The vigil on Wednesday in honor of Cindy Sheehan and the other relatives who have lost loved ones in the war in Iraq was thrown together at the last minute, as most of them were, and yet still attracted over 100 people. We had no counter-protesters, which makes sense really since it's an absurd idea to be anti-anti-war. Is anyone really "pro-war"? And if so, doesn't that hurt their cause more than anything one grieving mother could ever say or do?

An active-dtuy marine came and talked and gave his support, saying that his mother was at Camp Casey with Cindy Sheehan and how he wanted to show his support of all the mothers of soldiers by coming to the vigil. I talked to him for quite a bit afterwards, and he told me how he was careful not to frame himself as "anti-war" because of the political ramifications, but that he was so disgusted by the misuse of troops in this misguided war that he felt compelled to come and show his support. He talked about the privatization of the military and how the administration is purposely trying to break the military so that privatization will be necessary. I mentioned how S's unit had been broken up and torn apart, and he said that his unit isn't alone, that it was happening all over the military.

The puzzling thing to me about the idea of purposeful privatization is how foolish and short-sighted it is, but then we know this administration is overwhelmingly incompetent and that they are foolish and short-sighted, so it shouldn't be puzzling to me at all. The private contractors I've met (and I've known quite a few) all were trained by the military and came out of my husband's ranger/LRS unit. If no one is signing up with the military anymore, there will be no one trained enough to be private contractors and the entire enterprise will collapse. That's what give me hope these days, the idea that the neocon enterprise is not sustainable and will inevitably fold into itself. I wonder, though, how many more will have to suffer along the way. It's heartbreaking.


I was in the Bywater with a poet friend of mine, Gabe Gomez. We bought chichorrones at a latin american grocery, had a drink at a little bar, and went to a new anarchist bookstore, the Iron Rail. I can't stand the fetishization of Palistine by some on the fringe left. It makes me furious. Should Israel not exist? Are the Palistinians the only oppressed people in the world? Are they not responsible for encouraging their young people to blow themselves up?  It's ridiculous!

There are a number of causes trying to attach themselves to the anti-Iraq war movement. It's disturbing. I hope that we are able to keep them at bay. Even at the vigil, I was approached by a sociology doctoral candidate from Tulane who was handing out copies of a newspaper he works for, "Workers Democracy". He told me they were attaching the cause of affordable housing to the anti-war movement. I couldn't believe it. How horrendous! Here was an academic talking about "workers," attaching the issues of the destruction of public housing onto an illegal war. There is a time and place for everything, and frankly a vigil against the war is not the time or place for the distribution of pseudo-communist literature. And I was completely insulted by the idea of an academic talking about "workers" anyway. Most of my relatives are union workers and you know what? They can speak for themselves. Grrr!!!

But the picture and Bywater. (Forgive me; my mind is a little scattered these days.) Gabe and I drove around Bywater, a neighborhood of empty lots, converted warehouses, and shotgun houses, trying to find the Iron Rail and drove past this lot filled with worn-out tires and scraps of wood, protected by a chain-link fence and concertina wire. I was struck by the sorry shape of this flag, barely recognizable as it was nothing more than a collection of tatters.


Here's my sweet S at a Day of the Dead dinner several years ago. He's looking to me to not take his picture and resigned to the fact that I am going to anyway. He's going to be extremely busy this coming month leading up to the elections. He's growing a beard because he's working with special forces, and he's counting the days, literally, until he comes home. Another ETT came up with an Excel calculation spreadsheet that gives them the number of days, hours, and minutes until they're out of the military for good. High morale among the troops, eh? He won't be able to call me until just before he comes home for R+R, most likely, and it will be hard for him to email me too. I'm happy he's working with experienced soldiers, but I'm distressed at the same time because I expect he will be going on much more dangerous missions. The worry never ends!!

I will try to write more later. This trip has been difficult because of my limited internet access.