"Eight years brother," called out a 55 ish man from his SUV. His anger obvious as his eyes narrowed and his facial muscles tightened while he starred at the vigil and added, "This war, eight years for nothing! It's stupid!"
"Thank you for doing that," said a 50 ish woman who walked up as he left. "Are you thirsty," she asked with a smile as she reached into her shopping bag and handed me a bottle of water.
"The longer these wars go," she stated. "The less people care. It gets shuffled off to the back burner as people lose interest."
But last night, plenty of people expressed their caring with horn honks, waves, two fingered peace signs and one 60 ish woman even applauded.
While in Iraq, the ongoing war had a rugged week. On Sunday in Ramadi, a series of bombings killed 26 people and injured 80 more.
The 1st explosion hit a government headquarters parking lot and the 2nd was triggered moments later as rescuers arrived. A 3rd bomb went off outside the hospital as the victims were being rushed in.
The next day bombs blew up across Iraq, killing nine Iraqis and injuring 25 more. Among them, in Mosul an explosion wounded a mother and her four children. And the day after, bombs took the lives 10 Iraqis and injured 14 more as the violence never ends.
Thousands of miles away, as the vigil concluded, a 50 ish man in his SUV said, "I see you are still here. You are very vigilant and that is admirable."
Given what is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, I hope others will be vigilant, visible and vocal as well for we can help end the violence so no more victims must suffer.
Dick
1 comment:
Thank you for being vigilant and continuing your vigil!
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