah, and that’s what they said about david koresh in waco, too, only everyone died anyway.
~ in the end, the real difference between “us” and “them" is this:
faced with a choice between the unknown evil of darth vadar and the familiar evil of saddam, iraqi soldiers and possibly civilians will sensibly chose the known,
while the american public, like a frog in a pot of water with the heat slowing rising, don’t even recognize the danger at all.
***salam pax in baghdad***
salam pax returned to his (or her?) blog from baghdad yesterday after a worrisome two day disruption. her/his site where's raed? is now so popular at times it's impossible to log on. below are some exceprts from the latest message:
"The images we saw on TV last night (not Iraqi, jazeera-BBC-Arabiya) were terrible. The whole city looked as if it were on fire. The only thing I could think of was “why does this have to happen to Baghdad”. As one of the buildings I really love went up in a huge explosion I was close to tears.
today my father and brother went out to see what happening in the city, they say that it does look that the hits were very precise but when the missiles and bombs explode they wreck havoc in the neighborhood where they fall. Houses near al-salam palace(where the minister Sahaf took journalist) have had all their windows broke, doors blown in and in one case a roof has caved in. I guess that is what is called “collateral damage” and that makes it OK?
The images Al-jazeera is broadcasting are beyond any description. First was the attack on (Ansar el Islam) camp in the north of Iraq. Then the images of civilian casualties in Basra city. What was most disturbing are the images from the hospitals. They are simply not prepared to deal with these things. People were lying on the floor with bandages and blood all over. If this is what “urban warefare” is going to look like we’re in for disaster. And just now the images of US/UK prisoners and dead, we saw these on Iraqi TV earlier. This war is starting to show its ugly ugly face to the world.
While buying groceries the woman who sells the vegetables was talking to another about the approach of American armies to Najaf city and about what is happening at Um Qasar and Basra. If Um Qasar is so difficult to control what will happen when they get to Baghdad? It will turn uglier and this is very worrying. People (and I bet “allied forces”) were expecting things to be mush easier. There are no waving masses of people welcoming the Americans nor are they surrendering by the thousands. People are doing what all of us are, sitting in their homes hoping that a bomb doesn’t fall on them and keeping their doors shut."
***
darth vader and his cabal are beginning to reveal their fangs more publicly now. harry shearer’s le show sunday featured excerpts from a friday guardian editorial by richard perle, chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an advisory panel to the Pentagon which laid the groundwork for overthrowing Saddam through military means, bragging about the death of the u.n. and the “fantasy of world government.” friday's guardian also has a new storythat links perle to a UK "intelligence company" that stands to profit from the Iraq war and its accompanying worldwide terror.
then yesterday my friend dave sent a financial times article about perle and his generals spewing toxic waste at the american heritage institute about radical reform of the UN, regime change in Iran and Syria, and"containment" of France and Germany.
almost worse, perle showed up on my local pbs station last night --- after a terrifying yet dubious documentary (i.e. few sources, decontextualized perspective, and fearful "real tv" aesthetic etc.) on saddam’s horrific poison gassing of the kurdish people stitched together with a scary narrative about iraq’s purported training school for al queda terrorists. afterwords, in a cheesy infomercial-style interview (whatever happened to infomercials?) perle, described as a “private” citizen, unabashedly amplified the propaganda.
~ as if chemical warfare didn’t begin with small pox infected blankets sent by the u.s. to "comfort" native children.
~ as if mustard gas wasn’t invented by u.s. military.
~as if napalm were some kind of balm,
~and the american nuclear-devastation of hiroshima and nagasaki only a bad dream.
not even to mention that it was the cia who trained and armed bin laden, like they trained and armed sadam in 1963. nor that american-made helicopters delivered the gas on the kurds in the 1980s with no comment from the u.s. nor that during sadam's 1992 slaughter of the kurds, amerian pilots in the area wanted to intervene but were ordered to stand by and let it happen. (see dennis hans' article lying us into war or the recent Frontline documentary long road to war)
~meanwhile, no safe water supply in basra last night. on canadian broadcasting, an Iraqi man surrounded by rubble shakes his fist in despair and shouts “what do they want from us? there are no weapons around here.”
april hurley, md, from the Iraq peace team reports from Al Kindi Hospital Emergency in baghdad. she writes: "In America: If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." IPT has posted photos of civilian bomb victims in the hospital.
and last night, saddam (maybe) on tv saying “impending defeat can be portrayed as a sign of victorious reististance.” tony blair: “we must be clear that our conflict is not with the iraqi people but with the government.”
yeah, and that’s what they said about david koresh in waco, too, only everyone died anyway.
