ross's blog

      Anniversaries, whether celebrated or mourned, are opportunities for reflection. As we reach the 9th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, what should we reflect on? What questions should we ask ourselves? As members of the peace movement, perhaps we should reflect on peace. “Peace” is a vague word full of emotional content that means many different things to many different people. But even in the word’s broadest possible sense, peace has not been achieved in Iraq.

Below an Iraqi tells the story of his friend, a Fallujan, who barely survived the sectarianism that the U.S. brought to Iraq. For more information on the sectarianism and death squads, see these links: http://thefallujahproject.org/home/node/53
http://thefallujahproject.org/home/node/56

It has been seven years since the 2nd siege of Fallujah -- the American assault that left the city in ruins, killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds-of-thousands more -- the assault that poisoned a generation, plaguing the people who live there with cancers and their children with birth defects.
 
It has been seven years and the lies that justified the assault still perpetuate false beliefs about what we did.
The American veterans who fought there still do not understand who they fought against, or what they were fighting for.
 

By Ross Caputi

Scott Olsen was shot in the head with a projectile by the Oakland Police on Tuesday October 25th. Scott was a young veteran who did two deployments to Iraq with the Marine Corps. It is unclear exactly how Scott felt about his deployments to Iraq, and it is unlikely that he will be able to tell us any time soon. His injuries have left him unable to speak.