(Pro)Claiming Age

Dear Mr. President

2006-04-22T20:09:00.000-04:00

Tommi sent me a link to this (music) video presentation - a song from an artist named Pink. I find the work moving, even more so with my daughter beside me, crying, and willing to touch the pain of her memories in reflection of first-hand experience. God bless America.

It's time to take a walk.
technorati tags: Pink, Dear Mr. President, America

Most Americans Say "It Wasn't Worth It"

2006-03-16T18:47:00.000-05:00

USA Today, 3.16.06, Susan Page

Three years post Iraq war invasion, a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll finds among Americans polled that:

3-1 call the effect a negative one
6 in 10 say a close friend, family member, co-worker served in Iraq
1 in 10 say someone close to them has been killed or wounded
50% say the war has not been morally justified
60% say the war has not been "worth it"
half of the Americans polled have displayed a yellow ribbon

The Cost of War (So Far)

2006-02-19T09:25:00.000-05:00

(via Daily Kos)

Knight-Ridder tallies the numbers:

M1 Abrams tanks: 20
M2 Bradley armored vehicles: 50
Stryker wheeled vehicles: 20
M113 armored personnel carriers: 20
Humvees: 250
Fox wheeled reconnaissance vehicles, mine clearers and trucks: 500
Apache attack helicopters: 27
Blackhawk utility helicopters: 21
Kiowa attack helicopters: 23
Chinnok cargo helicopters: 14

And that's losses from combat operations. Thousands more vehicles are near expiration date as they are ground down in sandy Iraq.

But the most important figure:

American soldiers: 2,270

And Now Sisters

2006-02-19T00:11:00.000-05:00

Ken Camp snapped a shot of the "Three Brothers" war memorial while on a recent trip to Washington D.C. Ken posted his image here with only a few words, "This statue made me wonder how we'll see our sisters honored in the present."

His words have rolled around my head for a couple of weeks now, and I wonder, too, how we'll honor the sisters now taken to war alongside their brothers. When I found this image of the same statue, other aspects of the memorial seemed to speak of a harsh reality, an unglorious grit to a nasty piece of work. And I want the war to be over. I want the fighting to end. I want us to get with the building of memorials and the work of trying again to remember not to do this anymore.

It All Takes Time

2006-02-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

Many have asked/wondered how Tommi is doing since returning home. Tommi is doing fine. She has taken an apartment across the hall from me – I’m still going to school at Purdue (West Lafayette, Indiana). We are “neighbors” and friends living in layers of relationship reaching beyond a single understanding. Just across the hall, Tommi is closer than she might have been had we lived together in our Minnesota home, but the boundary of her own living space creates the interesting dynamic of visiting where the presumption of together might otherwise have defined the being together. Circumstance drives expression in ways beyond easy anticipation, and moods often shift without notice.

There is permission for Tommi to live out loud, into and through a reintegration with life at home again. She was wise to set aside the money it would take for sixth months of rent, food, and transportation – to give her the room for processing, but I don’t think either of us imagined the time her reintegration would ask of me when we believed it a good idea to do those six months at Purdue. Am I complaining? No, not a bit! I love her here with me – the company and the assurance of her voice; there is relief/release in the simplicity of stepping across to the hall any time to be convinced again that the war is over for Tommi: she’s home, and she’s safe. …and that’s worth saying again: she’s home, she’s safe, and it’s over. Thank God!

…but loud noises, surprise sirens, or sudden moves prove a reflex in Tommi that wasn’t there before. Of course they do, and I am made to think again of all the people who certainly do not have the leeway of liberty to rest as Tommi does. For many/most there are children, jobs, spouses, and the cares of property to demand attention. I can see advantages in the power of distraction if the demands of life are taken in a certain light, but I ache in believing how much greater the need for a time of retreat would be for those who had seen yet more discomforting assignments than Tommi would have seen from inside the wire. It seems to me there is need for rest, for retreat and healing, even where comfort can be found in the distraction of ongoing responsibilities. Tommi is finding time to heal even as she is finding her way back home.

Proximity to campus allows Tommi opportunity for a measure of distraction. She is taking one class with mechanical engineers (well, almost anyway – arrangements “on the side” are letting her work a bit alongside students learning to build guitars, but her own liberty is necessarily bounded by the risks that shouldn’t be taken with power equipment when the insurance that comes with $2G tuition is provided), and she’s tracking with me through a semester of first-year composition. She’s cooking good food, arranging a personality for her apartment, and preparing professional documents in anticipation of employment. She isn’t gearing up for graduate school just yet, since deadlines for application came and went during the months of her readying for return and the flurry of being back. There will be other years, and time will unfold as it does. In the meantime, Tommi is reading. Sleeping. Taking baths! … there were no baths in Iraq. And she navigates the sometimes emotionally charged ebb and flow of making sense in old patterns that don’t seem to move anymore quite as they once had. She is finding her strength again.

