Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Iraqi All-Nighters

A flash of light. A violent twitch in my left leg. And I awoke.

That was how I spent most of my night yesterday. My thoughts kept floating to a dear friend of mine who is currently on his third tour in Iraq. A gentle soul with deep conflicts within him regarding this and all wars. He, like other soldiers I've heard say in various interviews, know not why they are there; only they feel an obligation to answer deployments because of their fellow military brothers and sisters.

"I can't let them down. I took an oath."

It's very hard for me to remain calm when faced with words such as these. I disagree vehemently with the entire premise of the framing, yet what does one say to a loved one who is strapped firmly to a Battle Chess chessboard?

"Break the cycle of death altogether," my heart says unsuccessfully to my lips.

"I'm here if you need to vent," is about all I can muster audibly.

Realistically speaking, the conversation about warfare and militaristic foundations woven greedily into the fabric of the United States is far from reaching the point of acceptable discourse. At least, in the sense where someone like me who argues against it is not labeled a traitor or UnAmerican.

So how is this dilemna met? Time will tell. Sleepless nights will continue as I pray for some wellspring of peace within me and even but a drop for my friend who finds himself in a different desert, half a world away. Meanwhle, the elites will have to suffer* too.
Senate Democrats refused to flinch Tuesday as the chamber moved toward a rare, all-night session of debate on legislation to bring troops home this fall.

They called for sleeping cots to be rolled into a room off the Senate floor and told members to prepare for repeated votes throughout the evening. Senators even left open the possibility of dispatching the sergeant at arms to summon colleagues from their homes to the floor if lawmakers ignored the debate.

linkage
*suffering, it is not; but hopefully it is a start to breaking the spell of war that has been cast upon these insulated powerbrokers

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