No Third Bush Term

Found this at Daily Kos.

Winter Soldier: A Tale of Two Hell's

In this first video, this Iraqi citizen's comparison of the hell of Sadaam and the hell of the American occupation should tell Americans all we need to know about how Iraqis feel about the war. Both videos are from Winter Soldier, eye witness accounts of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan by the soldiers who served there. Ironically May 15 was the 40th anniversary of the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. I don't know if Winter Soldier's event was coordinated to coincide with it. I see no mention of that fact on their site.

When you listen to the stories it sounds as if My Lai has happened over and over again in Iraq and Afghanistan. As it did in Vietnam. I don't think Americans have been told everything about the way the war was conducted in Vietnam. Most believe there was only one My Lai. And they certainly don't realize what's happening in the current wars or they would be over. You can see as the soldiers tell the stories how difficult what happened was for them. It's no wonder that so many of them suffer from PTSD, and find it hard to reintegrate into society. And many end up homeless, which should never happen.

The other irony in looking back at My Lai and comparing it today is that with the embedded press, managed by the military, stories like My Lai are not very likely to be exposed. Except by these soldiers who are brave enough to tell the truth. Every time we hear the phrase, Support the Troops from chickenhawk pundits and politicians who really mean, support the war, we should think of people like this.

CNN: Congolese Woman's Silent Scream is Heard

This story on CNN highlights the plight of women in the Congo on International Women's Day. Honorata Kizende's story is hard to hear, but it is one that must be heard. It's the story of hundreds of thousands of women in the Congo who have suffered gang rape and sexual slavery at the hands of soldiers fighting in a brutal civil war. According to the story, "An estimated 5.4 million people have died in Congo since 1998."

Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International, speaks eloquently about not only the pain Kizende suffered at the hands of those soldiers, but the greater pain of not being heard.

Kizende, 55, is a spokeswoman for Women for Women International, a 16-year-old group that helps rebuild the lives of women victimized by violent conflict in countries such as Kosovo, Iraq and Colombia.

The group was founded by Zainab Salbi, a 38-year-old Iraqi-American who knows something about brutality. She grew up under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, where people who spoke out were often murdered.

"My image of the Congolese women is that of a scream," Salbi said. "But there is no sound coming from the scream because the world is not hearing it."

That's because the victims are women, she said.

Too often humanitarian crises on the African continent are all but ignored by the US, the UN and the International Community. There's a story or two on the news, there are words and resolutions, but very little action. Very few troops or resources are committed to end the violence. They simply do not get the same kind of attention that this kind of crisis would if it occurred in Europe or the Middle East or some place considered "strategically" important. That this many people can die, that this many women can be raped and victimized without a hue and cry and demand for action from the world is truly tragic.

Merry Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah to All!

Ok, I may be a little late in sending out this holiday greeting, but late or not, what really matters in a world of war and conflict, expecially religious conflict, is that we find time to celebrate a holiday that doesn't separate us, but brings us together. And that holiday is Chrismahanukwanzakah - a celebration of everything. While Secular Humanists are getting their War on Christmas on, or at least they are in Bill O'Reilly's mind, through the marketing genuis of Virgin Mobile, we have an invented holiday that no one wants to make war on. So, Peace on Earth and a Merry Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah to All!