So, how is Tommi doing, really? She’s doing fine. These common words of social courtesy tell most of the truth available to the moment: she’s doing fine, and nothing of remarkable beyond the reach of that simply phrase knows how to be said really. Maybe I thought there would have been (should have been) more – call it fanfare or notice for “a hero” come home. She is a hero in my eyes. Maybe one of the difficulties is that there is no parade in each next day. There was/is a war, and she was made to go. She made it home safely (where too many others did not), and there ought to be more or maybe not, but in either case, there isn’t a parade. And it’s ok because it has to be. It’s ok because, in the end, it’s better to be quiet. She will find her life – maybe sooner, without the distraction of too much noise.

All this takes time, and I don’t like that part. …not so much.

Bring All Our Children Home

2006-01-11T02:57:00.000-05:00

“Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” The phrase was new to me tonight when Tommi shared it in light of the support she’s known both from Ken and from Randy. It helped to make a lot of sense for me of the homecoming she’d received in Dallas, New Jersey, and Montevideo, Minnesota. I am moved by their remembrance, their faithfulness, and their tenacity. I am grateful.

Tommi is home, and so many of you have written shared joy for her safe return, but I remain torn. I hear the sense of “years” casually overlaid on the continued U.S. involvement in Iraq, and I think of the other women and men (daughters and sons) still there, still going. I wish it were not so.

The tension of conflicting points of view is captured in this December 27 NYTimes story about a Duluth, Minnesota veteran. Scott Cameron’s storefront sign tallies the count for dead and wounded from the Iraq war and is juxtaposed to signage from the local army recruiter next door. The story reports more on the clash of perspectives here and in other parts of the country.

For me it brings to mind the undercurrent to my joy for Tommi’s safe return: there are yet others remaining, and my rest will be fully realized only when all of our children are home – safe, whole, healthy, and for good.

technorati tags: Iraq, war, Scott Cameron

Tommi Is Home

2006-01-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

Tommi is home! Tommi is home to stay. She's home for good. She's safe, she's whole, and she's home. It has been seven days now, and still either one of us might start to cry without notice, or laugh in disbelief, or drop into contemplation of the time that passed. What might have been two years was held to 18 months all told. She discharged her duty with honor. She left her base markedly more secure than when she arrived, and she's home now. She's home for good.

The story in brief includes a departure from Camp Taji around the 17th of December and a base-hop inside Iraq to gain position for flight to Kuwait. Though I knew she was "on the move," I learned only later that "the hop" was a noticeably dangerous part of the trip - risk unnecessarily engaged in an effort to get home sooner. Four days passed still inside Iraq, and then transport to Kuwait where the unit boarded for flight to the States. A fuel stop in Ireland scored a scarf "for mom," and Tommi touched down - feet on U.S. soil - on Monday morning, December 26, at the very time I landed in Washington D.C. as a first-time presenter at the MLA Convention - a showcase opportunity for my work in graduate studies at Purdue. All our efforts to plan around the conflicting commitments had failed. Tommi continued on to debriefing at Camp Atterbury in Indiana while I continued to work in D.C. She bused to her Minnesota command post in Montievideo the day before I flew into Minneapolis, rented a car, and drove 3 hours to find her - faced pressed to the window in anticipation and the last of those just returned to be greeted, taken up in the rest of love. We sunk into one another... fell into one another. She, more ready than I, was the first to catch her emotional footing, and then she helped me catch mine. I didn't care just then about Iraq, about Operation Freedom, about the "good job" she had done, or about the honor of her service. She was home, she was leaving that place with me, and that, just then, was all that mattered.

Our drive north together was five hours of conversation, no conversation, touch, exhales, and an impromptu "welcome home" party we enlisted from the willing patrons of a coffee shop along the way - a perfect New Year's Eve celebration. Those waiting at home were wrapping presents and preparing the meal for Christmas the next day. A very difficult and dangerous last month finally came to rest in the laughter of family, the stories we told that day, and the good food that made the day.

There are more stories to tell; coming home from a war has "a tail" in issues of health and heart, and remembering comes in pieces. Tommi came home with gifts, surprises, and the kind of "shrapnel" of the mind that every soldier home from war will confront. Supporting our troops is a long-term engagement. ...stories and more stories. In the meantime, Tommi is in Indiana to finish out the school year with me. My good landlord held the apartment across the hall form mine for Tommi, and she was wise enough to anticipate the expense in money set aside to cover the few months of breathing and taking "real baths." Lucky me to have a daughter so lovely so close so very much a friend. And... Tommi is home!

technorati tags: Iraq, homecoming, Tommi

Yet Again

2005-11-30T20:14:00.000-05:00

the phone

rings.

