Update: Najaf and around Iraq
A few more points of interest on the ongoing victorious US liberation campaign in Iraq.
Air Force Times has more on the Najaf Incident.
Despite the “fog of war” obscuring exactly who were the combatants and non-combatants at Najaf, the US apparently used substantial air assets in a 5 square mile area:
F-16, A-10 power rained down in Najaf fight
Juan Cole has more Iraq news at Bay Indymedia:
1,000 Killed in Iraq in Past Week; Parliamentarians call for Expulsion of Arabs, Iranians
And there is more excellent, detailed coverage from Mohammed al Dulaimy at the McClatchy Newspapers:
Roundup of violence in Iraq – 4 February 2007.
See also: Keyword ‘Najaf’ on scanlyze
Copyright © 2007 Henry Edward Hardy
I Dreamed I saw Joe Hill Last Night
Joe Hill’s Last Will
My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide,
My kin don’t need to fuss and moan-
“Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.”
My body? Ah, If I could choose,
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow.
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my last and final will,
Good luck to all of you, Joe Hill
Joe Hill was an IWW man. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was, and is a radical union dedicated to abolishing the wage system and replacing it with a democratic system of workplace organization.
Joe Hill was a migrant laborer to the US from Sweden, a poet, musician and union radical. The term “pie in the sky” is believed to come from his satirical song, “The Preacher and the Slave”.
Hill was framed for murder and executed by firing squad in Salt Lake City, Utah on November 19, 1915. His last words were, “Fire!”
Just before his death he wrote to fellow IWW organizer Big Bill Haywood a letter which included the famous words, “Don’t mourn, Organize”.
The poem above was his will. It was set to music and became the basis of a song by Ethel Raim called “Joe Hill’s Last Will”.
A praise poem by Alfred Hayes became the lyrics of the best-known song about Joe Hill, written in 1936 by Earl Robinson. This was sung so beautifully by Joan Baez at Woodstock in 1969:
Joe Hill
words by Alfred Hayes
music by Earl RobinsonI dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
Alive as you and me.
Says I “But Joe, you’re ten years dead”
“I never died” said he,
“I never died” said he.“In Salt Lake, Joe,” says I to him,
him standing by my bed,
“They framed you on a murder charge,”
Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead,”
Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead.”“The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe” says I.
“Takes more than guns to kill a man”
Says Joe “I didn’t die”
Says Joe “I didn’t die”And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe “What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize”From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
where working-men defend their rights,
it’s there you find Joe Hill,
it’s there you find Joe Hill!I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I “But Joe, you’re ten years dead”
“I never died” said he,
“I never died” said he.
Written in reply to America, Tiger Lilies & and Politics: A Response to “America the Beautiful and Rabih Haddad”
see also: America the Beautiful and Rabih Haddad
Joe Hill (wikipedia)
Joe Hill mp3’s at emusic.
Copyright © 2007 Henry Edward Hardy
Follow-up on Resolution calling for Ending the Iraq War by Ann Arbor Democratic Party
Here’s a follow-up to Resolution calling for ending the Iraq War:
This is the text of the letter sent to Senators Levin and Stabenow and to Congressman Dingell on or about January 20 as provided to me by Susan Greenberg, Ann Arbor Democratic Party Chair [minor reformatting to fix word-wrapped lines from email–HH]:
Date: Saturday, January 20, 2007 4:04 PM -0500
From: [address removed for privacy reasons]
To: stabenow@senate.gov
Subject: Ann Arbor City Democratic Party urges end the warAnn Arbor City Democratic Party, P.O. Box 4178, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106
734/480-4986, aadems@comcast.netJanuary 20, 2007
The Honorable Debbie Stabenow
133 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510Dear Senator Stabenow:
It is now time for the Iraq War to end. Despite the election results in
November 2006, the Bush administration seems hell bent on implementing the
McCain Doctrine ? a serious escalation in the number of US troops deployed
in Iraq. The American people, the people of the state of Michigan and
the people of the 15th district in Michigan support an end to this conflict
forthwith.The Ann Arbor City Democratic Party asked me as chair to send this
letter to ask you to strongly and publicly support an end to the Iraq war. No
good can come from the continued US presence in Iraq. No good can come
from the additional loss of life an escalation in the war is likely to
cause.Due to the malfeasance of the Bush administration, the US has no viable
option other than to as swiftly as possible end US military involvement
in this most misguided engagement.We strongly encourage you to use all tools at your disposal to compel
the US government to end our nation’s involvement in the Iraq war.Sincerely,
Susan Greenberg, Chair
Ann Arbor City Democratic Party
I called Senator Levin and Senator Stabenow in Washington to see if they had received, read and responded to the resolution and letter from the Ann Arbor Democratic Party organization regarding the Iraq War. Neither senator’s staff seemed to know what I was talking about.
