The Sadness of the Day

I just read in The Times of London a day-two story of the massacre in Virginia. Today, tragedy has a face--28 of them. ToL has posted the photos and brief biographies of the victims of yesterday's horrendous events.

I notice how I'm affected by my viewing of the photo gallery. I feel sorrow and empathy for all affected, and grief for the violent shattering of my country. The other predominant emotion gnawing at me is shock. Shock at the massacre and shock at the lack of coverage of this type being available for our military dead and the casualties of war in Iraq. My reaction to the stories of the victims was because I was able to know something of the people that were lost, the lives they led, how they will be missed. This same courtesy obviously does not extend the "protectors of American Freedom," our troops.

All over the news is the Virginia Tech tragedy while today 127 157* Iraqis died as a result of four bombings. Anyone seen any pictures of any of those victims? Read a bio? Shed a tear? Almost certainly not. Images of Iraqis before they become tragic victims are virtually NEVER available except for the rare images on Middle East television. Even more tragically, our US military lost in Iraq do not get even the cursory treatment which the victims of the VT shootings received. This government, this media, do not want you to feel what I, like most Americans, felt today while viewing the very real faces lost in what is essentially the war we have over here in our own culture of violence. We have need to answer Bush's false, ridiculous question of, "Fighting the enemy over there so we don't have to fight them over here." We're already here, and the enemy is us.

* At 3:30 PM CST, the latest death toll in todays Iraq bombings stands at 183

A Culture of Violence

3309 3311*,32,43. No, not the combination to the lock on your storage locker, but the number of deaths of American soldiers to date, in the BushCo 'war on terrah,' number of people killed in yesterday's campus massacre, and the average number of Iraqis that die each day in Iraq. Listening to the radio this morning, the news yesterday and the content everywhere in the US media today, I hasten to point out that the tragedy that befell Virginia Tech yesterday is a 'light' day in Iraq. Violence like this is daily fare in the 'preemptive war' on a country that had no connection to 9/11. Our invasion and subsequent occupation, was based on lies told to the American people, that are still being perpetuated today.

Whether it is the 40-something Iraqis dying daily or the 3 or 4 soldiers that are slaughtered, the carnage goes "the way forward," the admintration-produced, propaganda-filled new name for "stay the course," every single day. A senseless, sordid, waste of life. Where's the outrage? The outpouring of community support, the media, the murmurings of condolence? Is it because Iraqis who die are 'over there,' removed from the day-to-day lives of Americans? American soldiers are just 'doing their job,' one that comes with much risk so their deaths are more or less expected?
Please keep in mind as you read this, of the Iraqis dying daily, most all of them were just trying to go about their daily lives as best they can. Going to the market, work, school when suddenly a bomb goes off, or others open fire with automatic weapons. American soldiers would not be in harm's way if it weren't for the inhuman, murderous policies of the Bush administration.

Don't take my word for it. Read the the words of professionals, Larry Johnson, former CIA operative and State department official and read the article "Greetings from the Red Zone" by Lawrence Korb, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a Senior Advisor to the Center for Defense Information. We live in a culture of violence that is perpetuated daily and when it hits close to home is the only time we pay attention. Can we let this be our last wake-up call to stop this war? It's up to you America.

*Two more American soldier deaths since this was posted at 9:44 this morning.

An Empathy Moment

Larry Johnson at No Quarter consistently hits the nail on the head.

Breaking news! At least 22 Virginia Tech students gunned down. Cable news channels are wild with activity as they pump up the coverage a focus on the latest "crisis". The media is commenting that this shooting is overwhelming the local medical facilities. Crisis is in the air. Well, at least it ain't Iraq.

Okay. Big deep breath. This is horrible and this is tragic and this gives us an idea of what it is like to live just one day in Iraq.