~ in the end, the real difference between “us” and “them" is this:
faced with a choice between the unknown evil of darth vadar and the familiar evil of saddam, iraqi soldiers and possibly civilians will sensibly chose the known,
while the american public, like a frog in a pot of water with the heat slowing rising, don’t even recognize the danger at all.
***salam pax in baghdad***
salam pax returned to his (or her?) blog from baghdad yesterday after a worrisome two day disruption. her/his site where's raed? is now so popular at times it's impossible to log on. below are some exceprts from the latest message:
"The images we saw on TV last night (not Iraqi, jazeera-BBC-Arabiya) were terrible. The whole city looked as if it were on fire. The only thing I could think of was “why does this have to happen to Baghdad”. As one of the buildings I really love went up in a huge explosion I was close to tears.
today my father and brother went out to see what happening in the city, they say that it does look that the hits were very precise but when the missiles and bombs explode they wreck havoc in the neighborhood where they fall. Houses near al-salam palace(where the minister Sahaf took journalist) have had all their windows broke, doors blown in and in one case a roof has caved in. I guess that is what is called “collateral damage” and that makes it OK?
The images Al-jazeera is broadcasting are beyond any description. First was the attack on (Ansar el Islam) camp in the north of Iraq. Then the images of civilian casualties in Basra city. What was most disturbing are the images from the hospitals. They are simply not prepared to deal with these things. People were lying on the floor with bandages and blood all over. If this is what “urban warefare” is going to look like we’re in for disaster. And just now the images of US/UK prisoners and dead, we saw these on Iraqi TV earlier. This war is starting to show its ugly ugly face to the world.
While buying groceries the woman who sells the vegetables was talking to another about the approach of American armies to Najaf city and about what is happening at Um Qasar and Basra. If Um Qasar is so difficult to control what will happen when they get to Baghdad? It will turn uglier and this is very worrying. People (and I bet “allied forces”) were expecting things to be mush easier. There are no waving masses of people welcoming the Americans nor are they surrendering by the thousands. People are doing what all of us are, sitting in their homes hoping that a bomb doesn’t fall on them and keeping their doors shut."
***
posted by dr. lippi at
9:07 PM
Sunday, March 23, 2003
***roaring silence***
on the death star, much is made of the distinction between worthy and unworthy victims of war. This is necessary to maintain the illusion of a heroic "us" and a demonic "them," which fuels the fear that drives enthusiastic support for the war.
we learn, for instance, in great detail, about the tragedy of the young american soldiers killed (largely due to "friendly" fire) while delivering the generous gift of our multimilliondollaire bombs. we hear about their bravery and sacrifice and the tragic (but none dare whisper needless) suffering of their families.
and now begins the morose and sickening spectacle of the televised brutalization of american p.o.w.s
meanwhile, we learn next to nothing about the civilian victims of those bombs -- nothing about their bravery and sacrifice, nor about the suffering of their families.
and about the dead Iraqi soldiers and their families: a deafening silence roars.
***news links***
~ Fisk on znet (see link in yesterday's entry) has a compelling report about wounded Iraqi civilians.
~ an australian paper reported yesterday the Iraqi information ministry said the "blitz" killed 250 and wounded 207.
~ meanwhile, the u.s. general in afganistan, dan mcneil, reports great frustration with the lack of international and american support for rebuilding the devastation wrought by our handywork at "liberation."
~ an abc news story news story reports that the great "liberators" are getting a hostile reception from "liberated" iraqi civilians.
still no word from raed.
on the death star, much is made of the distinction between worthy and unworthy victims of war. This is necessary to maintain the illusion of a heroic "us" and a demonic "them," which fuels the fear that drives enthusiastic support for the war.
we learn, for instance, in great detail, about the tragedy of the young american soldiers killed (largely due to "friendly" fire) while delivering the generous gift of our multimilliondollaire bombs. we hear about their bravery and sacrifice and the tragic (but none dare whisper needless) suffering of their families.
and now begins the morose and sickening spectacle of the televised brutalization of american p.o.w.s
meanwhile, we learn next to nothing about the civilian victims of those bombs -- nothing about their bravery and sacrifice, nor about the suffering of their families.
and about the dead Iraqi soldiers and their families: a deafening silence roars.
