I'm Sorry
UPDATED: Her name was Abeer Qasim Hamza, and she was reportedly only 15 years old.
Abeer told her mother again and again in her last days that the soldiers had made advances toward her, a neighbor, Omar Janabi, said this weekend, recounting a conversation he said he had with the girl's mother, Fakhriyah, on March 10.
Fakhriyah feared the Americans might come for her daughter at night, at their home. She asked her neighbor if Abeer might sleep at his house, with the women there.
Janabi said he agreed.
Then, "I tried to reassure her, remove some of her fear," Janabi said. "I told her, the Americans would not do such a thing."
UPDATED: The contortions that African-American men go through so that they don't scare white people would send me to an insane asylum within a month! Do you know how many times I just started yakking at some guy in the elevator or on the street, only to get a shocked look and the question, "You aren't afraid of me?" No--why should I be? This country has never truly dealt with the legacy of slavery, of which this fear of black men is a part. It's time that white people just got over their stupid fears (they might make a lot of friends that way).
First Haditha, then Hamdania, now Maumoudiya with a particularly horrifying twist: the victim was allegedly raped before she and her family were killed. Words cannot describe how sick I am of this filthy war, and of the shame being heaped upon our nation and its soldiers (the majority of whom I believe serve with honor and professionalism) by a rogue administration blind to the spiraling problems. Oh, and what would John Kerry have sent our military personnel to fight with: spitballs? Remember that statement? So what's the damn hold-up on body armor, Zell Miller? Huh? Got more wisdom for us coming out of your big mouth, you great patriot, you?
What a travesty. On the Fourth of July, I'll remember a nation that once was independent, and could be again.
-----
The marine who appeared in Fahrenheit 911 is killed by a roadside bomb. I know that Staff Sgt. Raymond J. Plouhar did not approve of the film's message when he ultimately saw it. His father says:
"I'm devastated, sad and proud," Plouhar said. "This just makes me devoted even more to his belief that people need help in Iraq, and he felt that he was helping."
I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Plouhar. I understand your devotion to your son's belief. I wish that our President was worth believing in. I see no evidence that he is.
Patsy Ramsey dies never seeing her child's killer brought to justice. She didn't do it, people. I, too, thought she was guilty, at least until they trotted out that blanket-in-the-dryer nonsense and the grand jury refused to return an indictment. Then I saw the actual evidence, including the--so help me--crime scene photos. I am sorry, Patsy Ramsey, for believing stories planted in the press by the police in an effort to get you or John, or both, to "confess." I truly apologize also to John Ramsey. What a pity that the police botched the investigation and focused on pop psychology instead of legitimate methods of gathering physical evidence.
Evidence. That's what the pro-war apologists mean by "intelligence." Evidence and the theories that describe it are what keep us making intelligent decisions.
We don't hear the word "evidence" enough in the press.
Abeer told her mother again and again in her last days that the soldiers had made advances toward her, a neighbor, Omar Janabi, said this weekend, recounting a conversation he said he had with the girl's mother, Fakhriyah, on March 10.
Fakhriyah feared the Americans might come for her daughter at night, at their home. She asked her neighbor if Abeer might sleep at his house, with the women there.
Janabi said he agreed.
Then, "I tried to reassure her, remove some of her fear," Janabi said. "I told her, the Americans would not do such a thing."
UPDATED: The contortions that African-American men go through so that they don't scare white people would send me to an insane asylum within a month! Do you know how many times I just started yakking at some guy in the elevator or on the street, only to get a shocked look and the question, "You aren't afraid of me?" No--why should I be? This country has never truly dealt with the legacy of slavery, of which this fear of black men is a part. It's time that white people just got over their stupid fears (they might make a lot of friends that way).
First Haditha, then Hamdania, now Maumoudiya with a particularly horrifying twist: the victim was allegedly raped before she and her family were killed. Words cannot describe how sick I am of this filthy war, and of the shame being heaped upon our nation and its soldiers (the majority of whom I believe serve with honor and professionalism) by a rogue administration blind to the spiraling problems. Oh, and what would John Kerry have sent our military personnel to fight with: spitballs? Remember that statement? So what's the damn hold-up on body armor, Zell Miller? Huh? Got more wisdom for us coming out of your big mouth, you great patriot, you?
What a travesty. On the Fourth of July, I'll remember a nation that once was independent, and could be again.
-----
The marine who appeared in Fahrenheit 911 is killed by a roadside bomb. I know that Staff Sgt. Raymond J. Plouhar did not approve of the film's message when he ultimately saw it. His father says:
"I'm devastated, sad and proud," Plouhar said. "This just makes me devoted even more to his belief that people need help in Iraq, and he felt that he was helping."
I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Plouhar. I understand your devotion to your son's belief. I wish that our President was worth believing in. I see no evidence that he is.
Patsy Ramsey dies never seeing her child's killer brought to justice. She didn't do it, people. I, too, thought she was guilty, at least until they trotted out that blanket-in-the-dryer nonsense and the grand jury refused to return an indictment. Then I saw the actual evidence, including the--so help me--crime scene photos. I am sorry, Patsy Ramsey, for believing stories planted in the press by the police in an effort to get you or John, or both, to "confess." I truly apologize also to John Ramsey. What a pity that the police botched the investigation and focused on pop psychology instead of legitimate methods of gathering physical evidence.
Evidence. That's what the pro-war apologists mean by "intelligence." Evidence and the theories that describe it are what keep us making intelligent decisions.
We don't hear the word "evidence" enough in the press.
posted by Kristine | Wednesday, June 28, 2006
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