Categories
Political

Fireworks

I’ve decided not to go to the fireworks tonight. I spent much of this morning and most of yesterday walking around, and don’t want to walk again tonight. Besides, I’ve seen the San Francisco fireworks before.

I did visit the Golden Gate Bridge today and the mood, which should have been full of silly sunshine and good times was made somber because there were more soldiers than usual out today. At the entrance to the old Fort at the base of the Bridge there was one stationed, looking closely at all the people entering the old site. What did they expect? That someone was going to fire up the old 1800’s cannon and take a shot?

This reminded me of a link to a Washington Post article that AKMA pointed to, about the distrust between the US soldiers and the local Iraqi police force. I was stunned to hear such animosity from our soldiers. Stunned, but not surprised. The soldiers don’t want to be there, people are taking shots at them, they didn’t find weapons of mass destruction, the Iraqi people don’t really want them there, and everyone is hot. No electricity, jobs, no education, no life for the people in Baghdad, and they’re supposed to be grateful? Can’t spit on Bush, but the soldiers are close by, so they’ll spit, or worse, on the soldiers, and the situation is going to get worse before better.

If this is how the soldiers’ attitude is, after only a couple of months – what’s going to happen in a year? Two years? We said we would never get into another Vietnam: fighting against a people that don’t want us, for a people that don’t want us, and in a land that is hostile to us. We said we would never get into another Vietnam, and we did.

But this isn’t stopping Bush, as he dons his true blue American work shirt to go talk to the troops this 4th of July. This was after his belligerent talk yesterday about ‘bring em on’ to the Iraqi people. Stan Goff had about the best comment on this*:

This de facto president is finally seeing his poll numbers fall. Even chauvinist paranoia has a half-life, it seems. His legitimacy is being eroded as even the mainstream press has discovered now that the pretext for the war was a lie. It may have been control over the oil, after all. Anti-war forces are regrouping as an anti-occupation movement.

Now, exercising his one true talent ‘blundering’ George W Bush has begun the improbable process of alienating the very troops upon whom he depends to carry out the neo-con ambition of restructuring the world by arms.

Somewhere in Balad, or Fallujah, or Baghdad, there is a soldier telling a new replacement, “We are losing this war.”

Happy Independence Day, Iraq.

*also pointed to by Frank Paynter

Categories
Political

Junior doesn’t like flowers

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

“Oh look, Junior! The nice lady took a picture of pretty flowers! Aren’t they pretty? Now tell the nice lady thank you for taking the picture of the pretty flowers, Junior.”

 

“Thanks for the flower picture, nice lady.”

 

“You’re welcome, Junior. Do you like photos of flowers?”

 

“No.”

 

“Oh. Well, what do you like pictures of?”

 

“I like pictures of car accidents.”

 

“Ah, urh, well, how nice.”

 

“And I like pictures of road kill.”

 

“Uh, uhm, well…”

 

“If there’s a critter by the side of the road, I scream real loud so that Mama swerves and hits it.”

 

“Well, isn’t that, ah, well…”

 

“It’s fresher then.”

 

“Is it? How, um, creative of you.”

 

“And I like to look at pictures of industrial accident victims.”

 

“You like to look at, what was it again, honey?”

 

“Industrial accident victims. You know, people cut up, and people…”

 

“That’s all right! You don’t need to tell me anymore!”

 

“I also like pictures from war. People shot, and people blowed up, and people …”

 

“Yes, Yes! I think I understand! You know, Junior, you’re kind of a sick little boy, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes, that’s what my Daddy says. But he says boys will be boys, and I’m only going through a phase. So, you want I should tell you what other pictures I like?”

 

“No, no! That’s all right! I think I’ve got a fairly good idea of what kind of pictures you like! Tell me, with all this interest in photography, do you want to be a photographer when you grow up?”

 

“No. I want to be President of the United States. And I want to work for world peace. Just like my Dad.”