***news links***
~ Fisk on znet (see link in yesterday's entry) has a compelling report about wounded Iraqi civilians.
~ an australian paper reported yesterday the Iraqi information ministry said the "blitz" killed 250 and wounded 207.
~ meanwhile, the u.s. general in afganistan, dan mcneil, reports great frustration with the lack of international and american support for rebuilding the devastation wrought by our handywork at "liberation."
~ an abc news story news story reports that the great "liberators" are getting a hostile reception from "liberated" iraqi civilians.
still no word from raed.
posted by dr. lippi at
3:06 PM
Saturday, March 22, 2003
***gilgamesh vs. enkedu this is not***
"shock and awe" began yesterday around noon est and it is near impossible for us death starlets to get news about life for ordinary iraqis on mainstream news. students, who have been riveted to cnn, msnbc, fox, have an extraordinary grasp of technical detail but little sense of the moral and political consequences of war. urging them to use their virtually infinite access to the web does no good: inexplicably, they find the proto-fascist tv graphics comforting, the endless droning scintillating, and the game-boy theme music exciting. tommy franks on tv this morning talking about "progress."
had to hunt this morning to get word about life in baghdad after the assault.
new york times reports more than 1,300 cruise missles dropped on baghdad yesterday. And that even after, reporter michael gordon says, the generals held back on some key targets like a bridge over the tigris.
remarkably, the editorial says even after what they effortlessly headline a “blitz,” there have been only three reported civilian casualties and the lights, water, and phones are said to be still working in baghdad. yet where is Raed:? No word since yesterday’s ominous post at 7 am local time: "2 more hours untill the B52's get to Iraq."
one of the many as yet hidden costs of the blitz: 1,000 turkish troops reportedly march into northern iraq in exchange for the use of turkish airspace.
O birthplace of civilization.
***news sites***
meanwhile, several western journalists are filing stories from the ground. robert fisk and cathy breen are both filing stories from baghdad on znet
also, kevin site, a cnn correspondent who had been keeping a first-person blog of his solo journalist's life on the front lines of war, was shut down by cnn today. But check out his positings: kevin
"shock and awe" began yesterday around noon est and it is near impossible for us death starlets to get news about life for ordinary iraqis on mainstream news. students, who have been riveted to cnn, msnbc, fox, have an extraordinary grasp of technical detail but little sense of the moral and political consequences of war. urging them to use their virtually infinite access to the web does no good: inexplicably, they find the proto-fascist tv graphics comforting, the endless droning scintillating, and the game-boy theme music exciting. tommy franks on tv this morning talking about "progress."
had to hunt this morning to get word about life in baghdad after the assault.
new york times reports more than 1,300 cruise missles dropped on baghdad yesterday. And that even after, reporter michael gordon says, the generals held back on some key targets like a bridge over the tigris.
remarkably, the editorial says even after what they effortlessly headline a “blitz,” there have been only three reported civilian casualties and the lights, water, and phones are said to be still working in baghdad. yet where is Raed:? No word since yesterday’s ominous post at 7 am local time: "2 more hours untill the B52's get to Iraq."
one of the many as yet hidden costs of the blitz: 1,000 turkish troops reportedly march into northern iraq in exchange for the use of turkish airspace.
O birthplace of civilization.
***news sites***
meanwhile, several western journalists are filing stories from the ground. robert fisk and cathy breen are both filing stories from baghdad on znet
also, kevin site, a cnn correspondent who had been keeping a first-person blog of his solo journalist's life on the front lines of war, was shut down by cnn today. But check out his positings: kevin
posted by dr. lippi at
7:12 AM
Friday, March 21, 2003
***on being a patriot for peace***
the orwellian proportions of life on the death star have grown positively epic. not only do our corporate controlled media insist on calling this virtually unilateral and certainly illegal attack a "war," but our appointed president insists we are "warring for peace."
as some wry pundits have noted, bombing for peace is a bit like copulating for virginity.
so it doesn’t come as too great a surprise that many of us now erroneously equate "supporting the troops" with supporting the "war." after all, the nazi master of death himself, hermann goebbels, said that all you need to get citizens to support a war is to first tell them they’re under attack and then to call any dissenter unpatriotic.
thus does nazi illogic now appear to govern life on the death star.
and yet…
~If your child was in a fraternity that engaged in dangerous and damaging hazing rituals, would your "support" involve ignoring his actions and looking the other way?
