The Moment That It All Began

"Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it."

Pay no attention to the iRack...

The iRack looks unstable!

Four Years Later...

As Bush sends more troops to Iraq in an attempt to regain control in Baghdad, and as Congress considers alternate measures to bring their troops home, world wide protests mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion and occupation. It's a not so happy kind of anniversary, one you hope doesn't have to come next year.

Just showing off a little...

Faces of the Fallen Interactive News Story

You Witness News - Yahoo News

Out, Out Damn Spot!

Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention is considered the universal minimum standard of treatment for civilian detainees in wartime. It requires that people be treated "humanely," barring "violence to life and person," (including murder, mutilation, cruel treatment, torture), "outrages upon personal dignity" (humiliating and degrading treatment) and sentencing/execution by courts that fail to provide "all the judicial guarantees … recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples."

The US Supreme Court recently determined (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld June 29) the Bush Administration's policy of not honoring the Geneva Convention (US ratified 1949) was illegal and that even prisoners in the "War on Terror" are entitled to the protections allowed in the Geneva Convention.

According to reports in the Washington Post, US officials have since responded in three ways:

1. Asked Congress to pass legislation blocking the prisoners' right to sue for the enforcement of those protections



2. Drafted legislation allowing the consideration of intelligence gathering needs during interrogations, in place of an absolute human rights standard



3. Formulated amendments to the War Crimes Act that would retroactively protect policymakers, political appointees, CIA officers and former Military Personnel from criminal charges (for authorizing or administering any humiliating or degrading treatment of prisoners) and eliminate the risk of prosecution

The Bush Administration is obviously trying to cover it's collective ass. Makes me wonder what else they have done that they are so worried about.

Read more here:
Bush officials draft law to protect administration from war crimes (Washington Post)

War Crimes Act Changes Would Reduce Threat Of Prosecution (Globe and Mail)

When the search for Peace becomes Perpetual War

Reading my Adbusters (July/August 2003) today reminds me that I should still be politically motivated in my blog posts, even though the worlds media seems to have calmed down, creating the allusion that there is nothing to scream about. Well, thats a farce. Shit happens everywhere, all the time, even here (I really have meant to post about same sex marriages - which I unequivocally support). I love Adbusters. It is my favourite magazine (Duncan gets credit for my subscription as it was a Christmas gift) and I am glad it comes to pierce my awareness every once in a while, wakes me up. I have a brain for a reason. I need to challenge my beliefs and my existence, and the beliefs I employ within that existence. I need to be uncomfortable and critical atleast once in a while. An oyster slowly forms a pearl from a single grain of sand that irritates it, as it gently mulls it around...

The theme of this latest Adbusters centres around the mixed messages we are consistently bombarded with, culturally and politically (I usually refer to them as "propaganda"). The cover(s) exhibit people screaming (reminiscent of "the Scream") and sport the words:

PREEMPTIVE WAR IS NECESSARY
PREEMPTIVE WAR IS TERRORISM

The issue contains a provocative article, written by James MacKinnon, who interviewed Richard Falk (Visiting Professor of Global Studies at the U of California and Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University) on the familiarilty of FASCISM in some of what we are hearing and expected to accept within our newest geopolitical climate. It's worth the read, but here is a taste to tantilize:

"Q. Can you tell us your definition of traditional fascism?

Yes: the convergence of military and economic power on behalf of an ultranationalist ideology that views its enemies - internally and externally - as evil and subject to extermination or extreme punishment."

Hmmm. Food for thought... Sound familiar? Irritated yet? Remember, the worst state of being a human can be in is the state of being "right". Wouldn't we rather have pearls? 

Killing various birds with one stone.......

Things that made me happy today.....

* This morning I was fondled awake by the worlds best boyfriend, who then got up (on his day off) to make me coffee! What a delightful start to the morning...

* I had a meeting with a Doctor this morning who praised my son and told me how wonderful, smart and mature he was (which ofcourse I already knew, but one can never be too sure it isn't just Mother Bias...)

* Work has been slow, which means I can play more ~ I have caught up reading all of my blogs and regular webstops.

* Music has permeated my afternoon... my friend/colleague Debbie has her radio on an 80's station and each song has brought back some memory for me, causing me to smile as I skip my way down Memory Lane!

* Duncan is cooking dinner (lasagna), which should be ready for when I get home from work!!!!

* I am in love and loved in return!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things that make you go hmmmmmm......

* It's an unhappy birthday for Saddam Hussein today, where ever he might (or might not) be....

