Desperation

Mikey turned on the TV while we were eating a late lunch today. As I feared, all they were talking about was Iraq, torture and dying soldiers. They showed footage and short interviews with men who have been injured during the war. These men - hardly more than boys - are now going to live their entire lives with missing limbs, damaged eyes, sagging faces. They spoke of nightmares and flashbacks. They look and sound like veterans, which they are. We have a new generation of physically and psychologically damaged people. How can anyone watch the news these days without crying or throwing up? How can we look at what has happened to our species without dispairing for the future? How can we not see that all the labels - "American", "terrorist", "liberal", "Republican" - are nothing but labels, meant to destinguish between "us" and "them". How can we look at the world today and not see that there is something drastically wrong?