~If your daughter was implicated in a corporate scam that swindled millions from unsuspecting pensioners, would your "support" entail cover up and denial?
~If your son was directed by lt. calley to massacre vietnamese villagers -- including children and grandparents -- what would you want him to do?
since when did either support or patriotism require the abdication of our democratic commitments to truth and justice? to ethical responsibility?
true love of our children -- the brave young men and women now being used as pawns in an unjust and immoral war – requires our brave speaking. as the true american patriot rev. dr. martin luther king jr. said over 30 years ago:
“I criticize America because I love her.”
the orwellian proportions of life on the death star have grown positively epic. not only do our corporate controlled media insist on calling this virtually unilateral and certainly illegal attack a "war," but our appointed president insists we are "warring for peace."
as some wry pundits have noted, bombing for peace is a bit like copulating for virginity.
so it doesn’t come as too great a surprise that many of us now erroneously equate "supporting the troops" with supporting the "war." after all, the nazi master of death himself, hermann goebbels, said that all you need to get citizens to support a war is to first tell them they’re under attack and then to call any dissenter unpatriotic.
thus does nazi illogic now appear to govern life on the death star.
and yet…
~If your child was in a fraternity that engaged in dangerous and damaging hazing rituals, would your "support" involve ignoring his actions and looking the other way?
~If your daughter was implicated in a corporate scam that swindled millions from unsuspecting pensioners, would your "support" entail cover up and denial?
~If your son was directed by lt. calley to massacre vietnamese villagers -- including children and grandparents -- what would you want him to do?
since when did either support or patriotism require the abdication of our democratic commitments to truth and justice? to ethical responsibility?
true love of our children -- the brave young men and women now being used as pawns in an unjust and immoral war – requires our brave speaking. as the true american patriot rev. dr. martin luther king jr. said over 30 years ago:
“I criticize America because I love her.”
posted by dr. lippi at
1:56 PM
***merton on war***
~ a few words from our beloved catholic monk thomas merton, penned 40 years ago:
"I fear the ignorance and power of the U.S. And the fact that it has quite suddenly become one of the most decadent societies on the face of the earth. The body of a great dead candied child. Yet not dead, full of immense, uncontrolled power. Crazy. If somebody doesn‚t understand the U.S. pretty soon ˆ and communicate some of that understanding to the U.S. ˆ the results will be terrible. It is no accident that the U.S. endowed the world with the Bomb. The mixture of immaturity, size, apparent innocence and depravity, with occasional spasms of guild, power, self-hate, pugnacity, lapsing into wildness and then apathy, hopped up and wild eyed and inarticulate and wanting to be popular. You need a doctor, Uncle!"
***speaking of***
"darth vader has not developed his own humanity. he's a robot. a bureacrat... the thing to do is to learn to live in your own period of history as a human being. " j. campbell.
~ a few words from our beloved catholic monk thomas merton, penned 40 years ago:
"I fear the ignorance and power of the U.S. And the fact that it has quite suddenly become one of the most decadent societies on the face of the earth. The body of a great dead candied child. Yet not dead, full of immense, uncontrolled power. Crazy. If somebody doesn‚t understand the U.S. pretty soon ˆ and communicate some of that understanding to the U.S. ˆ the results will be terrible. It is no accident that the U.S. endowed the world with the Bomb. The mixture of immaturity, size, apparent innocence and depravity, with occasional spasms of guild, power, self-hate, pugnacity, lapsing into wildness and then apathy, hopped up and wild eyed and inarticulate and wanting to be popular. You need a doctor, Uncle!"
