May 10, 2004
Athena, steaming
See that little statue silhouetted against the sky. That is Athena , goddess of wisdom, reason and purity (atop the Atheneum). Looks like she's steaming, but who's to say.
Maybe she knows what the next set of photos and videos contain. Really, what could be much worse than the ones we've seen already? Rape? Murder?
A letter to the editor of The Boston Globe, May 12, 2004 from Erica Verillo, Williamsburg:
"English Lessons for our Leaders"
"The Bush administration seems to have a serious problem with reality. The most recent reality challenge is the policy of torture in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which the administration is franically redefining as "abuse", "excesses", and "humiliation". We even have Secretary Rumsfeld describing footage of several American soldiers " having sex" with a female Iraqi prisoner.
Let's have a little plain English here. "Having sex" with a prisoner is known as "rape". Systematic beatings are called "torture". Excesses that lead to death are called "murder". The hundreds of women and children in mass graves in Falluhah are the product of a "massacre". Taken together, all of these add up to "atrocities".
The dessemination of "incomplete information" from "imperfect intelligence" is called "lies". The billions of dollars that Halliburton and Bechtel have reaped in profits are called "war profiteering". The invasion of Iraq is called "illegal" , The destruction of America's international standing is calle "permanent". And Texaco/Phillips' high bid for Iraqi oil is called "why we are in Iraq".
When did we stop praying to Athena, anyway?