By now, being who you are, you've seen that
picture from Mosul. The one of the dying Iraqi child , being held by the Army
major.
No?
Read
on then.
Click
on the picture for hi-res, if you can stand
it.
It's a moment frozen in time -
she's not dead yet in the photo, but she's dying. In the photo it hasn't
happened yet, she's still warm, in pain, wondering why, how this came to be, how
long will it last. In the real world it has already happened, she's cold,
covered in dirt - it's over. In the photo she's preserved forever in those
critical moments between circling the Stryker, hoping for some candy, and
bleeding to death in the major's arms on the way to the
hospital.
She isn't one of his - not his
child, not of his country - but he cares for her. You can almost feel his tears
wetting her skin. You can almost sense her knowing through the fog of pain that
someone was there to care, someone close, all the way to the end. All the way to
where the pain stops, and it's over, the last sudden breath exhaled. The lungs
quieted, folding wetly, the heart tap-tapping for a moment or two more. And then
stopping.
What kind of army is it
that gets angry and wishes only that they had been attacked a few blocks down,
away from the children? Who are these men? Where do they come from? Why do we
deserve them?
And for the attacker?
The child was one of his, a countryman, a co-religionist. He had every reason to
care what happened to her, and all the others with her. But he didn't. What kind
of man doesn't care that the children are there? Who either doesn't see them, or
smiles grimly, considering it an advantage to his
cause?
Who is it, that seeing this,
cannot distinguish between imperfect good and nearly perfect evil? Who can see
this and not choose sides?
God rest
her and keep her, and hold her close. Her and all the others. All the
innocents.
For those who would be the
authors of such mindless hatred? Those that would take videos and post them as
recruitment tools? Those who would race to claim credit for having killed
children? We know them now. And we will hunt them to the ends of the earth, tear
them out, root and branch.
Root and
branch.
Posted @
06:17 PM
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Posted in
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Sendit
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Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." - John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Ceasar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friederich Nietzsche
