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Saturday, Mar. 29, 2003 / 3:41 p.m. ~One For Me - In Which I Sort of Go On and On and On~ People, this war thing is really getting out of hand. I just read that an Iraqi suicide bomber killed 4 American soldiers. Er, and himself, I'd guess. Is it worth it? To acquire another country? We don't need Iraq. Why can't we just take care of our own country? Why can't we just work on peaceful, diplomatic solutions to the problems inherent in our relations with foreign countries? Do these young kids need to be dying over there? For what? For the spread of American ideals? Holy fuck. Really. The man I heard on Terry Gross' (forgive if I misspell) "Fresh Air" on NPR yesterday, Christopher Dickey, Newsweek's Middle East Editor since '93, went on and on and on, in a most eloquent and articulate way about the War, from the 'other' side. From over 'there'. He was in Amman, Jordan during the interview, wanting to get into Iraq, but said they won't let people cross the border. He said how there are no unilateral journalists over there, they're either on one side or the other, hence the 'embedded journalists' who are giving us most of the stories broadcast in this country. He talked about the discrepancies in information, how that one port town was supposedly 'taken' on day one, when in fact it was not. I believe him. He is a 'seasoned', a 'veteran' journalist, working for fucking Newsweek, and if that's not mainstream I don't know what is, so he would have no interest in lying at this point. Of course he said that the perception, across Europe and in the Arab countries, is that the US is not "liberating" anyone, it's not a mission of "liberation", but of "Invasion and Occupation", and yes, Mr. Dickey, even some Americans, those who bother to seek out more than what they're spoonfed from the nightly news, know this. It's obvious to me. Always has been. You can change the word from 'invasion' to 'liberation', but I remember what it used to be. And as he said most Americans probably don't remember Bush calling our revenge against the terrorism of 9/11 a 'CRUSADE', I remember. I remember what a faux pas it was, and how it was almost instantly retracted. Do most people forget all these things? Are they forgetting the terminology once used, and only hearing that which is being washed into our brains over and over now? He talked about the 'videogame' aspect of the television coverage, the details of weapons being used, and the diagrams, and how we don't even see this as a real WAR, with people being killed. (maybe NOW we do, now that OUR boys are being killed!) And one of the fascinating points he brought up is that the Iraqi people are much like those who've been imprisoned for years, and how they hate, yet fear their captor, and when released would not just walk away, gladly, free, but might want to turn on anyone remaining, riot, rebel. As in prisoners in prison uprisings killing all the guards instead of just running out of the prison. The reactions of the Iraqi people seem to be surprising the Americans, but how could they not know we are not exactly loved? Oh, I saw on some video footage last night young Iraqi boys giving the 'thumbs up' signal to the cameras, the American troops, thankful for the rations they've been given, and isn't the American media careful to show us shots just like that? Because they need to try to convince us that the Iraqis are happy we're there.... Christoper Dickey also talked about the Iraqi scientists, and how they will become 'freelancers' after this is over, assuming Hussein's regime is in fact 'toppled'. They will sell themselves to the highest bidders and their knowledge of making and manufacturing chemical and biological weapons will be in the hands of some other regime. Dickey fears we are in far more danger of future attacks after this is over. Far more. And he is not alone, I'm reading this everywhere. But you won't find it on American TV. Aaron Brown (yes, I tuned into CNN a few times this week, I couldn't help it, I had to know what they were showing), on CNN, interviewed some media critic, late the other night, and the guy, while really incoherent (odd for a media critic - maybe he'd been drugged!), expressed his concern over what we're not seeing, and when the interview was over Brown really dismissed him, gave his trademark little smirk and went on his way. Horrible. I wish I could remember the interchange, but I cannot. And speaking of smirks, what is with George W leaning all over every podium behind which he stands, and smirking, SMIRKING, when he says, "As long as it takes!"? This isn't funny. People are losing their loved ones, man, that's not fucking funny. Oh, and there was a count of Iraqi troops, vs. American troops, and the need for reinforcements on our side. Who ever expected that? This thing was supposed to be over in a few days, regardless of the smirky "As long as it takes" crap. No one expected we'd actually lose soldiers and have to call for more! Christ, what's next, a fucking draft? Hell no, we won't go! Right, and then Dickey discussed the big oil contracts, and Cheney's former company, Halliburton, and the money that's going to be made when these guys go in to plug up those wells that are currently on fire. Well, I read on antiwar.com last night that they might be (or are?) losing those contracts, so fuck you, Dick Cheney. Then there was the talk of Israel, and Dickey mentioned how Bush is Sharon's best friend, and how the new Palestinian leader is much easier to