My grandson will be 5 this year and we will celebrate, no doubt, with balloons, cake, presents and singing. It's good to celebrate his 5th year as a good and healthy boy, full of energy, smiles, and devilishness.
Sadly this Wednesday we will recall the 5th anniversary of Shock 'n Awe, that bombing raid in the middle of the night on the city of Baghdad that began the George Bush War on Iraq. Lots of cheering Americans sitting comfortably in their living rooms, glued to CNN. It was like a 4th of July fireworks display. Flags decorated the houses and the cars. We felt so 'proud' to see our might military attack this capital city.
It was an odd way to take down a dastardly dictator, though. Destroying large parts of a city, killing civilians, and causing terror throughout the city of 5,000,000 people. We missed hitting him, but that didn't matter because we were getting 'revenge' on the man who, according to Dick Cheney, supported al Qaeda and thereby had a link to our own 9-11 bombings.
At last vengance was wrought; our appetite for revenge was sated.
Of course, it was the wrong group of people, wrong leader, wrong nation, but what the hell, we did it anyway. And it felt good! Once again the United States of America prevailed. It looked especially comforting to watch the American flg being draped over that tumbling statue of Saddam. It was our Iwo Jima.
This Wednesday in downtown Toledo we will be able to see some of the results of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rice War on Iraq at 6:30 in th evening. Five thousand gray, wooden tombstones will greet the visitors. They represent the American soldiers and Marines who have died in these past 5 years because George Bush needed to get revenge on one man who disgraced his father.
Where: Lucas County Court House Adams and Erie (in Toledo) When: Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2008, at 6:30 PM
What: candelight vigil
