16 minutes ago, the United States confirmed that it was considering a plan to sharply reduce US forces in Iraq by the end of 2007, but said it was just one option among many and was not "engraved in stone."
-- Associated Press
Interesting that "the General's plan for withdrawal" seemed to hit the airwaves and Internet in time for the Sunday talk shows last weekend---its been hyped and re-hyped for several days in sound bytes on every newscast ----- and now the same proclamation has been reduced to just an "option among many" with the President already backsliding on his original response several days ago ---- and the parties busy pointing fingers at one another.
I wonder how the hyped up message played in on the heartstrings of a mother or wife of a soldier? I wonder how it played on that son or daughter longing for their mom or dad last weekend? I wonder how it was interpreted by the families of hundreds of innocents that have lost their lives in the WARS we continue to fuel? The half-baked "option of many" for at least an instant sold HOPE ... HOPE for a wife, HOPE for a daughter, HOPE for nation ---- or could it possibly have been just a planned move thrown on the media's doorstep, arriving in search of your VOTE?
Oh, that sounds far too negative. Personally, I don't consider myself a partisan --- my vote goes to humanity, but I admit the news in recent days and weeks has seemed politically fueled and almost insultingly transparent to anyone paying attention ---- or is it that it is hard to know when you actually hear the truth any more, so all news breaking before the Sunday talk shows is suspect? Forgive me. The news today with all the lives lost has melted my optimism away for a brief time. I am working to get it back.
I search for new HOPE for all of us in the wisdom from those leaders who spoke truth, do you?
"It is not nonviolence if we merely love those that love us. It is nonviolence only when we love those that hate us. I know how difficult it is to follow this grand law of love.
But are not all great and good things difficult to do?
Love of the hater is the most difficult of all. But by the grace of God even this most difficult thing becomes easy to accomplish if we want to do it."
--- GANDHI, Letter of December 31, 1934, All Men are Brothers
WILL WE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS?
A long and winding unexpected series of events in recent weeks, led me to Starbucks Hear Music Site...which led me to Bob Dylan's CD Live at The Gaslight-1962. He sang his timeless unanswered questions in Blowin' in the Wind. Somehow, I ended up hearing Peter, Paul and Mary's 1964 rendition. In it, Peter or Paul spoke before they actually sang the song, Blowin' in the Wind on the IN CONCERT LIVE [circa 1964; CD 1990]. His voice spoke as if It was moving across the 40 some years to us sitting here today. He said...
"This songs asks 9 questions.
We feel that the answers to these questions could determine what happens to all of us in this generation. When we sing this song, we ask ourselves these questions and we ask you please to do the same...
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND
Written by Bob Dylan
1. How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?
2. Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail, before she sleeps in the sand?
3. Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly, before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
4. How many times must a man look up, before he can see the sky?
5. Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have, before he can hear people cry?
6. Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows, that too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
7. How many years can a mountain exist ,before it's washed to the sea?
8. Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist, before they're allowed to be free?
9. Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head, pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
WILL WE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THIS TIME?
What's your call?
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
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