The Soldiers Speak

From the New York Times:

Op-Ed Contributors
The War as We Saw It

By BUDDHIKA JAYAMAHA, WESLEY D. SMITH, JEREMY ROEBUCK, OMAR MORA, EDWARD SANDMEIER, YANCE T. GRAY and JEREMY A. MURPHY
Published: August 19, 2007

Baghdad

VIEWED from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)

The writers of this op-ed remain on active duty in the US Army. Airing their opinions publicly required a great deal of courage. I commend them for their bravery. We must pay attention. Please go read the entire op-ed. They know what they're talking about.

Thanks to Juan Cole at Informed Comment for calling my attention to this piece.

Then, if you have the stamina, go back to Juan Cole's site to read the an op-ed by Jerry Eagan, a Vietnam veteran. He begins with the story of what happened to him after he was wounded in Viet Nam:

In July, 1967, while back home in Indiana on "convalescent leave" from an Army hospital, I wrote a similar, albeit, shorter letter to my hometown newspaper. As these men are, I was a "grunt," an infantryman 11B -- light weapons infantryman. I'd been seriously wounded on 3 November, 1966, and was still recuperating until roughly the end of August, 1967. When I returned from convalescent leave, therefore, in August, 1967, the doctor who "ran" the hospital informed me that since I "liked to write letters, about the war, and how we're losing the war," that I had "too much time on my hands." I was being returned to duty. He said he wished he could return me to an infantry unit, but that wasn't possible because my right arm, which had been severely damaged by an AK-47 round, was too weak to even slide the bolt back on an M-16 rifle.

Apparently, Eagan follows the situation in Iraq very closely. That Cole gives him space for a guest op-ed at his site speaks volumes. The whole piece is thought-provoking and worth a read. Eagan presents us with a possible future scenario which widens the conflict in the Middle East by intensifying the conflict between the US and Iran. Here's a paragraph:

I'd contend, we've already begun our war against Iran. Arming Sunni tribal sheiks and Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf nations, are the opening rounds of our war with Iran. Bush will do all he can to instigate an Iranian military response. I'd guess, in the near future, sometime this year, if Sunnis begin battling Shia in open militia combat, al-Maliki will ask Iran for Quds Brigade support in the south. Bush won't allow that. He'll intervene, hoping -- hoping -- he can finally precipitate an open military strike against Iran.

I'm giving y'all a lot of work today, because I'm coming out of my August doldrums, and I'm all fired up. If he can do it, Bush will get us in a war with Iran to attempt to distract us from his massive failures in Iraq. Of course, this idea is insane, but that, in itself, won't stop him.

Where is the leadership in the military on this? Will they stand up and say, "Mr. President, we cannot do this." I don't know.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Cheney - The Prophet

If you don't believe that Dick Cheney is a prophet, then watch this video of an interview conducted a few years after the first Gulf War, on 4-15-94, and listen to what he says.

August Doldrums

Since this is a post on early-August doldrums, it's obvious that I'm getting to it a little late. James Carroll in his column titled, American Disconnection, dated August 6, 2007, writes in The Boston Globe of the sense of "lonely alienation" that came over him during the summers when he was a child:

From June into July, the delights of freedom from homework and schedule trumped any sense of dislocation I might have felt, and beginning in mid-August the sweet anticipation of return to school at Labor Day began to carry me along. But the height of summer, just about now, was a time of lonely alienation, when ties to meaning went slack.

Now he's no longer a school boy, but a grown man, with his career as a writer, a network of connections, and satisfying relationships with family and friends.

Yet here I am feeling ambushed by a sensation, exactly, of ineffectual isolation. The endless midafternoon of an August summer day seems all at once the whole of life. Disconnectedness is the heart of it, and that points from the intensely private to the very public, for the largest experience of being cut off from what matters of which I am aware involves the American crisis in the Middle East.

Carroll speaks of the many troubled areas in the Middle East - Pakistan, Afghanistan, Gaza, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and, of course, Iraq.

Here is the disconnect that matters this August: A vast population of shamed US citizens, seeing the war as key to multiple unfolding disasters, regard it as the most pressing issue in the world. But so what? Private brooding desperately seeks a mode of public action, yet is thwarted.