***speaking of***
"darth vader has not developed his own humanity. he's a robot. a bureacrat... the thing to do is to learn to live in your own period of history as a human being. " j. campbell.
posted by dr. lippi at
1:45 PM
***News Links***
~ a 14-year-old girl from Maine speaks against the war. from the American Friends Service Committee website on Iraq: Take a Look at Me Before You Rush to War by Charlotte Aldebron
she writes: "when people think about bombing Iraq, they see a picture in their heads of Saddam Hussein in a military uniform, or maybe soldiers with big black mustaches carrying guns, or the mosaic of George Bush Sr. on the lobby floor of the Al-Rashid Hotel with the word “criminal”. But guess what? More than half of Iraq’s 24 million people are children under the age of 15."
~ a commerce department demographer lost her job, and then regained it, for publicly contradicting then-Defense Secretary Richard Cheney on the issue of Iraqi civilian casualties during the 1991 Gulf War. From the 2/6/03 issue of Business Week Online. (thanks to davey for this link.)
"Although Cheney said shortly after the 1991 Gulf War that "we have no way of knowing precisely how many casualties occurred" during the fighting "and may never know," Daponte had estimated otherwise: 13,000 civilians were killed directly by American and allied forces, and about 70,000 civilians died subsequently from war-related damage to medical facilities and supplies, the electric power grid, and the water system, she calculated.
In all, 40,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed in the conflict, she concluded, putting total Iraqi losses from the war and its aftermath at 158,000, including 86,194 men, 39,612 women, and 32,195 children."
*** Organizing & Action ***
The Columbus Progressive Alliance website. Schedules, announcements and links to area peace events.
United for Peace and Justice: a national alliance of organizations working for peace with up-to-date links to peace events in cities in every state.
Live radio updates of national protests.Enemy combatant radio on Indymedia:
MoveOn:a web based organization providing ongoing opportunities for action.
~ a 14-year-old girl from Maine speaks against the war. from the American Friends Service Committee website on Iraq: Take a Look at Me Before You Rush to War by Charlotte Aldebron
she writes: "when people think about bombing Iraq, they see a picture in their heads of Saddam Hussein in a military uniform, or maybe soldiers with big black mustaches carrying guns, or the mosaic of George Bush Sr. on the lobby floor of the Al-Rashid Hotel with the word “criminal”. But guess what? More than half of Iraq’s 24 million people are children under the age of 15."
~ a commerce department demographer lost her job, and then regained it, for publicly contradicting then-Defense Secretary Richard Cheney on the issue of Iraqi civilian casualties during the 1991 Gulf War. From the 2/6/03 issue of Business Week Online. (thanks to davey for this link.)
"Although Cheney said shortly after the 1991 Gulf War that "we have no way of knowing precisely how many casualties occurred" during the fighting "and may never know," Daponte had estimated otherwise: 13,000 civilians were killed directly by American and allied forces, and about 70,000 civilians died subsequently from war-related damage to medical facilities and supplies, the electric power grid, and the water system, she calculated.
In all, 40,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed in the conflict, she concluded, putting total Iraqi losses from the war and its aftermath at 158,000, including 86,194 men, 39,612 women, and 32,195 children."
*** Organizing & Action ***
The Columbus Progressive Alliance website. Schedules, announcements and links to area peace events.
United for Peace and Justice: a national alliance of organizations working for peace with up-to-date links to peace events in cities in every state.
Live radio updates of national protests.Enemy combatant radio on Indymedia:
MoveOn:a web based organization providing ongoing opportunities for action.
posted by dr. lippi at
6:59 AM
Thursday, March 20, 2003
***how many world trade centers?***
here on the death star, many of us seem to lack sufficient moral imagination to realize that bombs kill people. just like planes loaded with fuel crashing into skyscrapers.
so is the us military responding to international condemnation by changing their military strategy away from their intended "shock and awe" air campaign of 3,000 bombs in 48 hours over Baghdad (a city roughly the size of los angeles)? Or perhaps "shock and awe" was just a little psyops strategy from the beginning.
in either case, this time around the media are hip to the propagandistic dimensions of that old euphemism "collateral damage." but you'll still hear the warriors, good utilitarians all, saying things like:
~ "this is war after all. if a few thousand people have to die in order to spare many millions, that's the cost of war."
after witnessing the carnage from that dreadful september morning, how can we speak so callously about any human life? how is it that all our compassionate care and deep feeling for the victims of 9/11 and their families melt into cold indifference when the blood of "others" is to be spilled. are we that selfish? that insane?
how many iraqi world trade centers will it take?
