A fish and soldier died.
Monday, 04/05/04 - 5:54 pm.

This morning my nephew's fish (Freud's fish tank neighbor, another beta fish) died. And I buried him in the yard. I don't know what happened to him.

Yesterday one soldier from this country that was sent to Iraq was killed. He was 19 years old, he was my age. His mom was on the newspapers today, and she said he joined the army just to help her and the rest of the family. He represented the only income in a household of an old woman, three children and a man with disabilities (and no father figure, these are matriarchal structures...and not exactly by will).

Yes, that's the profile of the people this government sent to Iraq to "help" rebuild the mess the USA created. All of the soldiers come from low-class families. You will never see a rich man over there, oh, no.

I hear about "fighting for our country", "fighting for our freedom", "fighting against terrorism", "fighting to protect democracy", but it's all bullshit. All fucking bullshit.

And the "fighting for freedom and democracy" it's not just Bush's speech anymore. The rightists of this country have adopted it, and have put on a pedestal the corpse of the soldier, calling him a national hero, saying his death was necessary on this, again, fight for freedom.

Well, if "fighting for freedom" is the United States's idea, then let them fight for THEIR "freedom". If they believe having troops in a country far, far away will stop terrorism, all the worse for them. Why in the fucking world is Bush asking for help then? He said the invasion would last three weeks (of course not many believed that) and it's been over a year. This country has no fucking freedom on its own, we don't need to be more repressed by the national United States mindless followers who run at their cry for help, to help them rebuild what they arrogantly destroyed.

I say bring our soldiers back so they can go on fighting their own battle against the capitalist system. Their families are dying. In the most realistic way (no medicines, no water, and the minimun wage has been cut in half). The president of El Salvador addressed the country yesterday and he didn't apologize. Why should he apologize, you ask? Because a soldier has died, and perhaps more will, because of his decision of participating in something that's none of our bussiness.

I surely care for the US soldiers in Iraq. I feel sorry for all soldiers from all countries. I feel sorry for them and their families. I feel sorry for the Iraqi people who have been violated. Iraq was not directly connected to the 9/11 attack and there were no weapons of mass destruction, why are there for? The United States is so kind that couldn't stand poor overseas country being under a dictatorship? I don't think so. The United States is well known for its values based on individualism, and that stands out even more in politics. They're not doing anything out of the goodness of their hearts, specially if it means shelling out the bucks.

"Well, I think war is a good thing because there's no other way to solve conflicts". That may be true unfortunatelt, but I don't want anyone from the United States saying that, and not because I want to take away their "freedom", but because they just have no right to say war it's a good thing. They've never been invaded. You can talk about 9/11, Pearl Harbor, whatever. Those are attacks. I can speak for this whole country when I say that everyday for 12 years it was a 9/11 for us.

You can talk about the soldiers, your cousin, your brother, your grandfather, that were sent to Vietnam, or Iraq, or wherever else. Always overseas. People in the US will lose relatives, and it'll be horrible. But they'll never have to place matresses on the windows every night for one, five, twelve years of war. They'll never have the fear of being bombed at midnight. Sure they know a lot about wars, but not because they've experienced one in their own land. I don't mean "bwhahaha, they should so they'll know what it's like" it's not about "eye for an eye". I don't wish for anyone to live through a war. I just mean they have no right to talk about war in terms of good and bad, because they've always experienced, in the long run, just the good side, at least politically (humanly, I wouldn't say that, as there's no good side...but then again, in capitalism, economics go before human, so I don't think they're paying a lot of attention to the human side).

I don't like war. I don't like excuses. If my brother was killed in Iraq, the last thing I'd want for him was to be taken as a proof of the danger of terrorism and a symbol of the fight for freedom. I feel sorry for all the US people who lost or will lose family in Iraq, and still will think "well, at least he was fighting for freedom". Or "hey, he died for our country, he was brave enough to fight terrorism". They have the wrong definition of terrorism and are certainly wasting their times on that one. And don't even mention freedom...their definition of freedom has the same concept of pax romana, and that alone is an embarrasament for civilization. Go look it up.

Ok, I like the United States. I've been there, and one can't really deny that they have quite a few priviledges a lot of countries would like to have. I hold nothing against its people, and I will always maintain my position that nobody deserves something like 9/11.

On the other hand, you just have to look at the government and what it's done. Externally, I mean. I suppose it's easier for me, as I've experimented their nosy-ness in a very direct, cruel way (i.e. them sponsoring the 12-year civil war, the murder of the jesuits, and of one in particular whose writings have changed my life completely). And the worst part is that they've contaminated the frames of mind of the (incapable) leaders of this country.

And so, it happens that a 19 year old soldier was killed. The government of this country said: "well, he's a national hero, what an honor. Oh, and our troops will remain there. They are helping with the peace process". All of the families of the 300+ soldiers overseas appear crying on the independent news everyday, begging for their men to come back (the media that belongs to the government will omit that, obviously).

The troops will remain there, of course. The president says so. The president is here. Talking is easier when the killing is happening overseas, and it's just the poor who's getting killed.

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