I feel the same August doldrums. Shouldn't we be doing something? Dick Cheney wants to launch an attack on Iran. The Bushies are ratcheting up their bellicose rhetoric vis-à-vis Iran, which causes me to fear that the Bush maladministration might actually attack Iran, without consulting Congress, based on a trumped up emergency.

We are nowhere near an orderly withdrawal from Iraq. The Democratic controlled Congress has passed a bill that gives the Bush maladministration more power to spy on the citizens of the country. In fact, according to this story in the New York Times yesterday, they gave Bush more power than they meant to in their haste to get off to their August recess.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 — Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month could allow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go well beyond wiretapping to include — without court approval — certain types of physical searches on American soil and the collection of Americans’ business records, Democratic Congressional officials and other experts said.
....

The dispute illustrates how lawmakers, in a frenetic, end-of-session scramble, passed legislation they may not have fully understood and may have given the administration more surveillance powers than it sought.

Ah, yes. It's for just this sort of thing that we elect them to their exalted positions - to pass laws that they did not mean to pass. First the Democrats cave in to pressure from the White House and give the maladministration permission to spy on us without oversight. Then they can't even get the cave-in right, but give Bush even more power than he asked for.

Should we, the citizens of the country, be doing something? What should we be doing? I don't know the answer, but sitting around brooding through the August doldrums seems insufficient. Moaning about the sorry state of things on a blog seems insufficient, too.

Archbishop of Armagh - Sermon

If any of you who visit here do not visit Fr. Jake's place, I recommend that you go there to read the excerpts from a sermon by Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh, in Ireland. He links to the entire sermon, which I believe is a thing of beauty.

Here's what I said in the comments there:

The whole sermon was excellent. I'm saving it and keeping it to reread. I love what he said about the Word of God being a "living" and "dynamic" person, not a text, not an "it".

I agree with him and William Temple that "division is a greater sin even than heresy". Jesus prayed for us to be one - one in his Body, one with the Father and the Spirit - to minister to a broken world.
Grandmère Mimi | Homepage | 08.18.07 - 4:40 pm | #

Christopher Hitchens on Archbishop Williams

Ed at Simple Village Organist has the scoop. Go read.

Hitch is on a book tour pushing his latest God Is Not Great, and he claims to have had a close encounter.

UPDATE: Clumber at Barkings of an Old Dog has a picture.

I take no responsibility for this picture. Clumber is a bad dog.

The Diocese of Wenchoster - Affirming Laudianism

From the Diocese of Wenchoster to Affirming Laudianism:

Affirming Laudianism - Welcome Home

You have found the website of Affirming Laudianism.

Affirming Laudianism, much like another organisation in the Anglican Church, does not expect its members to have any firm beliefs or doctrinal commitments but is solely concerned with:

1. The externals of religion and

2. Including the ambitious.

The link from the Diocese of Wenchoster to Affriming Laudianism is found on the Pharisaios Journal page. Scroll down past the photo of the picture of the diocesan competitor in the Tour De France, and you will find the link to Affirming Laudianism. The Diocese of Wenchoster offers such a rich variety of valuable information and links that, being somewhat technologically challenged, at times I get lost there. The site is complicated and calls for a certain level of intelligence just to get around. You could spend a day exploring.

Moving on to Fresh! at the Laudianism site:

Affirming Laudiansim has been encouraged by some recent publications (Mission Shaped Church, Liquid Church, Suicidal Church &c) to affirm its own ‘fresh’ expressions of Church, or as we prefer ‘ancient re-expressions of the Ecclesia Anglicana. ‘Sharing’ as it is said ‘best practice’ we print below some recent re-expressions by clergymen (some names have been changed).Disabled Access - Fresh Expression of the Host

Lancelot (not his real name) arrived as a new vicar in a Herefordshire parish to discover a new wheel chair ramp outside the south porch of his medieval parish church. Here is his story: 'We had informed the local authority of our compliance with recent legislation and I even sent them a photograph of an elderly lady on the ramp in her buggy going to the family service (my first and last)! I then had the ramp removed and the rather high step reinstated, taking the opportunity of waxing the rather fine encaustic tiles. It was fortunate that built into the north wall is an ancient squint [an angled slit in a wall allowing a view of the high altar from outside the sanctuary], so there remains disabled access, albeit soley visual and of course which gives a lovely view of the elevation. We very kindly provide rugs in the winter and umbrellas when the weather is inclement.'

