A Bloody Start to this New Year

By Mary MacElveen

As each New Year starts many in a “Polly Anna” fashion and with a deep abiding faith in a higher power people believe that it will be better than the last. We celebrate as the seconds pass by where we enter the New Year only for the crushing blow of reality to hit us. We are living through some sort of twilight zone or time loop that has us repeating the same year we left.

What we left was one of the bloodiest years yet in Iraq and now it is happening all over again as insurgents killed 125 civilians and five U.S. soldiers. How many have to die, President Bush? How many of these civilians were mothers and children? Who did these soldiers leave behind to mourn their loss? While they are known as causalities of war, the true causalities of war will live a lifetime without their beloved fathers and brothers. Yet, Americans walk around in their day to day life as if these lives do not matter.

As I read an AP report, I was sickened when I read this: “A woman and an infant girl in a bright red jumpsuit lay in a pool of blood, their faces covered by a sheet as men ferried the wounded in pushcarts in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad.” When Bush stated during the Terri Schiavo case that we must, “err on the side of life”, does he even know of this woman and infant? Do clueless Americans even know this fact?

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari denounced this violence in an “attempt to derail the political process” There can be no continuity to any political process when violence continues. The only thing that prevails in total anarchy.

As I read: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Bush pulls the plug on Iraq reconstruction they cite: “The Bush administration has scaled back its ambitions to rebuild Iraq from the devastation wrought by war and dictatorship and does not intend to seek new funds for reconstruction” And where they also go onto cite: “A decision not to renew the reconstruction programme would leave Iraq with the burden of tens of billions of dollars in unfinished projects, and an oil industry and electrical grid that have yet to return to pre-war production levels.” Could this be the very reason for the heavy bloodshed? Just think of it my fellow Americans you are invaded and now the invading force will not pay for the reconstruction of the very damage they have brought upon you. That would most certainly get me angry if I were one of those insurgents.

Also according to the Guardian things such as “electricity grid and sewage and sanitation system” will not be restored. These are services we often take for granted here in the United States.

But to add insult to injury, please read this: Mirror.co.uk - News - EXCLUSIVE: BILLION DOLLAR BUNKER According to this piece it has been reported: “AMERICA is to spend £1billion on an embassy in Baghdad "more secure than the Pentagon" Also, “The embassy will be guarded by 15ft blast walls and ground-to-air missiles and the main building will have bunkers for use during air offensives.” So, while we cannot rebuild sewage systems and an electrical grid we have the money to build this?

Another bloody moment happened in West Virginia where 12 coal miners died at the Sago Mine. It has been reported that this one particular mine was cited with numerous violations.

It literally broke my heart as I read: “scrawled farewell notes assuring their loved ones that their final hours trapped underground amid toxic gases were not spent in agony.”

According to Bloomberg.com: Top Worldwide: “Federal authorities issued 21 citations last year for a build-up of combustible materials at the West Virginia mine where 12 men died, according to U.S. Labor Department statistics.”

This situation almost reminds me of Hurricane Katrina where the safety of our Americans were at peril, yet this government did nothing. As we all know, due to budget cuts, the levees of New Orleans were not secured. The end result was the massive amount of life lost to us all.

According to Bloomberg: “The Sago mine, owned by billionaire investor Wilbur Ross’s International Coal Group Inc., was cited for a total of 208 federal safety violations last year, up from 68 in 2004, according to the Labor Department. The largest individual fine last year was $440; the citations for combustible materials carried fines of $60.” In my opinion that is chump change.

In both cases catering to the rich in this country has resulted in twelve miners losing their lives and over one thousands Katrina victims deaths.

America is on a crash course of destruction unless we get our damn heads out of the sand. Meanwhile it has been reported: Not Everyone’s Dropping Abramoff’s Money where it has been reported: “While dozens of lawmakers are dumping contributions from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his clients, others including Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid smell no taint and plan to keep the money.” Not to pick on him solely, it has also been reported where other Republicans and Democrats plan to keep these moneys. Here is a suggestion for all of these politicians who plan to keep these moneys, donate them to the 12 miner’s families left behind.

With this grand start to the New Year and the bloodshed that started it, I am left to wonder if this is the New Roman Empire and we all know what happened to that civilization. It crumbled before an ignorant public due to the arrogance and greed of those that led them.