* Whilst I am known to be very fond of honesty, there are some things better left unsaid. Some times, much better......

* One of the blogs I visit has a great story of a close encounter that made me laugh.... and then embarked me into an adventure I wasn't sure I needed....

* It appears that General Tommy Franks has been targeted by Iraqi's in a different arena.... although I doubt anything will come of it.

* Conspiracy or cover up???? Something fishy about this feline story....

* Oh yeah... and for the helplessly paranoid... will the world end on May 15th 2003? It seems to me the world is always ending.....

Pro WAR or Pro AMERICAN? Anti IRAQ? Do you know where you stand?

I am getting really tired of all this war crap.



I mean really, are you pro war.... or pro American... because there is a difference to be found within this definition. It is one thing to support troops, or want to show support for close allies/trading partners.... but its something all together different to support a war - a war in which people (and I mean civilians and CHILDREN) are being killed, in a country that did not attack it's current aggressor.

Regardless, I am getting tired of hearing it really.... it's like a bunch of whining.... if you want to go to war - GO! No one is stopping you. Frankly I would love to see all these placard carrying "war supporting" people made to pick up rifles, quit their jobs, leave their families and head off to a little desert country with no gaurantee of ever coming home. Let them put into action what they preach. It's way too easy just to say it, especially if it is not you who has to go personally (it's funny how these people have no issue with commiting others to go in their place). I read in the paper today (Calgary Herald) about Ibrahim Abu Zedwan, a 40 yr old Jordanian farmer-turned soldier, who when repelled by the images of dead children killed in the Shula Market in Baghdad, he said "That's it, I'm going". He grabbed a gun, got on a bus and went to Baghdad to protect the children, because that is what he believed was important. Now that's action. That's conviction. Thats respectable.

Because that is the reality. I have to guage for myself if I believe in things enough to pick up a gun and kill someone, guage if my beliefs are that strong that they warrant ending the life of another human being. And I served in the army for six years, so I know what that means. There is no glory. Who are these (rich, christian, middle/upper class, white folk -opps did I say that out loud?) people who think this war is good? What do they base it on? War is never good. No one wins.

I assume that the Headlines tomorrow will be how recruitment for the Canadian Armed Forces has jumped to an all time high as all these "upstanding" people enlist in order to carry out what is good and right for world peace..... But, in case those headlines don't materialize, you can entertain yourself with a previous CNN news story that reflects the "humble beginnings" of this conflict. I found the archive for you... click here to read it.

On March 11, 2003, Lilly Wonka posted the following questions on her blog/website for reader consideration. Here is (verbatim) the post from Lilly's site:

Uh-huh

In my email this morning from the wonderbar Cat from down under in Melbourne, Australia. Can anyone answer all of the following questions correctly? Some of you may be surprised at the answers. And then again, maybe you won't.

This was in MX Talk (Readers Letters) this afternoon 11/3/03. (For those that don't know MX is a free afternoon paper at train stations in Melbourne, Aus.)

It's time to test your knowledge of global politics with a quiz:

1. Which is the only country to have dropped bombs on more than 20 countries since 1945?

2. Which is the only country to have used nuclear weapons?

3. Which country was responsible for a car bomb which killed 80 civilians in Beirut in 1985, in a blotched assignation attempt, thereby making it the most lethal terrorist bombing in modern middle east history?

4. Which country's illegal bombing of Lybia in 1986 was described by the United Nations Legal Committee as a "classic case" of terrorism?

5. Which country rejected the order of the International Court of Justice to terminate its "unlawful use of force" against Nicaragua in 1986 and then vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on all states to observe international law?

6. Which country was accused by a United Nations-sponsored truth commission of providing "direct and indirect support" for "acts of genocide" against the Mayan Indians in Guatemala during the 1980's?

7. Which country unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in December 2001?

8. Which country renounced efforts to negotiate a verification process for the Biological Weapons Convention and brought an international conference on the matter to a halt in 2001?

9. Which country prevented the United Nations from curbing the gun trade at a small arms conference in July 2001?

10. Aside from Somalia, which is the only other country in the world to have refused to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child?

11. Which is the only western country which allows the death penalty to be applied to children?

12. Which is the only G7 country to have refused to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, forbidding the use of landmines?

13. Which was the only G7 country to vote against the creation of the International Criminal Court in 1998?

14. Which was the only other country to join Israel in opposing a 1987 General Assembly resolution condemning international terrorism?