The definition of the word "squint" in brackets is provided by me, to prevent confusion as to its meaning as used here.

On to the Hymnal:

Affirming Laudianism Hymns Ancient and Old

Singing hymns in Church today is often an irritating experience, especially if you find yourself singing from a Mayhew hymnal. Words altered: never a mention of ‘men‘. One writer tells us of a service in Oxford singing ‘Onward Christian Pilgrims, driving in a car’.

Enough of this! Pulp such nonsense!
....

Something for the family service?

Little children must be quiet,
When to Holy Church they go,
They must sit with serious faces,
Must not play or whisper low.
For the Church is God’s own temple
Where men go for praise and prayer,
And the Great God will not love them
Who forget His presence there.

Next is The Parson's Handbook written by St. Percy:

Here is Pithy Percy on the vestments:

Pithy Percy
On the cope

A general vestment of splendour… this vestment survived the slovenly days of the 18th century

The Rochet

In the 18th century the sleeves developed into monstrous balloon-like appendages fastened round the waist with ribbons, and decorated with stiff ham-frills.

The surplice

The surplice remained unaltered to the present day, except that it was made to open in front in the age of the full-bottomed wig.

The Chasuble

In the decadence of the ‘Rococo’ period it went to extreme lengths, and the Chasuble, once so graceful and stately, became at last an ugly little apron shaped like a fiddle.

The stole

The ancients had to carry or wear their napkins and handkerchiefs because they had no pockets. The stole was originally nothing but a napkin

The Maniple

The Mappula was a smaller napkin, too short to be borne on the shoulder, and thus naturally carried on the left arm, just as we see waiters doing at the present day. This is our Maniple.

The site shows a picture of St. Percy, but when I tried to copy the picture, only a portion of it appears. I believe that the owners want you to visit the site to see the entire picture, which I recommend that you do.



I know I'm borrowing copiously, perhaps beyond "fair use", but my prayer is that if the bishop (or whoever is in charge at Affirming Laudianism) objects, I will be so informed to cease and desist, before anyone initiates legal action against me. I do strongly suggest that you click the links, because, despite the lengthiness of my quotes, there is much, much more to see at the sites.

The Dean

Even as tropical depression Erin further drenches already drenched southeastern Texas, and even as I extend my sympathy to the one who died and to those who are flooding there, I'm selfishly keeping my eye on Hurricane Dean, which is headed for the Gulf of Mexico.

We've had a quiet, hot summer so far, with no hurricane worries, yet. I don't think about hurricanes unless I must, but with Dean approaching the Gulf, must-think-about-it time has arrived.

We are fortunate to own the small farm where Grandpère grew up, northwest of Baton Rouge, with two small houses in place, where we can squeeze in our extended family, all of whom must evacuate in the event of a storm coming our way. We have two generators, so we can keep a refrigerator and a few other outlets running in each house if we lose power there. Thank God that we don't have to worry about getting reservations for a place to stay.

The main decision is when to leave to beat the worst of the traffic. Last minute departure won't do, or you face the likelihood of being stuck in traffic when the storm arrives. The next decision is what to take with us. I still have not decided that. When we evacuated for Katrina, I took a few pairs of shorts and shirts, my toiletries, some important papers, and little else. Had the storm destroyed our house, we would have had very few of our possessions with us. The decision about what to take seems so huge to me, that I tend to give up, with the result that I throw a few things into the car, willy-nilly, and end up taking very little beyond essentials required for a short trip.

I pray, even as I wonder what to pray for. Do I pray that the hurricane goes somewhere else? Of course not. Do I even believe that God directs the path of hurricanes? Probably not. The prayer has to do with making a connection with God in a time of impending danger. In the end, I believe that the prayer is for me. I pray for God to keep us safe, to guide us to make proper decisions, and to give us strength if we need it.

For now, we watch and wait.

UPDATE: I'm changing the tracking map as a new map becomes available.

Iraq War Casualties

Before the day is over, I'd like to take note of another milestone passed. According to Iraq Casualty Count, the number of military deaths in the Iraq has passed the 3700 mark, now standing at 3702 3706, with wounded and medical evacuations at 28,308, and death from self-inflicted wounds at 118.