 

prettyflowers.jpg

Categories
Places Political

Room with a view

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

While in San Francisco, I visited my favorite haunts such as Crissy Beach, including Fort Point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. I like to watch the crazy surfers avoid being smashed against the rocks, and the sea lions sitting back, trying to figure out who these interlopers are.

One of the surfers had brought his dog, a loveable mutt who seemed fierce but was very gentle and friendly. I was watching the surfers when I could hear someone behind me talking to the dog. I turned around and there was a young soldier, gun strapped to his chest, playing with the pup. I hadn’t even noticed the military Humvee and the soldiers assigned to protect the Bridge.

The soldier was very friendly, and I asked him if I could take a picture of him and the dog. While taking it, I noticed that the dog’s owner was also taking a picture, and his expression probably mirrored mine to some extent. I could see that he appreciated the soldier’s enjoyment of the pup; but at the same time, he was disconcerted at the proximity of the gun, and the soldier, and the military vehicle.

Perhaps it was the soldier’s presence, but when I left Fort Point, I decided to drive through the Presidio and visit the National Cemetery. I’ve always liked walking through the Cemetery, reading the stones and admiring the fresh flowers brought by loved ones. Outside of Memorial Day or other patriotic holidays, the Cemetery at the Presidio rarely has anyone around, and one can move about easily without having to fight the hordes of tourists.

In the middle of the cemetery is the POW-MIA flag, the flag raised in honor of those listed as Missing in Action, and those who have been prisoners of war. Seeing it reminded me of the release of the seven POWs in Iraq, which has filled the news recently; videos showing them riding around on a jeep waving small American flags, meeting with the President, hugging loved ones. There was even talk about a special White House dinner for the seven, and most likely to include Jessica Lynch, the soldier who had been wounded and ‘rescued’ from an Iraqi hospital.

pow-mia-07.jpgI thought about the POWs from previous conflicts, such as Vietnam; how many of whom were in prison camps for 20 or more years, starved, beaten, tortured, and subjected to the worst crimes of humanity. One of the most famous, Senator John McCain has since had to battle serious skin cancer from the exposure to the hot sun in the Vietnamese jungles. My own Dad suffers from skin cancer from the same exposure, as well as other cancers from exposure to Agent Orange.

We as a nation let down our soldiers in Vietnam. When the POWs and other soldiers came home from that time, few met the President, or were invited to the White House. Same for Korea. Even fewer received the medical and psychological attention needed to make a good recovery from the trauma. As a nation, we’ve suffered the guilt from this and remember our poor treatment even more than the horror of the war. In the first Gulf War we tied yellow ribbons around our trees and flew huge flags. In the recent Iraq invasion, we tied even more ribbons, flew even more flags, and added music and sound spots, and the country literally bled red, white, and blue.

It’s not surprising with this national guilt that we’ve made the Iraqi seven and Jessica Lynch into something almost super-human, with stories of firing guns until falling in battle, and hints of dark doings on the part of the criminals holding our people. The reality, we are finding, is much different.

Chances are you won’t find a lot of long time service people behind all of the hoopla around the ‘victory’ in Iraq and the seven captured service people, or Jessica Lynch. The reason isn’t because they don’t care about these young people, they do, very much; however, they know to put a sense of perspective around all of this. The wars we’ve fought in the past have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands, have taken people away from their families for years, and have left prisoners behind bars for decades. There was a heavy price to pay for these wars, which serves as a dark reminder that we should never take war lightly. All service people from all wars and all duties, including the young man guarding the Golden Gate Bridge, deserve respect and appreciation — not a media circus full of as much blather as bravery.

If we don’t remember that the prize many of these soldiers win is a room with a view, then we take the pain out of war. A leader of this country who sends his people to war should come out of it weighed down by his or her decision, not lifted up on the shoulders of a bunch of kids who took a wrong turn on the way to Baghdad.

presidio1.jpg

Categories
Places Political

Understanding the Problem

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I think it’s nice that Doc’s trying to organize an effort to save the looted Iraqi artifacts. However, his ideas of staffing a single television and radio station, and creating a web site to show the artifacts, all created for the purposes of recovering the items won’t be that helpful.