(silence)

are you there? i ask.

(silence)

people hurt? i ask.

(voice small)

another blackout. you know what that means.

small. voice. few. words.

are you ok? i ask. urgently.

yes.

people didn’t walk away?

oh, momma, families won’t even get bodies.

outside the wire. pieces. they were picking up pieces. hours. it took hours to process the site.

hours.

the families.

the families. they are the ones. feel sorry for them.

it was catastrophic.

a terrible day.

i lost my composure

four separate times.

i felt bad.

Listen, i said … though i wonder now whether or not it might have better been left to silence. you are supposed to lose your composure. it is supposed to work like that. feel bad, i said. feel worse when the day comes and you don't lose your composure.
(shouting inside. swearing inside.)

(tears. maybe tears. hesitation.)

i thought so hard about this.

i tried to carry it.

i needed to call home.

is that ok?

my head hurts so hard.

my body is screaming.

(silence)

Randy and Yvonne sent me a Christmas tree, mom.

six more weeks, i say to myself.

maybe eight.

(quiet. too quiet.)

speed the day.

momma?

yes. i'm here.

technorati tags: war, Iraq, Tommi

When Only Weeks Remain

2005-11-17T07:58:00.000-05:00

Mom.

... not much time to talk.

Bad stuff has been happening.

I need a sober moment with you.

I thought it would make the news.

It didn’t.

I can’t talk. on the phone.

We’re in a como blackout.

(careful. slow. tears. quiet.)

bad guys.

really bad guys.

we caught ‘em.

pray, momma. pray.

(slow. slow.)

some very young men won’t be going home again.

(my own tears now. eight weeks more. maybe ten.)

pray, momma … not for me. i’m here. i’m safe. i’ll be coming home.

don’t worry.

pray.

and be very glad you don’t have a son coming over here.

it’s hard work these days.

there’s lot of hard work goin’ on.

weeks of work.

and they got one of the bad guys.

intercepted.

mighta taken one of the gates.

coulda been stretchers.

you see things here. nobody should hafta see.

(silence.)

(what do you do with this seeing? this knowing?)

(slow. deliberate.)

what do i do?

i see it.

and then i remember i’m coming home.

all this was here before i came.

it’ll be here when i’m gone.

these are a proud people.

they believe they are doing what is right.

they have better weapons now.

their shooters have better aim.

they believe in God. in his reward.

i am ready to come home.

pray. momma.

technorati tags: war, Iraq, Tommi

The Days and Dollars Roll By

2005-11-15T20:13:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've written, but in cyber-travels of recent of days, I came across the work of the National Priorities Project for the first time and found myself compelled in the reflecting the experience here.

A visit to the front page of the NPP opens a door to information about federal spending on projects ranging from clean air/water to the Katrina clean-up to the distribution of taxes collected for the average household in over a hundred different U.S. cities. However, it was this rolling tally of dollars spent non-stop for the Iraq war that most captured my attention. I sat and watched the tally roll when I should have been reading the next pages of Heidegger. I watched the numbers fly by and imagined items passing as though being seen by the electronic eye at a check out counter: one major, two generals, three sergeants, 16 four-wheelers, two Apache helicopters, one amazingly precious first lieutenant ... and so on and on and the numbers rolled/are rolling even as I write here ... now.

I hear "worth it" sentiments from bloggers in uniform and out. I hear "waste of money and lives" frustrations from bloggers in uniform and out. And I know the last chapters of my own story, my first-person "mom/Tommi" story, are falling into place for an ending set in an ordinary everydayness of quiet drama. Tommi is in "double digits" as she tells it: by the end of another eight weeks she'll have turned in the keys to her office and turned over the weight of her job to a next round of soldiers assigned to occupy hope as the world waits for the gamble of a cowboy president to play itself out. What exactly is there to "win" when you fight a war of ideas and words? I'll be glad when Tommi is home. I won't know the others who remain, but I'll be glad when they're home, too.

The National Priorities Project (NPP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization serving citizens and community groups by provided tools for informed citizenship in matters relating to the federal budget and policy priorities currently engaged. It is the aim of the NPP to support and better equip citizens for participation in advancing social and economic justice.

