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Feb. 24, 2007 Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. The Colossus, Emma Lazurus 1883 (on plaque of Statue of Liberty) I was doing a crossword puzzle this morning. I got stuck on number 14: one who favors warlike policies. The immediate answer that came to mind was Bush. It was the wrong answer. There were only 3 spaces. But in the larger concept of the world, not merely a word game, it is the proper answer. Keep ancient Lands! cries Ms. Lazarus And what have we done? We have turned a country which was, to no one's doubt, ruled by a horrible, despotic, inhuman, immoral, despicable dictator and turned it into a land embroiled in a civil war. We have taken its people and killed or caused to be killed, by the estimate of the British medical society, 100,000 of its people. Never before have we started a war preemptively. Never before have we thought, to my knowledge, to initiate war in a country that had no direct connection to ours in terms of aggression or warlike stance. (Lest anyone forget - "This is the sixth day of the coalition campaign to end the Iraqi regime, destroy their weapons of mass destruction (no WMD's ever found), and free the Iraqi people from decades of torture and oppression." March 26, 2003, Department of Defense News Briefing:) As of 2/24.07 3,154 American troops have been killed in the Iraq war. 23,677 (official estimate) have been wounded. Mr. Bush is sending thousands more American soldiers into this civil war.. And what does he think about helping these men and women, the thousands who come home maimed and traumatized? According to the 2009 and 2010 budget the President has submitted, just as thousands of Iraq veterans will be seeking VA care, he thinks it appropriate to cut the budget of veterans health care funding. . We send our young men and women into battle. They are the future of our country. Men and women who joined the military or reserves with hope; dreams of becoming teachers and doctors, mothers and fathers. Instead they get sent to a far forsaken land to fight in a war that has nothing to do with them, or us. Many return home, those not in flag draped coffins that our leaders have forbade us to see, with bodies torn and minds fractured. They trust that we will take care of them. Neither wretched nor refuse, these brave men and women. Courageous beyond what many of us could ever hope to be. Ms. Lazarus' ending seem as relevant to me as the beginning. Many come back and cannot afford housing or are unable to get the medical/psychological/emotional care they need. The recent reports of the poor care given them at Walter Reed Army Hospital, where the president and vice president receive excellent care is nothing short of betrayal, We must have a system in place that welcomes them home with open hands and open hearts. Not a budget that shuts the door in their faces. "Give me your tired, your poor, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" ------------ About the author: Ms. Levy is the author of A PAINED LIFE, a chronic pain journey. An excerpt can be found here. Email: leejcaroll@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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