It's surreal. It's like a dream that I'm watching from afar. One man, our leader, beats the war drums. Our elected officials, men and women of reason, so-called, fall into step behind him, his minions, apparently. The media keep reporting that the people of this country want to try other means to alleviate the situation, but the people with the power aren't listening. Is this my country? Are we about to bomb another third world country?

Men are the warmongers, but it's the women and children who will suffer the greatest. During the last war, our people, our weapons, sickened mother earth, who in turn sickened the children of Iraq, and even sickened many of our soldiers. The depleted uranium lies in the soil to this day. The water system, bombed years ago, has not been repaired. The common people of Iraq now live on food rations issued by their government, paid for with oil money, overseen by the UN. The rations issued are smaller than those alloted to the people of Somalia. The bomb shelter our smart bomb hit, in which 394 women and children died, remains as a shrine to the deceased. The holes the bomb tore in the roof are still there. Are we going to do this again? Now?


Many thanks to Bill Quigley, a Voices in the Wilderness participant, who sent along the information on Iraq.