The estimates of numbers of Iraqi dead varies widely from a high of 600,000 to a low of 76,236.

For the dead:

O God whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of your servants, and grant them an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. BCP

For the families and friends of the dead and the wounded and their families and friends:

Lord God, Almighty and everlasting Father, pour out your love upon the families and friends of those who have died and upon the wounded and their families and friends. Bring them healing in spirit, mind, and body. Give them strength and courage to go on with their lives, and give them your peace which passes understanding to keep their minds and hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.

UPDATE: Acccording to The Independent:

American soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a military report.

The suicides are occurring at a time when many soldiers are reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including repeated flashbacks of combat experiences and other severe reactions.

Bayou Style Madness

From the Daily Comet:

By Nikki Buskey

HOUMA - There’s water everywhere, but none is safe to swim in, according to the state Department of Health and Hospitals.

As the state Department of Environmental Quality launched its Clean Waters project in Bayou Lafourche Monday, targeting private septic systems that officials fear are leaking human waste into the bayou, the Department of Health and Hospitals raised another red flag about bacterial levels on Grand Isle’s beaches.

Officials said Bayou Lafourche has higher bacteria levels than any body of water in the state. The waterway provides drinking water for most of Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.

Chemicals are used to make it safe for drinking, but it’s not safe for swimming.

My question: are the chemicals safe for drinking? Bayou Lafourche is my source for drinking water. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is not known for stringently enforcing regulations, so the condition of the water supply must be seriously bad for them to be paying attention.

With little planning or oversight, folks were allowed to build along Bayou Lafourche. Who knows if the septic tanks do the job of containing sewage from the buildings? Some of the older structures may not even have septic tanks, and their plumbing may go directly into the bayou.

Back to the beach at Grand Isle, which is a barrier island at the mouth of Bayou Lafourche.

But when asked what could be causing high levels of human- and animal-waste bacteria off Louisiana beaches, Johannessen said the agency’s job is to report the findings, not investigate them.

“We don’t have the authority to find out where the bacteria is coming from,” Johannessen said. “There are theories out there, but they’re only theories.”

It boggles the mind. Catch 22-ish, don't you think? One wonders who has the authority to investigate if not the DEQ. Who will put the "theories" to the test?

Moving on to another local story.

Building inspectors in Lafourche Parish have been ordered to stop their work, because THEY DO THEIR JOBS!

Again from the Daily Comet:

By Ben Lundin

THIBODAUX - ...Inspectors with the South Central Planning and Development Commission - hired by the parish to ensure buildings comply with new codes - tagged several homes with “stop work” orders after they discovered violations.

Some of the tagged homes lacked necessary permits and others featured windows that failed to meet maximum wind-resistance requirements, but [parish administrator Cullen] Curole argued that a building official said shutters could be added to comply with the law.

The inspectors are enforcing the rules too harshly, according to the parish administrator. There's a long history around here of allowing exceptions to the rules that later come back to bite - like the septic tanks (or lack thereof) along the bayou.

Feast Day Of St. Mary The Virgin

Assumption of the Virgin by El Greco - Art Institute of Chicago

Luke 1:46-55

Mary’s Song of Praise

And Mary* said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’


In her beautiful prayer of praise to God, The Magnificat, Mary says, "All generations will call me blessed." I carried my habit of honoring the mother of Jesus over from the years spent in the Roman Catholic Church, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of my fellow Episcopalians who give honor to Mary. The Roman Catholic Church, celebrates the bodily Assumption of Mary into heaven on August 15.

I love the story of the wedding at Cana. When Mary tells Jesus that the hosts of the wedding feast have run out of wine, he says to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not come." Mary seems to ignore his words and tells the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Jesus, of course, makes more wine for the feast. I find this glimpse into the intimate relationship between Jesus and his mother so very touching. And wouldn't we all do well to heed the final spoken words of Mary in the Bible? "Do whatever he tells you."

The El Greco Assumption is magnificent, so powerful, full of movement, emotion, and glorious color. Although he lived and painted in the 16th and 17 centuries, his painting seems of another age, very much ahead of its time.

PRAYER

O God, who have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary,
mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been
redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your
eternal kingdom; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever.

READINGS:

Isaiah 61:10-11
Psalm 34 or 34:1-9
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 1:46-55