and sacrifice. http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/the-hands-of-god.htm [rquoter] The Hands of God He was dressed as a woman as he walked down the alley toward the mosque full of worshippers. It was Friday, just before Ashura, and the air was chilled. The bomb strapped to his body was studded with ball-bearings so that he could kill more villagers as they gathered for prayer. The detonation would eviscerate and dismember those closest, shattering bones into fragments, but the ball-bearings would ensure lethality beyond the percussive edge of the blast wave, ripping through the flesh of people who might not have been knocked down by the explosion. There were no soldiers in his path to stop him; no police to alert to the man in women’s clothes. There were only villagers. The man dressed as a woman was to be the agent of their deaths. He kept walking down the alley toward the mosque where more than one hundred people were praying, a mass murderer masquerading in a woman’s garb. The prayerful people may not have known he was coming, but we hear the explosions every day. Every single day. Seven days per week. I remember the story told to me by Tennessee National Guardsman of another such man who had grabbed the hand of a nearby child as cover, then walked over to some policemen before detonating himself and the child. I remember the bomber who rammed a car full of explosives into vehicle full of American soldiers in Mosul. The Americans had been surrounded by Iraqi children, and the bomber could have waited a block or two then attack the Americans man-on-man, but instead he chose to blow up the Iraqi kids. Sometimes we see the torn and mangled hunks of flesh. Sometimes their open bodies curl a baleful steam into the cold morning air. The closer a counterfeit comes to the genuine article, the more obvious the deceit. As the murderer dressed in women’s clothes walked purposefully toward his target, there was a village man ahead. But under the guise of a simple villager was a true Martyr, and he, too, had his target in sight. The Martyr had seen through the disguise, but he had no gun. No bomb. No rocket. No stone. No time. The Martyr walked up to the murderer and lunged into a bear hug, on the spot where we were now standing. The blast ripped the Martyr to pieces which fell along with pieces of the enemy. Ball-bearings shot through the alley and wounded two children, but the people in the mosque were saved. The man lay in pieces on the ground, his own children having seen how his last embrace saved the people of the village. Unproven claims successfully disguised as facts in the media can be persistent obstacles to finding the truth. Once something is put in print, it becomes referenced as fact by other people who seldom check the source. There was a time when American soldiers were derided in the press for wearing sunglasses in Iraq. Someone had the notion that sunglasses were deeply offensive to Iraqis, many of whom also wear sunglasses. In the retelling of terrorist attacks in Iraq, key details are often left out while others insinuate themselves into places they don’t belong. So it was for the thwarted bomb attack in this village, which quickly found its way into media reports, described as yet another incident of sectarian violence, which on some level it was. In front of the walls pocked with craters from the ball bearings, truth was more nuanced. But apparently no journalists visited the village to find out what really happened and what it tells us about the people who live here. American commanders were so taken with the sacrifice that LTC Eric Welsh led a patrol up to the village, and after some time we found the mosque. LTC Welsh talked with the village men where the Martyr saved the people. I recorded the conversation. Please listen here . [/rquoter]
That was indeed real courage, and real sacrifice, even without the meaningless swipes at the media. It doesn't change the state of affairs in Iraq, nor does it change the circumstances that allowed for the initial bomber to initiate his mission in the first place. But it is certainly a tale of true courage.
I wonder if the hero of that tale would approve of or ever do something like misrepresent a poll, and then never own up to the fact that the poll was correctly represented to begin with in discussing the brave troops serving Iraq.
Well said. basso, like the administration, wants to wrap himself in the honor and sacrifice of others to buttress his political standing at home... nothing is more pathetic. Making this even more egregious is the unstated notion that these kinds of sacrifices are a direct result of the policies that basso and the administration support and the incompetence with which they execute them. (Pun not intended.) Individual bravery does not lend creedence to a disastrous government decision. The guy who stopped the bomber gets all the credit... none accrues to Bush, basso, or their cause... and in fact they should be vilified for helping create an environment where good people are put in those situations.
What would you nay-sayers recommend to stop this slaughter of innocents? Is it not noble to try and stop it?
To stop it? I would give the Iraqis some deadlines, some training, and some equipment. I would try and help them restructure some power sharing amendments to their constitution and get out.
God bless the ~ braveness, bravery, courageousness, dauntlessness, doughtiness, fearlessness, fortitude, gallantry, gameness, heart, intrepidity, intrepidness, mettle, nerve, pluck, pluckiness, spirit, stoutheartedness, undauntedness, valiance, valiancy, valiantness, valor ~ of our troops.
