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The Third Thanksgiving In Iraq ...
Some thoughts on the third Thanksgiving for U.S. troops in Iraq -- starting with a short, sombre snippet of something seen in today's Guardian.
In Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, soldiers set up a "fallen comrade'' table for those killed, laying plates and lighting candles ...What a highly commendable form of commemoration for fallen comrades. Such a perfectly pitched simple yet sincere statement of respect, yet powerfully and poignantly understated as to appear instantly and clearly understandable.
But then there was this.
"We feel like we're protecting our friends, family and loved ones back home,'' said Lt. Col. Guy Glad, a military chaplain from Colorado Springs, Colo.....Is such logic as that sort, even close to understandable?
And this?
"Serving my country is important but losing friends makes me more thankful for what I have and for what I used to take for granted,'' [said] the 20-year-old Marine ......
And what about this?
"I could be sitting on the couch at home watching football with my dad. Instead I'm driving in Iraq,'' said Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Maxwell, 21 ......And then this?
"I miss not seeing my little daughter run around the Thanksgiving table,'' said Cpl. Chaz Wheeler, 22 ......But every word these young men said was truly sincere and spoken straight from the heart.
Indeed it's those very things which make the whole sorry story all the more difficult to understand. Well, at any rate, for anyone as old as This Old Brit.
Yet amazingly, by that very same age related token, the actual explanation is so patently apparent. Look at their ages; 20, 21 and 22. Then look at this Old Brit -- old enough to be their grandfather. Surely that says something -- if not everything.
Older equals wiser? Well, that's for you in your own wisdom - and in all honesty - to decide for yourself.
Anyhow, here's hoping that each and everyone one of those young soldiers gets home safe & sound -- and soon. Hopefully only a tiny bit older, but a lot more understanding and eminently much, much wiser.
And lets hope all those who lied to them and misled them into this whole damned, desert debacle soon pay the price required of them -- with even a semblance of the bravery shown by the boys they sent to wage their illegal, needless war of greed.
Read the rest of the Guardian's revealing, G.I.'s Iraq Thanksgiving piece, at the link below.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5436912,00.html
posted by Richard at Friday, November 25, 2005
11 Comments:
Interesting post. It is apparent where you derive your news from Iraq. Try ANYTHING OTHER than the BBC.
By the way, British Soldiers opened 7 more schools in Basra this past week.
But did that get any news? Of course not.
For better news, try michaelyon.blogspot.com
ermmmm,
anonymous, he's quoting from a newspaper ... the guardian .... regarding interviews with US troops ... not british troops... and no mention of the bbc .. till you did.....
think what you want .... say what you want ...... but it's rude to but in an interupt to talk about something you want to ....
duh..... whay ask the old brit "did that get any news ... of cousre not" ..... if you got a beef don't bring it here to a good old guy .... take it to were it belongs .... heh ..... but you can't can you ..... how you take it to where it got no news ...heh
That's a heck of a way to introduce youself anonymous and a heck of a way to see the site you promote comes across as poorly as you. Me? I'm not giving it extra hits ~ on principle.
As for the schools ~ fine ~ good work ~ what peacekeepers should do ~ but it doesn't alter anything OldBrit&Richard said.
Oooh,
Its all been happening here then?!
anonymous, I hear what you're saying. As for my reaction- it's no different to those already expressed by both bluey and another-better.
I'd point out though, that had you followed the blog for longer then you'd have known how often BBC news is quoted as a source - and how often many other [varied]sources are.
Here - take a look at this little lot - and then this. Can you cope with those? I can and do - to as great an extent as is possible. There are many, many more sources too - google can help you find them if you need help.
I almost forgot to mention some great sources I've included on this blog as permanent links. Give 'em a whirl, anonymous. No charge made. All it costs is your time & effort.
Phew! Who'd have thought it?
This Old Brit blog was 'born' just over six months ago. Brought into the web-world by a complete 'midwife' novice, Richard.
A few minutes ago, we registered our 50,000th - yep - Fifty Thousandth - visitor!
So, we must be doing and/or saying SOMETHING right, eh?
And incidentally, WE includes our readers and posters. Thank You!!
and a blog is born. They're getting some nasty comments so send them a little love :-)
Don't Bomb Us - A blog by Al Jazeera Staffers
Truly I hate blogger it's just slapped my wrist for trying to add a target attribute.(Yes I know thats what the doctype specifies)
If you want the link above to work you have to specify yourselves that its to open in a new window by right-clicking on it and selecting open in a new window from the context menu.
sheesh ...
On a more pleasant note:
So richard now that you're hitting the tens of thousands and your blog is only 6 months old which type of well-deserved celebratory cup of tea are you going to treat yourself too? :-)
dubhaltach,
Thanks for that link, I'll take a look later.
As for blogger, I think they had a bit of a brainstorm last night. I worked on a piece for ages - then it wouldn't save as a draft. It wasn't finished so I didn't want to publish to web too soon. I fiddled & fiddled untill pfht! I lost it altogether -- gone -- forever. The air around here was blue - believe me.
What tea? My favourite is Twinnings, English Breakfast blend -- at any time of the day. Mmmmm ! Puts hair's on yer chest. ;^)
I read the Guardian link on Thanksgiving morning with some poignancy. Those young soldiers trying their hardest to do what they think is right so far away from home. I also went on Michaelyon.blogspot - which was foolish - yes I know Mother always told me not to talk to strange men. I'm still not sure what his point was. For how much we oppose the war we all support the troops and want them home PDQ. I was at the mall with my daughter on Friday and saw recruiters en masse with tempting goodies - a nifty messenger bag and a DVD. Over the holiday we were also bombarded with new commercials from various branches of the forces encouraging our youth to join up. These new commercials seemed to be aimed at white middleclass parents. How much money is being thrown down the rat hole for that endeavour?
I read the Guardian link on Thanksgiving morning with some poignancy. Those young soldiers trying their hardest to do what they think is right so far away from home. I also went on Michaelyon.blogspot - which was foolish - yes I know Mother always told me not to talk to strange men. I'm still not sure what his point was. For how much we oppose the war we all support the troops and want them home PDQ. I was at the mall with my daughter on Friday and saw recruiters en masse with tempting goodies - a nifty messenger bag and a DVD. Over the holiday we were also bombarded with new commercials from various branches of the forces encouraging our youth to join up. These new commercials seemed to be aimed at white middleclass parents. How much money is being thrown down the rat hole for that endeavour?
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