15. Which country refuses to fully pay its debts to the UN, yet reserves its right to veto United Nations Resolutions?

I think these are excellent questions, and more voting age Americans should consider the answers very carefully. USA is a democratic country, meaning the people of America vote for a Government and provide them with a mandate to make these type of foriegn policy choices. These choices have repercussions and consequences and perpetuate a cycle of violence that can only get worse. Think about it.

Found some interesting new blogs and links today.... for the scoop straight from the soldier's mouth check out the Command Post, Blogs of War, and the Israeli Guy. Also bookmark The Kuwait Times and Islamic Headlines for some footage you won't see in American Media.

Lenny Kravitz released "We Want Peace".

Food for thought.

For all of you who are pondering this war and whats going on... the FBI defines Terrorism as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. This will mean many things to many different people, so there is no need for commentary.

From a Distance... You Look like my Friend.....



And for any of you out there who would like a personal account of what life is currently like in Baghdad, please read Raed's Blog. It's a moving journal that puts a human face on an "enemy" that is often so dehumanized that we can't think of Baghdad as anything more then a target. (update: Since I posted this earlier today, Raed's site is down again. Given the amount of bombing in Baghdad right now it could mean any amount of different things).

CNN journalists on the spot in Iraq, for those interested.

Game Diva: WINNER! I have both technique AND power



"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
--Jack Handy Deep Thoughts

Sigh. As lots of you know today, being Sunday, is the day Duncan and I ritually attend our neighbourhood coffee shop to share breakfast and the news. I had tried (really I did) to not pay any attention to the war at all yesterday (and it was a gallant effort – we played video games and shopped and talked about anything but Americans and Iraq). But it was inescapable this morning and I have a reawakened awareness of the reality at hand.

The headlines sure make it hard to ignore a war. Or atleast this war. Some of them even seem to comically exhibit surprise at what I would have thought no brainers…. like “Coalition forces meet Resistance.” Well, they are invading a country, afterall....

I had to laugh a bit at the news reporting that General Tommy Franks had stated that “he didn’t know where Saddam was.” I guess if he did, this would all be over heh?

To read the paper you might be led to believe the world has gone mad. Burning oil fields, dead Iraqi babies, Muslims upset everywhere (the US has a way of making friends) , stupid “accidents,” Soldier attacks own troops, Turkey capitalizes on Iraq situation (The Kurds wont have to worry about Saddam) , an american Patriot Missile shoots down British Plane, helicopter crashes, American Soldiers missing , Ambushes and fake surrenders, POW’s.....

Its not going to be an easy fight. I say that partially from my intuition and from my own previous six years of military training. I don’t doubt that the US will be able to “win” the fight for Baghdad, but I don’t think it will be the cake walk they expected (Peace through superior fire power?). They are going to have to want Baghdad more then the people who live there, more then the people who fight to defend their families, and more then the people who have everything, and nothing, to lose. These are a people who are used to war, used to having little or no resources, who are survivors. They are a people whose religion assures thema place in heaven if they die in this cause. I am not confident that the American's understand their enemy.

Anyone looking for some ideas on Creative Resistance to the war?



"IN ORDER to achieve the final aim - which is one world, and not two hostile worlds - such a partial world Government must never act as an alliance against the rest of the world. The only real step toward world government is world Government itself…. The United Nations now and world Government eventually must serve one single goal the guarantee of the security, tranquility, and the welfare of all mankind." written October 1947, in an open letter to the UN, from Albert Einstein

For Duncan, and all those gamers out there - check out this old onion archived article I found!

Harvard student Michael O'Neill (at a demonstration at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts) joined students and professors from schools throughout the state on March 20 in a walkout to protest U.S. attacks on Iraq. The sign he holds refers to the U.S. strategy of "rapid dominance," introduced in the military theory book "Shock and Awe."

Read "Waiting for the Bombs." An eyewitness description of life in Baghdad.

There are 31 Canadian soldiers on exchange with the American military and on site in Iraq. I want them to come home safe. I appreciate the job they are doing for Canada, and whilst I don't agree with this conflict (or the reasons given for it) I pray they do their job well and return home to their families.

In Wil wheaton's blog yesterday he manages to balance that sense of not wanting to support this war, but wanting to recognize the sacrifice that the service men are making. How do you support the soldiers whilst protesting the war? How do you support a war when children are being killed? It's an interesting read.



In Canada, we haven't yet come to any real peace in that regards. Minister Herb Dhaliwal summed up the disappointment most people are feeling when he said President Bush had let "the world down by not being a statesman" by not letting diplomacy work at the United Nations. "I think it is really regrettable and unfortunate that he has made this decision when the whole world is crying out for peace." I do too. But now that it is the plain reality, I hope that it is over quickly.

