The answer is "many". This Syria thing. Makes my stomach hurt. Since I developed gastritis from the parasites, my stomach is now the receiver of all the tension signals that I create. If I were a Syrian, I wouldn't be able to eat at all. Of course, there might not be enough food, in any case. I have been to Guatemalan refugee camps in Chiapas during the war there. Flashback number one. The Indigenous peoples were fleeing US helicopters and our scorched earth policy. Officially we were not involved. Officially now we learn the truth, to late to save hundreds of thousands of lives.
There was practically no food in the Camps (La Gloria was the name of the camp, imagine!). People, mostly children were dying of starvation. So, I think of the 2,000,000 Syrian refugees. Hungry, frightened, lost. It is bad enough to be in a country at war, but the knowledge that the big bad US is about to bomb must be terrifying. Everyone on the planet knows that we use dirty weapons. Agent Orange. (Chemical warfare) Atomic bombs. (Weapons of mass destruction). Depleted uranium cluster fuck bombs. (God help us). and we kill anyone (drone strikes) and we leave every country we occupy in dreadful shape (Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam).
Flashback number two. A president using all his means to get his war. Means number one: lying, concealing, obfuscating, flashbacks to Colin Powell lying through his teeth. Flashbacks to McManara lying through his teeth. Flash backs to Oliver North and crew lying through their teeth. Flashbacks to Americans, like sheep, bleating away about what we can do to show the world we are the best democracy, we only treat people well. We hate war, but we gotta do it, you know for the sake of the people we will killing. "Better dead than red."
The Senate floor is the Roman Coliseum . That is a flashback to a former life. Whom shall we throw to the lions for our sport, our enrichment and our show of power?
Flashbacks to my sadness when Henry Kissinger got the Nobel Peace Prize. I had a sinking feeling when Obama got his right after becoming president. He had promised to "win' in Afghanistan during his campaign. It was the one thing that stuck in my craw when I voted for him in his first election. I had that bad feeling then and he proved himself to want war more than Bush. Is that possible?
Nancy Pelosi supporting Obama yesterday saying her constituents in California disagree with the invasion, but she was going ahead and supporting it anyway. The flashback was to Bush after the 15,000,000 people protested the invasion/occupation of Iraq and Bush said he didn't care about public opinion, he was the decider. Flashbacks to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. Lies, deception, hatred.
And how can we have watched Obama commemorating The March on Washington last week, talking out of one side of his mouth with one group and the other side with others. Too many flashbacks to process at one time.
So, I being a good citizen, started calling the White House on Friday. The comment line was closed. It was after all a holiday weekend. The people who staff the lines are, after all, volunteers. When the lines were finally opened, they were busy for hours. We can collect all the info from all the world and we can't get enough phone lines in the White House? When I finally got through, I offered my name and state and the volunteer said they didn't want that info, just a "for or against." This sent me to the great Nixon flashback. I wrote Nixon week after week stating in the most emphatic terms I could summon up my violent opposition to the Vietnam War. Time and again I got letters back saying "Thank you for supporting the President." Daily the White House released memos saying the letters overwhelmingly support the War. I suppose the volunteer could be doing the same thing for Obama. Why would I think otherwise?
Now I have to turn my head around and pray for peace. "There is no way to peace. Peace is the way." Remember that Commandment, Thou Shall Not Kill? I do. I have to clean out all these flashbacks and see the way. The Way.
I'm so with you.
ReplyDelete