talk to, that Arafat was impossible for journalists to 'reach', and how he, Dickey, has actually read the Bush 'roadmap' to peace in the Middle East, and it's very idealistic, the best attempt by a US President in a long time to restore peace in that region. We shall see. Yeah, I took notes. I did. Our phones were down yesterday at work, so I sat with my Walkman on, listening to my NPR, listening intently as Terry Gross asked her questions and Christopher Dickey went on and on and on and I felt like I was in a college classroom. It was great. Reminds me, there's a teach-in at a University intown today, but clearly I didn't get my shit together to go. There's also a protest in a really hip part of town later, and no doubt it's filled with hip people anyway, because it always is on Saturdays, people playing drums and blowing bubbles (oh, that's 'hippies', not just 'hip'), and etc., and etc., and a protest would only make things even foggier. I'm tempted to go, but I'm not sure it's wise. I'm beginning to realize just how volatile this whole situation is anyway, how potentially dangerous it is to be an antiwar protestor. And I read how that big Pro-War rally a week or two ago, across from CNN headquarters, was sponsored by a Clear Channel radio network!!! How Clear Channel is censoring their playlists, pulling Sheryl Crowe and Dixie Chicks, etc. This is really scary. The whole mob mentality is scary. On both sides really. Altough the liberals are a bit calmer. The college kids are taking it to the extremes, getting a bit violent (which seems like a bit of an oxymoron in an antiwar protest), and people like Jeff (formerly known as 'the new boy' at work) love to tell me how unpatriotic I am, how the REAL PATRIOTS died so that I might have the right to free speech. Isn't that part of the militaristic brainwashing? Doesn't he HAVE to say things like that to me? After he said that, I was thinking that I'm not a patriot. If a patriot means, as he said, that I must automatically love my government, that my government IS my country, then no. I'm not. Hell, my mother was the one who refused to stand when the 'Star Spangled Banner' was played. She said she couldn't, in good conscience, support anything that involved killing and warfare, and that was what our flag and that song represent. She wanted me not to pledge allegiance to the flag in school. Seriously. I don't make this shit up. My mother was a liberal. Jeff's dad fought in Vietnam. Jeff grew up hearing tales of derring do, of war wounds and heroism in the face of battle, and I grew up hearing of Ralph Nader and consumer activism, labor unions and striking, and automatically disrespecting authority, the government, the President, and our American flag. It's no wonder we fight. Jeff and I must agree to disagree. In other news, I read a lot about the movie I saw last night ("Irreversible" - theme being 'time ruins everything'), before I got offline. I was up until late, in fact, reading interviews with the director, Gaspar Noe, and reviews of the film. Turns out the two men in the beginning of the film are a tag, and end to his previous film, which I haven't seen. So anyone looking for meaning in that, or trying to figure out what the hell is going on will be lost. Which takes the film down a notch in my book. What's his name did that too, the guy who shot "Red", "White" and "Blue", is it Kaczynski? I'm not sure how to spell it, but he put elements of each film in the next, just brief moments, like the old woman trying to reach up to the recycling bin to drop in her bottle. But to start a movie with a scene that has nothing to do with the film at hand, nothing at all? That's wrong. But I read all about the rape scene, how Monica Belucci orchestrated most of it, how the rapist (played by some real life famous French kickboxer!) stayed zipped, and when he pulls out and flops on his back, that semi-erect penis we see is a digitally enhanced one, it's added in! And how she wanted the dress she wears, to wear later, after the film, and how they used 10 for the scene, they reshot it several times, and when it was over she couldn't even look at it. Understandable. Also interesting is the whole rape/revenge story, and what man is capable of in the face of that sort of situation. And the fact that Noe is in the film, in the gay bar, and his is the erect penis we see! See, now I want to see it again. But I'd like to see it on tape, remote in hand, I'd like to only see certain scenes again, and fast forward through the rape entirely, through the murder entirely, just try to make sense of the myriad scenes of depravity in that seedy bar. Okay, it's Norma's birthday. She's 13 today! Old girl. I've already brushed her and squeezed her and wished her a happy day. I sang the Happy Birthday song to her last night, here at the computer, with her on my lap, and she looked me right in the eyes, closing hers gently as she listened. She's my girl. The caffeine from my 'morning' coffee is seeping into my veins and I hope I'm now inspired to do something with this day. I got a bit of a late start, after about 11 hours sleep! This is one of those entries that will only be skimmed. It's for me, I'll read it later and think, Hmmmmm...... ***P.S. Notice that if you scroll down this page you'll see an Iraqi death toll counter. I added it last night, and I just noticed the number has really increased...... click on it to go to the site and see how the numbers are calculated. Cost of the War in Iraq
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