Picture Notes

I was at the Air and Space Museum waiting in line for an exhibit and saw this photograph, well sort of. The shadows of Americans were there and I added the flag. It reminds me of our innocence as Americans, we believe in high ideals; Democracy, the Republic, balance of power, the Geneva Convention and not torturing prisoners of war, nor do we use mercenaries to fight our wars or spy on our citizens and we actually believe our court system is fair and makes the accuser produce evidence of guilt, and we don’t overthrow foreign countries for our “ideals” nor do our politicians lie - ha ha, just had to throw in that one. See, we are so innocent, none of what I just wrote is true of America, or anywhere, we do all those things and more. We will not know the real horror of the war in Iraq for many years and when the total truth is known it will be interesting to see who is still standing to the right of this issue. This may be the time when Americans lost their innocence.

Is it here or just a dream?

I wonder how the war in Iraq will go down in the history books. Will historians talk about a Congress that ignored the people they were supposed to represent? Will those that follow us ever know the real story and the real cost of the war? Will they be able to see who made the most money off the war and write about that?

Will it be like the war pictured on this column, of the Trojans or Romans or another ancient civilization that is no longer a world power. This is a bad moment not just for the Iraq people but for all the people of the world who thought of the United States as a country that helped to create peace, wealth and stability in the world.

Why are the people who are paying for the war ignored by the people who are waging the war?