The National Priorities Project

provides data on the impact of federal spending policies for states, cities and counties;
educates and trains citizens, activists, media and elected officials on the federal budget, the budget’s local impact and community needs;
collaborates with national groups on federal budget initiatives; and
facilitates dialogue and action between national social justice and security policy groups.

technorati tags: Iraq, Tommi, cost of war

Fit To Serve: Shaping Up

2005-10-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

Master Chief Petty Officer Terry D. Scott speaks right to the point when it comes to physical fitness: “No enemy, whether it’s an opposing force or a natural tragedy, is going to give us time to get fit.”

There it is. The NYTimes reports that in 2003 alone more than 3,000 soldiers washed out of the service for being overweight or unfit, according to the latest numbers from the Defense Department. Lt. Col. Joanna J. Reagan, the chief of the nutrition care division at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, N.C. speaks to the parallel nature of the American military with the American public. “The military is a reflection of the American public, and we are in the midst of an obesity epidemic.” This epidemic manifests in the lives of women in the Army in an average gain of nearly 17 pounds in their first year of service.

Commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere are forcing a change of policy: leaders have concluded they can no longer afford the drain on personnel, and fitness initiatives are being put in place for service men and women stationed around the globe.

Today every member of the military, no matter how many years he or she has been in the service, is required to pass a fitness test that includes a run, pull-ups and push-ups, once a year in the Navy and Air Force, twice yearly in the Marines and Army. Service members also must undergo a "tape test" - a measurement of the waist for men, and the waist and hips for women - that is used to calculate body fat. The results are compiled into a composite score that tells whether they still qualify for the service. The minimum score varies according to age and sex.

Tommi underwent her six-month fitness test just yesterday. She reports having “smoked” the run – two miles in 16:44, but she failed the sit-up requirement. Reasons being as they were “legitimate,” however, she’ll have one more shot at making it happen next week. A failure on any part of the evaluation means a repeat on all parts, so Tommi will have to pass the run again along with a second chance at the sit-ups. If I know Tommi, she’ll make it happen. Early morning rising for fitness training and a run around the track is just not her cup of tea!

technorati tags: war, fitness, Tommi

Hero Missions

2005-10-01T13:30:00.000-05:00

The NYTimes has posted a multimedia report (Juliet Macur reporting) that presents a piece of the story about America's fallen from the war in Iraq. After an introduction to the nature of the job, the viewer meets "The Captain," "The Chaplain," and "The Volunteer," all in passing images and voiceover. I most noted the mention of the slow salute that is given when the recovered body of a fallen soldier passes by and the intent of the oldest soldier among the crew who volunteers for every mission in remembrance of the soldiers because "they shouldn't have died this way." This is a difficult report to watch but one that does honor in remembering the soldiers who have died and those who do the work of recovery - Hero Missions.

technorati tags: war, Iraq, Hero Missions

Setting the Record Straight

2005-10-01T12:29:00.001-05:00

Blogging at "Six More Months," Pat succinctly sets the record straight with his comment: "So for the record, we are not at war with Iraq. We are at war in Iraq. There is a difference."

No matter my political leanings on this matter of war in Iraq, the legality of Mr. Bush's move into war, or the economic state of our nation as a result, I stand with Pat on this point. Our soldiers are fighting a war in Iraq not against it. We are a nation at war alongside Iraqis fighting, as Tommi puts it, the "bad guys" - those who intend to terrorize, destabilize, and promise fear.

Our soldiers are doing their jobs and doing them well - making a difference in the lives of countless Iraqi citizens. They are not alone in their efforts: many of us are supporting, encouraging, and believing in them and in the good work they are doing person-to-person, day-to-day. I hear the stories from Tommi. These are hard-working men and women staying the course in amazingly difficult situations.

I do not discount the violations that have and are occurring, violations against human rights, against a Geneva convention now side-stepped, and the egregious loss of human decency/dignity manifest whenever "blood is in the water," but these truths only further mark the honor of those who remain faithful to a higher cause, calling as they do for a nation's fidelity. These men and women are "doin' us proud," and this point should not (and I believe most often is not) be lost amid the noise of public debate addressing the now increasingly difficult decisions to be made over whether or not (and how) to proceed with the project.

It is in the meantime that Pat's message speaks so clearly to the point: We are at war with Iraqis against those who would terrorize a nation, a world. Withdraw our troops or don't ... the war against that enemy is far from over.

technorati tags: war, Iraq, Tommi

A Healthy Democracy

2005-09-26T12:20:00.000-05:00

The right to dissent is an integral part of a healthy democracy, and I'm thinking today of Cindy Sheehan, her son Casey, and the gathering of hundreds of thousands of people at the nation's capital yesterday in protest of the United States' continued involvement in the Iraq War. I don't pretend to possess a comprehensive understanding of the circumstances holding us to a military presence in Iraq or those that might in wisdom demand an immediate withdrawal, but I know my sympathies lie with Cindy and the now majority of Americans that desire an immediate reduction of troops. Passions are running high as the number of Americans killed in action approaches 2,000 men and women.

