Tannishblog

Cindy Sheehan: poster girl for accountability in government. She deserves our support. She deserves answers, not empty platitudes. If her son was gunned down in the street, she would expect and she would get more answers as to why during the resulting criminal investigation or trial. But her son died in a war, just another faceless expendable, so she gets nothing: no answers; no solace; no peace.

As she gets no quarter from the administration, so she gives no quarter. Her vigil outside of our Worse Ever President’s vacation hideout is commendable. This man gets more vacation time than a tenured CEO, and he needs to know that there is no place to hide from the lies, the atrocities he’s committed. I say “Hang in there, Cindy!” you and many others, silent in their grief, deserve to hear why America’s young are dying. All grieving parents, all Americans need to hear the truth about the war in Iraq.

For the rest of us, who so far have not been personally touched by Georgie’s War, we have ways to show our support for Cindy Sheehan and the many she represents. Act For Change has a link set up to petition the President and First Lady to meet with Cindy, here. The Pen is writing a harder line with another petition, here. Show your support, get on the grass roots bandwagon!

Or is that a lawnmower, hmm.

In Baghdad, during a real Desert Storm, the mayor was deposed and replaced by a member of Iraq’s most powerful Shiite militia. The new ex-mayor, Alaa al-Tamini, says, “This is the new Iraq. They use force to achieve their goals.” He is now in hiding, fearful of his life.

The group responsible, the Badr Organization, insists Mr. Tamini is in no danger, that they have the authority to replace him. They have been keeping peace in several areas heavily populated by Shiites, creating order through conservative Shiite law.

Mr. Tamini was appointed by the central government, but L. Paul Brenner III, the top American administrator prior to the formation of the Iraqi government, put him in place. Now, a uniquely Iraqi political presence, outside of the American-sanction government, is making its moves. Mazen A. Makkia, who led the deposition, claims, “This is not a coup. If we wanted to do something bad to him, we would have done that. We really want to establish the state of law for every citizen.”

This is Democracy in action. This is not, however, what America wants to see. While the chaos and lawlessness reign in the streets, Iraq is trying to right itself. As bad as Saddam was, he did establish law, and most people could live and feed themselves under his oppressive rule. What America brought was murder and anarchy, creating a long-lasting legacy of anti-American sentiments that will likely play out for the next hundred years. It is only natural that Anti-American Shiites gain control of whatever form of government Iraq will settle for. Hatred for the wanton destruction of their country, hatred for the perpetrators of such destruction, is a natural and powerful motivator, and a unbeatable banner to rally behind for many of the families brutally touched by American aggression.

They hate us, and will continue to hate us for generations to come. This hate will create a new State for Iraqis, and the harder America tries to steer the formation of their government, the harder they will resist, the stronger the resentment will grow. We’ve tried nation building in Iraq before, that’s how Saddam came to power. It failed miserably, and it will fail again.

That’s Democracy in action.

I return to the world of anal-retentive America, home of ideological idiot-arians, land of the expensive and fearful. Ah! It’s good to be home!

Actually, I’m surprised to see that nothing of consequence happened over the last fortnight: we continued to erode our standings in the world; the war hasn’t miraculously ended; people are still beating the dead horses named Downing Street, Bad War and Impeach Bush; and Judge Roberts is still in the news cycle (yawn).

At this point I cannot begin to relate my two weeks in Israel or how my perspective has changed. I already know I’m not the same wolf I used to be; how this will manifest will likely surprise us all. For now, I’m happily jetlagged, both glad and sad to be home, and covered in cat hair (being pestered by our pets whom are too relieved we’ve returned to remember to be upset we left).

As promised, I’ve kept a journal (paper, no less!) of our adventures and, after embellishments and editing, will add this to the Tannish Page. Hundreds of photos were taken, too many for my meager web storage capacity; some of them will be posted as well. For now, I prepare for work in the AM and a resumption of life-as-we-know-it, such as it is.