Two types of looters have been identified — poor, little educated Kurds and Shiites who most likely don’t have a computer, a television, or radio, and possibly even electricity; and professionals, most likely part of the museum itself, who could care less.

UNESCO is the organization best equipped for running an international operation to try and rescue the artifacts before they’re sold into private collections. I imagine they’re working with Interpol, and both organizations are quite good at recovery of illegally smuggled artifacts. UNESCO is taking the steps necessary to ensure descriptions of items are released into the hands where they’ll do the most good — traditional dealers of Middle Eastern artifacts. The idea of ‘closing’ the borders to search for artifacts is a good one, but this should also include searching belongings of the military before they come home. It’s not uncommon for military to take ‘souvenirs’ home with them.

Offering of rewards, no questions asked, and proving that people are not going to be arrested is one of the best ideas yet. This should result in returns of artifacts held by the poor who have no contacts in the international community. This won’t stop the pros, though.

However, if we want to do something, we should pressure the Congress to get the United States to own up to our responsibilities in this mess, and to provide support for recovery operations. Not lip service, actual sypport. The US and Britain need to provide money for rewards, and facilities for UNESCO to help in recovery. In this, I agree that we should be communicating this across weblogs — but we have been, even before this war started.

However, if we want to do something from a Web point of view, we could also start looking for artifacts on eBay — they’ll start showing up shortly.

I know that Doc thinks these efforts are ‘insufficient’, but I would tend to trust the experts on this one.

Categories
Political

Recovering Iraq: Step 1. Accountability

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Invaders from the south and west seize the great cities on the Tigris and Euphrates. A despot’s capital falls to sudden assault. A warlord from Tikrit vows to rally the Muslim world.

This week’s news? No: 2000 B.C., 539 B.C and 1187

From Bowling Green Kentucky Daily News

Confirmation in the news that the National Museum of Iraq has been completely plundered; the worst fears have been realized – everything’s gone. All of the treasures, most several thousand years old, have either been stolen or destroyed.

Another weblogger wrote that she was tired of the Iraqi complaining. “Why don’t they just arm themselves and protect their own hospitals”, she says, but with a great deal more invective and vehemence. Luckily this isn’t a complaint we’re hearing too much but I know it’s on people’s minds. The same people who take our own stable infrastructures for granted, or who conveniently forget our own looting and destruction following significant natural and political events. However, perhaps that weblogger will be heartened by this story.

The Iraqi people, as a whole, deplore the looting and destruction and many have fought it directly; some have been killed for their efforts because if there’s one thing in plentiful supply in Iraq now, it’s guns. And confusion. Exactly who is to protect what from whom? Are the same police that supported Saddam Hussein going to be supported by the people. Who is Republican Guard soldier and who is a shopkeeper defending his store?

Accountability. We need to hold those in charge accountable for, at a minimum, short sighted thinking and planning. Looting was not unexpected in the aftermath of war, especially a fast war such as the one in Iraq. We only have to look at Kosovo to see the problems that can occur in a country when the existing, albeit repressive, government is removed.

The primary difference between Iraq and Kosovo is that the UN started moving peacekeeping troops into the region as quickly as possible, knowing that it had a role to help maintain the peace until a new infrastructure could be built. They made mistakes, they’re still having problems, and they don’t have the monetary support for their current effort, but at least they acknowledged that they had a responsibility. They didn’t ignore it, hoping it would just go away.

In Iraq, though, the attitude has been more along the lines of letting the looting burn itself out, and let the people form their own police keeping forces. At least, that’s the only plan I’ve seen so far. There is a belief that Iraq will sort itself out in short order, and with minimum intervention. Let the people have their little celebration. Garner, the person who is supposed to ‘govern’ Iraq had this to say on the looting:

“This will come under control,” he told Sky television. “You have to quit the war before you can handle that (looting). It will subside.”