"To announce that there should be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." Teddy Roosevelt

"Why?" is a video from Blog: Bring It On that combines the haunting questions of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" with images of our fallen heroes in an expression of remembrance and ache being more and more deeply felt by the people of this nation. Please, Mr. Bush, no more losses. Bring our soldiers home.

(hat-tip to Junebugg at Wasted Days and Wasted Nights for the link to the video)

technorati tags: Iraq, protest, Cindy Sheehan

Girlfriends

2005-09-26T10:15:00.000-05:00

I can’t tell you what Brandi is doing in Iraq on a base just outside Baghdad, but I can tell you that I’m glad she’s there. Brandi is part of a civilian-side independent contracting interest supplying materials support for reconstruction – a “get it” link in the supply chain, as I understand it. Brandi and Tommi are friends ...

... Estee Lauder “share-the-samples-sent-from-home” friends, get-a-good-price-on-a-new-bed friends, share secrets, tell stories, laugh, have cups of coffee, and never-worry-about-saying-too-much friends. War in the 21st century is Pizza Hut, Subway, Seattle’s Best Coffee, cellphones, internet connections, and Olympic-sized pools all on base even as it is “bad guys,” interrogations, explosions, suspicion, injustice, and the fatigue born from seeing and knowing more than you ever wanted to know about humanity. The test over time is to remember yourself, or so it seems to me as I “look on” from the safety of home. A girlfriend helps, and Tommi has one of those. Good news comes with long, blond hair and a beautiful smile. … nice to meet you, Brandi!

technorati tags: Iraq, friendship, Tommi

Just In Case

2005-09-26T09:37:00.000-05:00

In southern California recently a plane with 140 people on board circled above the airport, crippled with mechanical failure that promised to take the lives of all in landing. The part of the story (via Winston) that caught my attention was the fact that passengers watched their own unfolding drama via TV coverage available in flight. The question built into the situation is, of course, “Would you want to know?”

My answer is “yes.” (maybe “no”)

I don’t have television to inform my circumstance, but I have a report straight from the front when Tommi finds herself heading into what she sees as a potentially life-threatening event. These are “just in case” emails or phone calls or instant messages. She makes faithful report. There were “just in case” messages sent from JetBlue Flight 292, too.

The people in California made it to the ground safely, and I got word yesterday morning that Tommi was back inside the gate. She’d accompanied an entourage to some place or other and had been squeezed onto the “last bird out” for her return to base. Knowing is roller-coaster riding, hard-found next breaths, and reading the same paragraph of Kenneth Burke for the fifth or sixth time, but not knowing is a “just in case” chance I don’t want to take.

One hundred and thirteen days to go. In 113 days Tommi comes home.

technorati tags: Iraq, knowing, Tommi

Dream Weaver

2005-09-19T07:42:00.000-05:00

Years ago, motivated by curiosity, money, a touch of patriotism, and an interest in the military culture, I joined the Air Force ROTC on campus at Michigan State University. Although great stories from that adventure still entertain when we gather as friends around a backyard fire ("Cadet Miller - front and center"), the adventure didn't last much longer than six months. I just never did "get" the hang of military deportment - tending more toward playing a part in an elaborate dress-up game. As I recall, it was following a classroom debate where I took the negative arguing the United States had acted unjustly in "dropping the bomb" at the end of WWII that the company Commander/Colonel (General? ... I never got that either, but he was a nice guy) called me to his office. "It may be," he suggested, "that you are not well suited to military life" ... or something along those lines. Of course, he was right.

Tommi called yesterday, and old stories brought the smell of campfire to mind as we laughed together. She had been sitting with friends, waiting for a next meeting to begin, when she picked up a guitar rested in the corner and began (as she put it) "to pick out a tune." A Major from her company who was sitting nearby turned and said, "Can I ask you a question?" "Sure," Tommi answer. "What in the world are you doin' in the military?!"