***poetry & prayers for peace***
***
~lawrence ferlinghetti’s poem speak out published by city lights. it begins:
"And a vast paranoia sweeps across the land
And America turns the attack on its Twin Towers
Into the beginning of the Third World War
The war with the Third World …"
***
~kuan yin’s prayer for the abuser which is attributed to the female bodhisattva (buddhist saint) of compassion. (thanks to carlie for sending this post). it begins:
"to those who withhold refuge,
i cradle you in safety at the core of my Being.
to those that cause a child to cry out,
i grant you the freedom to express your own choked agony.
to those that inflict terror,
i remind you that you shine with the purity of a thousand suns..."
***
~judyth hill's poem wage peace published in tikkun. (note: this poem has been wrongly attributed to the wonderful poet mary oliver. ) it begins:
"wage peace with your breath.
breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds.
breathe in terrorists
and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields.
breathe in confusion
and breathe out maple trees.
breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact...."
***
~Coleman Bark's poem just this once published in abwoon. a poem by the rumi translator poet in the form of a letter to president bush. it begins:
"President Bush, before you order air strikes, imagine the first cruise missile as a direct hit on your closest friend. That might be Laura.Then twenty-five other family and friends. There are no survivors. Now imagine some other way to do it. Quadruple the inspectors, or put a thousand and one U.N. people in. Then call for peace activists to volunteer to go to Iraq for two weeks each. Flood that country with well-meaning tourists, people curious about the land that produced the great saints, Gilani, Hallaj, and Rabia. Set up hostels near those tombs. Encourage peace people to spend a bunch of money in shops, to bring rugs home and samovars by the bushel. Send an Arabic translator with every your peace activists..."
here on the death star, many of us seem to lack sufficient moral imagination to realize that bombs kill people. just like planes loaded with fuel crashing into skyscrapers.
so is the us military responding to international condemnation by changing their military strategy away from their intended "shock and awe" air campaign of 3,000 bombs in 48 hours over Baghdad (a city roughly the size of los angeles)? Or perhaps "shock and awe" was just a little psyops strategy from the beginning.
in either case, this time around the media are hip to the propagandistic dimensions of that old euphemism "collateral damage." but you'll still hear the warriors, good utilitarians all, saying things like:
~ "this is war after all. if a few thousand people have to die in order to spare many millions, that's the cost of war."
after witnessing the carnage from that dreadful september morning, how can we speak so callously about any human life? how is it that all our compassionate care and deep feeling for the victims of 9/11 and their families melt into cold indifference when the blood of "others" is to be spilled. are we that selfish? that insane?
how many iraqi world trade centers will it take?
***poetry & prayers for peace***
***
~lawrence ferlinghetti’s poem speak out published by city lights. it begins:
"And a vast paranoia sweeps across the land
And America turns the attack on its Twin Towers
Into the beginning of the Third World War
The war with the Third World …"
***
~kuan yin’s prayer for the abuser which is attributed to the female bodhisattva (buddhist saint) of compassion. (thanks to carlie for sending this post). it begins:
"to those who withhold refuge,
i cradle you in safety at the core of my Being.
to those that cause a child to cry out,
i grant you the freedom to express your own choked agony.
to those that inflict terror,
i remind you that you shine with the purity of a thousand suns..."
***
~judyth hill's poem wage peace published in tikkun. (note: this poem has been wrongly attributed to the wonderful poet mary oliver. ) it begins:
"wage peace with your breath.
breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds.
breathe in terrorists
and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields.
breathe in confusion
and breathe out maple trees.
breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact...."
***
~Coleman Bark's poem just this once published in abwoon. a poem by the rumi translator poet in the form of a letter to president bush. it begins:
"President Bush, before you order air strikes, imagine the first cruise missile as a direct hit on your closest friend. That might be Laura.Then twenty-five other family and friends. There are no survivors. Now imagine some other way to do it. Quadruple the inspectors, or put a thousand and one U.N. people in. Then call for peace activists to volunteer to go to Iraq for two weeks each. Flood that country with well-meaning tourists, people curious about the land that produced the great saints, Gilani, Hallaj, and Rabia. Set up hostels near those tombs. Encourage peace people to spend a bunch of money in shops, to bring rugs home and samovars by the bushel. Send an Arabic translator with every your peace activists..."