Andrew C Thomas described the source of this frustration in his column (March 21st). "If I may be allowed to oversimplify, the geopolitical problem is simple: In matters of foreign policy, America is a 6-year-old boy (and an overly large one at that). He sees what it wants and grabs for it, with little concern for long-term consequences, because he’s bigger than the other kids on the playground." I agree ~ the problem is we all share the same playground, and once Saddam is gone, who is next? Let the second age of American Imperialism begin....

It's pretty late at night right now, and I am going back to bed to crawl up beside Duncan. But I will leave you with a spat of humour (we still have to be able to laugh dont we?). Check out the Dept of Homeland Panic, parody on Homeland Security of course!

BAD MOON RISING


“A” Day in The Devil’s Playground

The headlines blare, in apparent defiance, from the newspaper stands as I walk by – they speak to me… they induce guilt in my soul. My life goes on, as normal as ever even. Everything around me seems to conspire in rampant denial of a war being waged. Silent Lucidity. It seems so surgical, so far away, so out of my control and influence. I hope it is over soon and some good comes of it. What an asinine, pathetic, thing to hope for from the comfort of my cushy life. How could something like this be good? When you are on the receiving end of a cruise missile I imagine life sucks.

The Student Newspaper had some good quotes this week, I will share them with you.

“You can no more win a War than you can win an Earthquake” – Jeanette Rankin

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones” – Albert Einstein

And so it begins. Although the Pentagon is currently denying the report from Kuwaiti security sources that US troops (originally massed on the border according to CNN) have passed into the demilitarised zone straddling the Kuwait-Iraq border, sporadic reports of fighting are apparent, especially in indy media.

It doesn't have to be this way! Bring the Soldiers home! Allow the Diplomatic Process it's due!

Read Mr Bush's letter to Congress, sent today.

Here are some very important facts to be considered as the world watches the US embark on bombing a country (that has NOT attacked them), compiled by Ireland’s Labor party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Michael D. Higgins TD. You can read the entire report here.

The war about to be launched will, according to the United Nations Commission for Human Rights, have a catastrophic impact on the civilian population of Iraq – 46% of whose population of 22 million people are under the age of 15. This is a population weakened by twelve years of sanctions, which has left approximately 70% of the population dependent for food on the Oil for Food Programme. One child in four under the age of five is malnourished. Three persons out of four in Iraq live in cities. Baghdad alone has a population of between 4.5 million and 5 million people. In 1991 90,000 tons of explosives were dropped on Iraq. Fifty to seventy per cent missed their target. What is planned for Baghdad now is more than this assault over six weeks. Described as “shock and awe” by the military authorities, these actions are a moral outrage in their regarding of civilian life as dispensable.

The Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and children at times of war would rule out the conduct of war in the conditions described above. For example, it is illegal to damage infrastructure required for “the protection and sustenance of children”.

In this war a United Nations document predicts 100,000 immediate casualties, 400,000 indirect, one million pregnant or lactating women will be at risk as well as two million children. In 1991 50,000 children (alone) died from malnutrition and infectious diseases related to contaminated water.

A response to "Shock and Awe" from Pakistan.

A search for moral absolutes in uncompromising violence

When writer Ambrose Bierce said “War is God's way of teaching Americans geography“ I wonder if he realized the extent of what would come….

Like most of the world I was watching the American President George W. Bush address his nation yesterday.

In his speech he said many things, the nature of which could be considered disturbing. In spite of the well supported UN Resolution 1441 He has decided his nation will act alone to aggressively invade Iraq. Since this seems inevitable I want to hold him to these words:

“Many Iraqis can hear me tonight in a translated radio broadcast, and I have a message for them. If we must begin a military campaign, it will be directed against the lawless men who rule your country and not against you. As our coalition takes away their power, we will deliver the food and medicine you need. We will tear down the apparatus of terror and we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free. In a free Iraq, there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms. The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near”.

Sadly ~ we all know, especially since the USA has abandoned and betrayed the Iraqi people once before, that this is likely a pipe dream that will be shattered by the real horrors of war.

Small Iraqi boy in Baghdad

What has been the worlds reaction?

CANADIAN Prime Minister Jean Chretien reiterated that “if military action proceeds without a new resolution of the Security Council, Canada will not participate.”

In the UK senior cabinet minister Robin Cook quit on Monday, saying he “could not support a war without international agreement or domestic support.” Two junior ministers have also resigned in protest, and Prime Minister Tony Blair faces the potential collapse of his government for his support of the Americans.