Tommi writes, sings, and records her own music - piano and guitar. "Dream Weaver" is a favorite for me; the haunting lyric and acapella voice offer a "face-to-face" feeling for those of you who have not yet had the privilege of meeting Tommi - the music stays with you for a while. Enjoy.

technorati tags: Iraq, Tommi, DreamWeaver

Numbers Talk

2005-09-16T15:50:00.000-05:00

From Harper's (August, 2005) Index:

Number of new U.S. soldiers the Army would need in 2006 to replenish ranks abroad : 80,000

Percentage of this goal it expects to meet : 9.9

Percentage change since 1996 in the average recruitment cost per new U.S. soldier : +84

Number of killed or captured suspects reported so far by U.S. media to be Al Qaeda’s “number 3” man : 4[Harper's research]

Minimum number of people convicted on “terrorism-related charges” since 2001, according to Alberto Gonzales in April : 200[U.S. Department of Justice]

Actual number convicted on charges related to terrorism or national security : 39 (see page 48)[Dan Eggen, Washington Post]

Number of Iraqi troops that have been “trained and equipped,” according to President Bush in April : 150,000[White House (Washington)]

Number that the U.S. military considers ready to deploy independently : 1,500

technorati tags: Iraq, war, Harper’s

Support Our Troops

2005-09-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

My daughter is an officer on duty in Iraq right now. She's doing her job, serving her country, and loving her God. I am so proud of her for the woman she is and the heart she has toward the Iraqi people. All this is true while I remain absolutely opposed to the presence of U.S. military in that country and the ongoing criminality justified in the name of "a war on terror."

The dilemma of conflicting sentiment is just one of the many currents of concern I face as a parent, student, and friend to a soldier gone to war: how do you effectively support the troops while opposing the war? and, in a mediated environment where opposing the war is so automatically framed as unpatriotic or worse - uncaring of the thousands of uniformed men and women in harm's way, how do I make myself as clear in meaning to support the troops as best as I can by campaigning for an end to the war in Iraq?

Tommi calls when she can. I leave my cellphone on - sometimes to the consternation of instructing professors. Her voice is always one more, next moment for me to know she's still there. When there's Pizza Hut, Seattle's Best Coffee, Subway, and swimming pools to make a base feel like home, it can be hard to remember a war that never sleeps. "War" in the 21st century is an entirely other place to be than many of us imagine. We ought be so much more sober about the decisions being made to remain.

Oppose the war; Support the troops. It's a difficult ground to parse out. The young artist from rural Iowa responsible for the work pictured above expresses his own support for America's soldiers, and I'm grateful. Go here to take a look at a small collection of additional photos, including one where the artist (Ray "Bubba" Sorenson) is pictured. It's beautiful work.

technorati tags: Tommi, IraqWar, support

Senator Byrd Calls for National Debate

2005-09-14T09:10:00.000-05:00

Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) is the longest-serving current member of the U.S. Congress. At 87 years of age, he is the oldest member of the Senate. His tenure speaks to the confidence of his constituency, and his record speaks to the integrity of his political judgment. It was Senator Byrd about whom I wrote as the man responsible for funding to ensure a working knowledge of the U.S. Constitution for all federal employees. He invests in America, and he cares deeply about Americans.

Addressing Senators yesterday, Byrd called for a long-overdue national debate on issues involving Iraq, disaster relief, economic policy, and our failing social infrastructure – particularly in education. In response, the Republican machinery is moving in to oppose Senator Byrd, to spin and to slander his character in anticipation of his (yet unannounced) bid for re-election.

Go here for the full text of the Senator’s speech. Grieving and compassionate for American citizens now victims of Katrina and the aftermath of government failures in response, Byrd sets his comments in perspective against a broader reach of concern, concern for the long-range well being of a nation and the need for decisive action in addressing real and increasingly real needs. Excerpts below:

September 13, 2005

…. Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to put events into perspective -- to shake us and sharpen our clarity of vision. The wrath of Katrina, tragic and devastating for thousands, must certainly have caused many thinking Americans to consider anew the proper priorities for our country. …. I know that many Americans cringed, as I did, at the vision of callous neglect of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens which flashed around the world, making the United States appear to be a nation unmindful of its own, a nation unable to handle a disaster about which it had ample notice, a country loudly touting our form of government to the world, while failing to provide even the most basic protections to our own citizens.

If Katrina has any redeeming impact, it must be to cause us to see ourselves as others must surely see us. I regret to say that the picture cannot be a pretty one. That image is certainly not one that reflects the humanitarian goodness and morality of the vast majority of the American people. The perception of the United States in these troubled times should be a cause of major concern for everyone who holds public office. Regardless of political party, it is time to look at where we are, and where we are going.

Few would now argue that the war in Iraq has improved the world's view of the United States. It was an unnecessary and ill-conceived conflict which distracted us from our proper course of bombing the terrorist training grounds of Afghanistan. I have never bought the absurd claim by some that we are fighting terrorists in Iraq so we will not have to fight them here at home. That claim is a non sequitur at best and, at worst, a patent distortion of what has happened in Iraq. The war in Iraq created a hot bed of terrorism where none existed before. And it insured Osama bin Laden an endless supply of recruits, now even more fanatic in their hatred after scandals at Abu Ghraib, and the destruction of so many innocent lives in Iraq as a result of our invasion.

