Bob HERBERT: "I don't want to be a daddy, because daddies die."

[nostamj]

<snip>

Once again American troops sent on a fool's errand are coming home in coffins, or without their right arms or left legs, or paralyzed, or so messed up mentally they'll never be the same. Troops are being shoved two or three times into the furnace of Iraq by astonishingly incompetent leaders who have been unable or unwilling to provide them with the proper training, adequate equipment or even a clearly defined mission.

It is a mind-boggling tragedy. And the suffering goes far beyond the men and women targeted by the insurgents. Each death in Iraq blows a hole in a family and sets off concentric circles of grief that touch everyone else who knew and cared for the fallen soldier. If the human stakes were understood well enough by the political leaders of this country, it might make them a little more reluctant to launch foolish, unnecessary and ultimately unwinnable wars.

Lisa Hoffman and Annette Rainville of the Scripps Howard News Service have reported, in an extremely moving article, that nearly 900 American children have lost a parent to the war in Iraq. More than 40 fathers died without seeing their babies.

The article begins with a description of a deeply sad 4-year-old named Jack Shanaberger, whose father was killed in an ambush in March. Jack told his mother he didn't want to be a father when he grew up. "I don't want to be a daddy," he said, "because daddies die."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/24/opinion/24herbert.html

[acmavm]

1. Ah, but none of this has any meaning for the bush* and the neocons.

They aren't affected at all. It's their pursuit of money and power that they see as what really matters. As long as they get the money and the power.

The lives of ordinary people aren't worth anything to people who see themselves as being 'special'. Those who feel that they were singled out by the Fates to determine the destiny of this country, the world.

The biggest tip off as to how evil and insane this criminal cabel is should have been their stated mission of 'bringing democracy to the world'. Right there they said, openly, that they intended to force their particular beliefs on people and nations regardless of whether they want want it or not. And they've been very upfront that they'll do it by hook or by crook, using force without a qualm.

And the pawns are the poor men and women who have to go fight their crazy wars. I grieve for the children who have lost their parents, for the mothers and fathers who have lost their children. But those who started this crazy war based on lies and deception couldn't care less.

[Ilsa]

2. Thanks for posting the article

"The president seems almost perversely out of touch."

"Nobody has a plan."



INNOCENCE LOST: THE HIDDEN CASUALTIES OF THE IRAQ WAR

CHILDREN OF THE FALLEN

Nearly 900 children have lost a parent in Iraq

snip
More than a year after his father's passing, Marshall's son, Richard, 16, still has a hard time sleeping. Once, his mother said, Richard asked her, "Did Dad love his soldiers more than he loved us?"
snip

http://www.shns.com/shns/warkids/

[latebloomer]

3. That is heartbreaking

I curse the black-hearted creatures who do this madness for their own gain.

[nostamj]

4. a bonus toon...

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. The thing that gets me

is that Bush has hidden the casualties. No photos of coffins, no high profile visits to the wounded in hospitals, no appearance at a soldier's funeral. I think Bush has gone maybe twice to hospitals, and that was during the campaign when people had started criticizing him for not doing so. And let's not forget Rumsfeld's mass produced letters to the families of the fallen. I'm sorry, but that's untenable. How many deaths, how many broken lives will it take before the American people wake up and see these monsters for what they are?

[shadowknows69]

6. the state of this world for a while now

is the reason I've decided not to have a child. Not so sure my wife understands and luckily she has a son from a previous marriage, but I couldn't dream of bringing a child into a world of constant war, a facsist government and a planet that may not be able to sustain his/her life. I suppose that's giving up on a genetic scale, but hey, I believe in reincarnation so there's always next life/next planet(if necessary).