posted by dr. lippi at
5:44 PM
***the failure of gravity***
news of the attack came late last night.
frankly, i’m in shock -- sad and mad and horrified and everything all at once. of course we knew it would come to this but now that it's here I find myself sort of dumbfounded. as my friend christy, said, it's as if something foundational, like gravity, has fallen away.
yet there is every reason to keep loving, keep living. as thich nhat hanh says, peace begins within, and grows with every step. so i’ve been praying, writing, emails, passing along information, and bringing information and space for conversation to my classes. we must keep speaking, keep listening, keep praying, for peace. and we also must not forget to love.
people in ohio are relatively complacent, though there is a small but growing peace movement. I went to a rally saturday and there were about 500 people there photos. There were also dozens of candle light vigils around the city sunday night photos and there’s another march tonight in downtown columbus. these small gestures may not have much impact on the war, but they remind us that we are connected to each other and that we value peace. photos published by polueides
***
***letters from around the world***
~ from linda
“I know what you mean about your heart breaking. It does seem hard to go on with business as usual, both because the whole war is so stupid and sad, and because they (whoever they may be) want us to go on with business as usual, as if it's our godgiven right as americans to ignore how and who we kill and our duty to keep earning and consuming. On the other hand, business as usual is the only thing I can find to help me cope without coming apart all together. So onward I go.”
***
from gunjan in bombay:
“i was glad to know that efforts, no matter how small, are being made to remind everyone that we are all connected together. But I only wish it would remind everyone that we are not only connected as countrymen or college mates, but primarily as humans.”
***
***news links***
here are five web sites that contain in-depth and in some cases personal coverage of life and events on the ground in Iraq. Most of the sites have photographs as well as histories, fact sheets and daily accounts of life in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.
Back to Iraq: Blog of American journalist Christopher Albritton in Iraq.
Mideast Log: Blog of American Ben Granby who has spent time Iraq.
Dear Raed: Blog of an (ostensible) Iraqi in Baghdad. (thanks to davey for these blog links.)
Electronic Iraq: An excellent news portal on the US-Iraq crisis published by Voices in the Wilderness and Middle East news. A compilation of lots of news sources -- also check out the Iraq diaries:
Iraq Peace Team: A website of nonviolent peace activists who have been in Iraq since the fall and who intend to stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq throughout the attack.
***press kit***
~ my march 17 letter to un officials around the globe.
dear representatives:
i am writing as a U.S. patriot for peace to urge you to pass the United Nations emergency peacekeeping resolution 377. the United States government must not be allowed to "shock and awe" the people of Iraq with a devastating
bombing campaign and military invasion. while the ambition of a free and democratic Iraq is undoubtedly a good one, the means of war are in this case unquestionably evil.
please do everything in your power to protect the civilians of Iraq and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. the citizens of the United States do not want the blood of Iraqi children, women, and men spilled anymore than do the
citizens of the world. our government has turned a deaf ear to its citizens and those of the world -- please act on behalf of the citizens of the world and prevent this carnage from occurring.
~ my februrary 7 letter published in the columbus dispatch and a local small city weekly.
to the editor:
one would think the tactics too obvious, yet the day after Secretary General Colin Powell's factually questionable and fear mongering speech to the U.N., the Bush administration "raises terror alert to yellow" in the U.S. (AP 2/7/03). surely the american public can see through these fear-tactics, shadowy photographs, and unsubstantiated claims that fail to meet the most basic legal or scientific standards of evidence. where is the verification? even CIA and FBI staffers are complaining about sketchy evidence being used for political purposes (New York Times 2/2/03).
while there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein is a dangerous tyrant who needs to be contained, the case for war against Iraq has yet to be made. not only do our allies Germany and France urge us to stay our hand, but the chief weapon's inspector contends successful disarmament of Iraq can be achieved even without Baghdad's cooperation. and now North Korea is even threatening "preventative war" if the U.S. attacks Iraq. americans must not act out of fear and manipulation. let's push for tough inspections and containment, not war.
news of the attack came late last night.
frankly, i’m in shock -- sad and mad and horrified and everything all at once. of course we knew it would come to this but now that it's here I find myself sort of dumbfounded. as my friend christy, said, it's as if something foundational, like gravity, has fallen away.
