Prayers for Boston/Concern for the Nation
Tragedy strikes the Boston marathon and I fear for my country of origin, because of the psychological effects of such a traumatic event and because it will undoubtedly be used by unscrupulous politicians for devious ends. Of course, one's first thoughts, prayers and sympathies should be for the victims and their families. This will send shock waves through the nation. But I couldn't help be reminded of the scene of carnage in the recent film The Quiet American, starring Michael Caine, caused by a bomb explosion in a busy Saigon market square, which the film later reveals was planted and detonated by the CIA, in an attempt to discredit a political faction in the country. And that led me to think of the terrible carnage caused by the US from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Unimaginable carnage on an unimaginable scale. Millions of innocent human beings's lives lost, a staggering number. As my cousin said to me after 9/11 (he lives in New York and had to run across Manhattan to pick up his daughter because all public transportation had been stopped) "Now we know what it is like to bomb other countries with impunity." My heart goes out to the victims and their families, unsuspecting victims of a cowardly act. The repercussions are going to be profound, however, and not to the good for the future of the US. I await Christian Hedges' response to this one. For the moment, TruthDig has THIS video of the tragedy via the Boston Globe. Such a cowardly act.
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