Speaking from Kuwait, Garner said: “Everybody’s concentrating on looting and I think that’s a little unfair on the coalition.”

A little unfair on the coalition. I don’t know how a sane person can respond to this statement without body movements extreme enough to cause injury. But that’s nothing compared to Rumsfeld’s dismissal with, “Yes, it’s untidy; but freedom is untidy,” at a press conference on Friday. Today his response on the museum is:

Rumsfeld said he had “no idea” whether museum officials had asked U.S. troops to guard the building that housed treasures dating back 5,000 years.

Scholars from throughout the world have been working with the Pentagon to ensure protection of Iraqi antiquities, including those housed in the Museum for protection from bombing and looting. In fact, this effort has gone on for months, with petitions and plans submitted to the government. If the US can guard the Ministry of Oil building, why couldn’t it protect the hospitals and the Museum?

Accountability. One military officer in the field noted that which should have been noted by Garner and Rumsfeld:

‘Once the Americans allowed this, it was ‘Game On,” said Lt. Erik Balascik of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

What Lt. Balascik is acknowledging is that we’re setting a precedent in our relationship with the Iraqi people – one of indifference to their every day lives as long as we maintain ‘control’. We are saying, in effect, that we won’t intervene in lawlessness. In a country with as many diverse ethnic, religious, and tribal groups as Iraq, this is a seriously bad mistake.

The soldiers aren’t trained in peacekeeping and I don’t necessarily expect those whose job it is to ‘fight’ to also handle peacekeeping. But the soldiers should have had the support of peacekeeping forces whose sole responsibility was to help maintain the infrastructure of the society until more permanent changes could be made. At a minimum, government buildings, hospitals, and the Museum and other important places of culture should have been protected.

The US government made a mistake in its underestimitation and disregad of the lawlessness resulting from the collapse of the Saddam Hussein regime. By holding itself accountable for this mistake, this could go some ways in repairing the damage it’s done to itself in the eyes of the Iraqis and the world. Continuing to disregard the problem, dismissing it, or only half heartedly working on finding a solution is only going to make matters worse, far worse.

But that’s not the only accountability. The peace movement is also making a mistake by focusing on an ‘anti-war’ message, and calling for an immediate removal of Coalition troops. Once we started this fight, there was no easy going back. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t demand that the coalition forces provide security, and then demand that they remove their troops.

I agree with those who say that the UN must have the significant say in the recovery operations in Iraq, but it will require coalition troops and money to make this happen. We can’t pull out – at the best all we can do is bring others in. Others such as the UN. And I also agree that we should insist on un-biased coverage of the story in the United States – but at this point in time, I don’t care who comes out ‘looking good’ as long as we start working effectively towards a safe and peaceful Iraq, and Middle East.

There will be a political reckoning to this someday, of that I am most sure of and dedicated to; but right now, my concern is focused more on protecting the innocent rather than on punishing the guilty. To view Iraq primarily as a weapon useful for beating the Bush Administration about the head is no less negligent then to view Iraq as nothing more than a game piece in a new Middle East strategy.

If there is a unified ’support Iraq’ movement in the world, then its focus right now should be on getting the coalition generally and the US Government specifically, to acknowledge that it has a responsibility to the people of Iraq that comes from invading the country; and that it must hold itself accountable for not attempting to maintain some control after the fighting stopped in each region. We need to urge the coalition to seek help from others who have more experience with peacekeeping, including the UN. The coalition and the US must repair relationships with other countries in postiion to help, including Syria, France, and Russia.

And most of all, if the leaders of the coalition can’t be trusted not to say anything to further enflame an already bad situation, that perhaps it would be best that they focus on working more, talking less.

The coalition has shown that for all of its capability with technology, it is lacking in people skills. And in this situation, this lack can be, and is, deadly.