"For everything there is a season..." sayeth the Bible. The season has come for Americans to look homeward. Instead of continuing to spend billions in Iraq, let us husband those hard-earned tax dollars and spend them here at home. The Iraqi people must slowly find their own way now. Further U.S. dictated deadlines are counter productive. We cannot force-feed democracy to Iraq. To keep large numbers of American soldiers in Iraq much longer only earns the United States more enmity, reinforcing our unfortunate global image as conqueror not liberator. The Iraqi people must begin to take it from here. In fact, there is no longer a "war" in Iraq. We started that conflict and we met the goals established at its outset. Now there is a slow, festering, internal political struggle pitting Shiite against Sunni, against Kurd, which will play itself out, perhaps for decades, until it either devolves into outright civil war or resolves into some sort of compromise which suits those who live in the country of Iraq. We cannot resolve Iraq's internal issues. It is time for the United States to begin to bring our troops home.

technorati tags: NationalDebate, SenatorByrd, Iraq

It Just Can't Be

2005-09-12T14:51:00.000-05:00

First it breaks my heart to read from the Washington Post yesterday that hundreds of soldiers who lost their homes to Katrina and the aftermath were denied leave because of "troop shortages." When found to be safe, the families of these men and women are living in shelters, often dazed, and wondering how to manage what comes next. Combat readiness becomes a real issue when you watch your home and loved ones be literally blown away.

About 600 members of the Mississippi Guard's 155th Brigade Combat Team, posted south of Baghdad in the area known as the "Triangle of Death" for the frequency of insurgent attacks there, live in the parts of southern Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana hit hardest by Katrina, Maj. Neil F. Murphy Jr., a spokesman with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, said by e-mail Saturday. The brigade is attached to the Expeditionary Force. Guard members and relatives said in e-mails or telephone interviews that virtually all of the roughly 300 soldiers of 155th Brigade's B and C companies had their homes destroyed or severely damaged in the hurricane.

Imagine those same men and women - or maybe their sons, daughters, partners or parents - having to watch as the devastation that is ripping their families to shreds is used to "sell" the Army and increase recruitment. Just when you think it can't get more despicable, this ... It just can't be!

technorati tags: War, Iraq, Recruiting

Today We Remember

2005-09-11T18:51:00.000-05:00

Labor Day conversation, a backyard campfire, wine, and Irish beer ... the night was cool enough to drive the mosquitoes away and clear enough for the stars alone to light the sky. We talked, wondering aloud together about allegiance to America: What did we really think about being Americans? First thoughts were harsh: our politics run counter to Mr. Bush, his gang, and the bungling governance they inflict on a nation of people - at least half of whom trusted him once. We had not seen his worst - Katrina was still to come. And yet even so, then as now, when the wrangling wanes and dew begins to settle on morning embers from a fire the night before, we know ... we are proud to be Americans. Let difficult days teach us.

Today I am remembering Americans - all of them/us. We are 9/11 then and now. We are New Orleans now and for all the days to come. We are those who have suffered loss and those who comfort. We are women and men who serve in hundreds of thousands of ways to make America a strong nation. We are doing so even now.

For all that he is (and is not), Mr. Bush is only one American. WE, on the other hand, are a NATION.

technorati tags: 9/11, Americans, Remembrance

15 Minutes with President Bush

2005-08-31T14:31:00.000-05:00

Gallup Poll (08-31-05) asks 1007 people selected randomly from across the country what they would say to President Bush about the Iraq war if they had 15 minutes of his attention. Ok, polls may have limited value and may too often irresponsibly employ rhetorical device - I'll give you that, but this video presentation nonetheless effectively captures what Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport calls "the fabric of American public opinion on this critical issue."

An interesting turn in this report is that reader-listeners are encouraged to survey the verbatim answers actually provided in the polling process - an inclusion of data not usually accommodated by the Gallup folks. The idea is that Gallup is inviting its audience to draw its own conclusions and to hear (read) for themselves what Americans have to say about Iraq. Bottom line: 41% say "Get out of Iraq now!"

Listen to the American people, Mr. Bush. Bring our troops home now.

technorati tags: Iraq, War, Gallup

The Politics of Changing a Light Bulb

2005-08-30T21:08:00.000-05:00

How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?

Ten.

One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed
One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed
One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb
One to tell the nations of the world that they are either for changing the light bulb or for eternal darkness
One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the new light bulb
One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner "Bulb Accomplished"
One administration insider to resign and in detail reveal how Bush was literally "in the dark" the whole time
One to viciously smear No. 7
One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along
And finally, one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.