yet there is every reason to keep loving, keep living. as thich nhat hanh says, peace begins within, and grows with every step. so i’ve been praying, writing, emails, passing along information, and bringing information and space for conversation to my classes. we must keep speaking, keep listening, keep praying, for peace. and we also must not forget to love.
people in ohio are relatively complacent, though there is a small but growing peace movement. I went to a rally saturday and there were about 500 people there photos. There were also dozens of candle light vigils around the city sunday night photos and there’s another march tonight in downtown columbus. these small gestures may not have much impact on the war, but they remind us that we are connected to each other and that we value peace. photos published by polueides
***
***letters from around the world***
~ from linda
“I know what you mean about your heart breaking. It does seem hard to go on with business as usual, both because the whole war is so stupid and sad, and because they (whoever they may be) want us to go on with business as usual, as if it's our godgiven right as americans to ignore how and who we kill and our duty to keep earning and consuming. On the other hand, business as usual is the only thing I can find to help me cope without coming apart all together. So onward I go.”
***
from gunjan in bombay:
“i was glad to know that efforts, no matter how small, are being made to remind everyone that we are all connected together. But I only wish it would remind everyone that we are not only connected as countrymen or college mates, but primarily as humans.”
***
***news links***
here are five web sites that contain in-depth and in some cases personal coverage of life and events on the ground in Iraq. Most of the sites have photographs as well as histories, fact sheets and daily accounts of life in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.
Back to Iraq: Blog of American journalist Christopher Albritton in Iraq.
Mideast Log: Blog of American Ben Granby who has spent time Iraq.
Dear Raed: Blog of an (ostensible) Iraqi in Baghdad. (thanks to davey for these blog links.)
Electronic Iraq: An excellent news portal on the US-Iraq crisis published by Voices in the Wilderness and Middle East news. A compilation of lots of news sources -- also check out the Iraq diaries:
Iraq Peace Team: A website of nonviolent peace activists who have been in Iraq since the fall and who intend to stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq throughout the attack.
***press kit***
~ my march 17 letter to un officials around the globe.
dear representatives:
i am writing as a U.S. patriot for peace to urge you to pass the United Nations emergency peacekeeping resolution 377. the United States government must not be allowed to "shock and awe" the people of Iraq with a devastating
bombing campaign and military invasion. while the ambition of a free and democratic Iraq is undoubtedly a good one, the means of war are in this case unquestionably evil.
please do everything in your power to protect the civilians of Iraq and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. the citizens of the United States do not want the blood of Iraqi children, women, and men spilled anymore than do the
citizens of the world. our government has turned a deaf ear to its citizens and those of the world -- please act on behalf of the citizens of the world and prevent this carnage from occurring.
~ my februrary 7 letter published in the columbus dispatch and a local small city weekly.
to the editor:
one would think the tactics too obvious, yet the day after Secretary General Colin Powell's factually questionable and fear mongering speech to the U.N., the Bush administration "raises terror alert to yellow" in the U.S. (AP 2/7/03). surely the american public can see through these fear-tactics, shadowy photographs, and unsubstantiated claims that fail to meet the most basic legal or scientific standards of evidence. where is the verification? even CIA and FBI staffers are complaining about sketchy evidence being used for political purposes (New York Times 2/2/03).
while there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein is a dangerous tyrant who needs to be contained, the case for war against Iraq has yet to be made. not only do our allies Germany and France urge us to stay our hand, but the chief weapon's inspector contends successful disarmament of Iraq can be achieved even without Baghdad's cooperation. and now North Korea is even threatening "preventative war" if the U.S. attacks Iraq. americans must not act out of fear and manipulation. let's push for tough inspections and containment, not war.
posted by dr. lippi at
2:05 PM
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- ***speechless in ohio***
- *** dead candied child *** in iraq, as less visib...
- *** regarding the suffering of others*** despite ...
- ***orwell in wonderland*** alice: say mr. hump...
- *** ministry of propaganda updates *** chip berle...
- ***calls to action*** our voices for peace are ne...
- as smoke, sand and the cries of human suffering th...
- ***the difference*** darth vader and his cabal ar...
- ***roaring silence*** on the death star, much is ...
- ***gilgamesh vs. enkedu this is not*** "shock and...
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