massacre!?!

This story is another example of how our military gets involved in sectarian violence and another reason why we shouldn’t be there. Whenever one side can get away with using us to go after their enemy, to fight their fight or do their dastardly deeds, they will while all sides continue to target our forces.

From the Independent…

US 'victory' against cult leader was 'massacre'
By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
Published: 31 January 2007

There are growing suspicions in Iraq that the official story of the battle outside Najaf between a messianic Iraqi cult and the Iraqi security forces supported by the US, in which 263 people were killed and 210 wounded, is a fabrication. The heavy casualties may be evidence of an unpremeditated massacre.
A picture is beginning to emerge of a clash between an Iraqi Shia tribe on a pilgrimage to Najaf and an Iraqi army checkpoint that led the US to intervene with devastating effect. The involvement of Ahmed al-Hassani (also known as Abu Kamar), who believed himself to be the coming Mahdi, or Messiah, appears to have been accidental.

more at...
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2201103.ece

At one time the leader of the world in human rights

The United States was at one time the leader of the world in human rights. We liked to call ourselves the greatest nation in the world.

Oh, it's true we stumbled along the way but we always moved ahead in a positive direction. We haven’t always lived up to the fullness of what our Constitution and Bill of Rights calls us, so there were bumps and sometimes giant ruts along our shared histories path that brought great trials and sometimes costs many lives. But America grew brick by brick laid by the tough hands of our forefathers and foremothers whose lifeblood flows throughout the heart of our land. History is full of the tales of their labored lives, hardships, troubles, and accomplishments. The dust of their bones will be desecrated if we take a wrecking ball to the foundation they set.

Now, because of a desire for power, secrecy and control among those in the Bush administration our nation has embraced a cancer of cruel suppression of the dignity of humanity. A sheepish fear among their followers, has allowed them to become mesmerized by a calculating group masquerading as trustworthy, giving the neoconservatives approval to disregard, as if it didn’t exist, the law and ethics of our nation. Acting as all cancers do if not removed it will grow and bring death to our democratic republic.

The loyal dissenters believe this to be a horrible wrong. Driven more by the love we have for this country than by fear, we believe that all must speak out; that every one must shout’ STOP’. We believe it is time for all to demonstrate the courage of our ancestors and love America more than fear the unknown. And that goes especially for our new Democratically controlled Congress who have given us a new found hope for a return to constitutional order, an end to Iraqi occupation and a halt to military adventurism.

We our now facing our giant rut along the path, will we dishonor the legacy of those who stood so bravely on this land before us?

Amnesty International Guantánamo Bay Protest Slideshow

http://www.amnesty.org/resources/slideshow/gtmo-230107/eng/html/index.html

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Amnesty International USAHuman Rights Agenda for the 110th U.S. Congress
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGUSA20070123001&tr=y&auid=2303033

ACLU Calls for Accountability from Gonzales on Torture and Surveillance
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/index.html

House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

I’m supposed to hate!?!

They are evil and we are good.

God is on our side because we are chosen by God.

The evildoers beneath us can’t be negotiated with because

they must do what we demand in the holy name of God

or be destroyed.

*

Holy Dirt---Steve Schalchlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UBq2hNAAb4

*

I get the felling I’m supposed to hate. I can’t be a loyal American or a good Catholic (or any other kind of Christian) unless I believe that all members of Islam want to make us all like them or destroy us and our freedom in the process.

Well, the positions I take are much more in line with our past and current pope, our bishop and Catholic social teaching.

Hate doesn’t see any of that because it’s blind and driven by fear.

Bravado driven nationalism that disguises hate in an illusion of the defense of mom and apple pie does not improve its immorality.
It is well known that honest dissent takes courage and is the highest form of patriotism.

People say they have love of nation and faith in God but once again it is necessary to point out that the greater part of faith is trust. If we love Jesus it’s imperative that we at least struggle to trust in what He taught us.

We all fall short, I know I have a whole stack of demons I wrestle with and I let them win far more often than I should, but to outright deny Christ in favor of fear and hate is just wrong. We should all be encouraging each other in this struggle and not be putting pressure on those who disagree to join in an orgy of embracing evil.

Hate is evil, it always has been and it always will be the largest obstacle to fitting through the needles eye.





"Don't ever let anyone pull you so low as to hate them. We must use the weapon of love. We must have the compassion and understanding for those who hate us. We must realize so many people are taught to hate us that they are not totally responsible for their hate. But we stand in life at midnight; we are always on the threshold of a new dawn."


--Martin Luther King, Jr.



"In struggling for human dignity the oppressed people of the world must not allow themselves to become bitter or indulge in hate campaigns. To retaliate with hate and bitterness would do nothing but intensify the hate in the world. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can be done only by projecting the ethics of love to the center of our lives."


--Martin Luther King, Jr.

please listen...
(Didn’t Know I Was) unAmerican
http://www.sharedvoice.org/unamerican/