From Jack (Via Tamar). Thanks.

technorati tags: politics, humor, joke

Two Kids in Uniform

2005-08-30T07:58:00.000-05:00

First, the GOOD NEWS to share (from one very happy mom): My son Abe just received confirmation of his assignment to a NON-DEPLOYING unit ... He's staying home! Yes, I know he has time left in the uniform, and yes, I know you can never be absolutely sure with the Army, but I'm celebrating today. Abe is staying home!! And I'm living in this day believing he'll be here when Tommi comes back, and she will come back. We'll be together again. Abe is staying home!

The shadow behind my celebration is in reading again of the internal/emotional struggle it is for Tommi to continue in her work as the days crawl by at the gate in Iraq. The competing expressions of "Tommi" are fighting for attention, and as difficult as it can be to struggle with those currents when you're safe at home, I can only imagine the challenge of navigating the swirls of conflicting interests from a theater of war.

So, yes, I'm celebrating today (Oh, yeah ... Abe doesn't have to go!!) and I'm remembering Tommi, too ... only 140 days to go, or Mr. Bush only thought he had trouble with Cinday Sheehan.

technorati tags: War, Deployment, CindySheehan

Red States, Blue States: Politics and War

2005-08-26T12:21:00.000-05:00

(Via Daily Kos)
This map represents the geography of U.S. fatalities in Iraq as of August 1, 2005.

This map represents Republican and Democratic voting for the 2004 presidential election.

Coincidence?

technorati tags: Politics, War, Iraq

There Is Only One Tommi

2005-08-13T14:55:00.000-05:00

I have grown to appreciate the insight of Elaine at Kalilily Time: she seems so rarely to drop a beat or miss a thread in writing the human fabric. I rest when I read there, and I find a friend and mentor in a woman whom I've never met.

Elaine is overseeing her mother's journey into and through the challenges of Alzheimer’s and the wearing-thin of a body. Courageous women both, they model the determination, patience, and compassion necessary to negotiate such a passage. I am instructed and often encouraged in facing my own difficulties.

Today I was reading at Kalilily Time - reading about a single meteor/wishing star, a sisterhood of hummingbirds, and a one-in-a-million blueberry pie made with berries picked by a one-and-only grandson. I was drifting with the poetry of the words and didn't notice the next thought coming:

Sometimes, when you only have one, and he is sent off to be killed in a war without reason, without purpose, without WMD, you become so angry, so betrayed, so brave, that you dare to stand up, stand out, speak out, cry out. Shout. SHOUT! Praying all the while that your pain will break through the plague of public denial.

And then it occurred to me - believe this - it occurred to me for the first time: Tommi is a one and only, the only daughter I have or ever will birth. She is irreplaceable and her loss would be insatiable. And I don't know how I would go on, but (with thoughts turned to Beckett) I would go on ... maybe I would go on. Elaine feels that way, too, sometimes, and she writes, "I can do this. I can do this." And maybe that would be all there would be left for me to do if I lost my one-and-only daughter (here I trust my sweet daughter-in-law, Jennifer, to read wisely).

And then ... and maybe it's just the day, but I didn't see it coming, Elaine turns the conversation in remembrance of Cindy Sheehan, offering as she does a rebuttal to the awful things that are being said about Cindy, things impugning her regard and respect for her son, her integrity as a mother, her decency.

There are other mothers joining Cindy, people coming from all over the country right now, and whatever can be said, whatever will be said, know this: Casey Sheehan was a one-and-only, and because of the military action in Iraq, he will never be again! He will never have the opportunity to be what he could have been (Doctorow). When, as a nation of citizens, we are willing to say, "It is worth it," are we really stopping to measure the value of each and every, single one-and-only that is being spent in this war? not just the American one-and-onlys but all of them? Would we still say "It's worth it"?

If you can answer “yes” to that – and I’m supposing some of you will, then tell me: Would you be willing to tell me it was “worth it” if the one and only one you were talking about was my one-and-only? Would you be willing to tell me it was worth it to spend Tommi?

(Thanks to Winston for the link to the Doctorow letter)

technorati tags: Tommi, CindySheehan, KalililyTime

Armed and Dangerous

2005-08-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

Tommi had an opportunity to travel outside the gate on a visit to Camp Victory (closer to Baghdad proper - her base is more "in the burbs" of Baghdad). This is one of my more favorite photos she sent back from the trip. Ok, it's not duststorms that Pat is telling about at Six More Months, but she obviously ready for the flies when they return. Go gettum, Tommi!

technorati tags: Tommi, War, CampVictory