Last night's vigil was warmly received, as it was joined by Korean War veteran John Fortier who played a crucial role in helping to conduct it, and at its mid-point by my daughter-in-law Maria with my grandchildren, Cameron who is 5 and his baby sister, Carina who is 2. A 50 ish couple who often participates joined us as well.
Cameron was fascinated by the sign and asked that its words be read to him. And Maria photographed Cameron with John and me, posing next to the sign. When Cameron is older, it will make a wonderful conversation starter as to why these vigils were conducted.
The public responded well, with horn honks and waves and this was in part due to having two cute little children on the corner with us, which attracted their attention.
But in Iraq and Afghanistan, the news was not good. July in Iraq had the highest Iraqi death toll in over two years, as 535 Iraqis were killed and over a 1,000 were severely injured.
And on Tuesday, the combination of bombings, mortar attacks and gunfire took the lives of 53 Iraqis and severely injured 123 more. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew up a market in Kut, a city 100 miles southeast of Baghdad killing at least 15 people, as the violence is never ending.
While in Afghanistan, the July U.S. troop death toll set a new record for a war which began nearly nine years ago, as 66 soldiers were killed. As for the Afghans, the violence is unrelenting. On Monday for example, a suicide bomber trying to kill an Afghan official who is allied with the U.S. instead killed six children all on their way to school and severely injured three more children.
Some of these children were barely older than my 5 year old grandson Cameron and the older children may have been holding the hands of the younger ones. Their families suffered a catastrophic loss words can never capture and from which the parents will never heal.
If Iraq is a victory and Afghanistan is projected to be as some U.S. officials and commentators claim, what place but in Hell could such a standard exist. Surely not a place any of these individuals would want to live nor would you and I.
But thousands of miles away during a peaceful vigil on a Los Angeles area street corner, each person who has paid a severe price in these wars was remembered. And a gentle appeal was made to the consciences of all who witnessed this vigil and to you dear reader as well to please help us bring these wars to an end, so that no-one else need suffer so horrible a fate.
Dick
No comments:
Post a Comment