I got a big run-around from Stabenow’s people, had to call three times and was told the first two that they were too busy to look for the resolution or tell me if Senator Stabnenow had yet seen it or replied. I had to remind them that I worked as a campaign volunteer for the Michigan Coordinated Campaign for six months last year helping to re-elect the Senator and ask if they would prefer that I table a resolution censuring her or asking for her expulsion from the party at this month’s State Convention before they suddenly found the motivation to locate the letter from Chairperson Greenberg they had had for almost two weeks.
Still waiting to hear from Justin at Levin’s office.
Dingell I know got our message because his wife Debbie was there to represent him at the meeting on Jan. 13 and endured some somewhat rough handling on his behalf. She also read a long letter from him which I’ll see if they can/will provide for posting here.
I wrote down some of the things said during the debate (paraphrased and mostly unattributed unless someone can provide me the names):
We support our young men and women in the Army and Navy.
Our children are dying.
I am losing my students to this war.
We urge that this war be ended this year.
No public involved in war wins — both sides lose.
Armies cannot establish democracies or establish societies.
We need to replace US troops with an international force.
We [Democrats] don’t want to own this war.
We ask that you rescind the Iraq War Authorization Act, PL 107-243 [that was me–moving to strike and replace language calling for immediate halt to funding–motion failed]
We ask that the United States government utilize diplomatic means to resolve international issues.
Any mother mourns the loss of her son or a daughter in war equally; wherever she lives; in Iraq or America, be it a grand palace or a hut so rude. [That is my poor paraphrase from memory from a very moving speech from former Congressman Ray Clevenger, D-Mich].
I’d also say many of us had tears in the eyes during this debate and I do now again thinking of it.
We debated passionately for two hours until we were told our room reservation was up and the University of Michigan was kicking us out. Then we voted in the affirmative, with the no votes split about equally between those who thought the resolution too strong and those who thought it too weak. My motion for unanimous consent was shouted down.
I would like to give credit to Dana Barton, Tim Colenback, Kathy Linderman; and Carlos Acevedo; who submitted the two draft resolutions we used to forge the resolution which was passed. And thanks to Susan Greenberg for getting me the copy of her letter as sent.
see also: Resolution calling for ending the Iraq War
Copyright © 2007 Henry Edward Hardy
America the Beautiful and Rabih Haddad
America the Beautiful
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
America the Beautiful
1st and 2nd verses,
Catherine Lee Bates
1913
I sang these verses in a somewhat quavery but fairly on-key voice to a high school auditorium full of people at a town meeting called by US Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Mich) after 9/11. One brave lady in the crowd sang with me.
One of the panelists invited by Rivers, a moderate and well-respected member of the Ann Arbor Muslim community was Rabih Haddad. Mr. Haddad was taken from his Ann Arbor home by US officials on December 14, 2001, terrorizing and traumatizing his wife and young children in the process. Haddad was then held without charges, mostly in solitary confinement, for 19 months. The ranking Democratic member (and now chair) of the House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers (D-Mich), was refused admission to Haddad’s hearing in Detroit for purported reasons of national security. Following a great deal of public demonstrations, controversy, and criticism concerning the government actions, Haddad was then secretly deported. The Ann Arbor News withheld the information about his impending deportation from publication for several days at government request.
My Brother Rabih Haddad
Rabih Haddad Speaks Out
I was inspired to write this by:
I Love America by Shirley Buxton.
This is my response to Shirley:
Is this the America you love?
- Secret trials and secret prisons?
- Torture, rape and murder as instruments of state policy?
- No more habeas corpus?
- A Government which contemptuously disregards the Geneva Conventions?
- No right to a lawyer, a trial by jury or even the right to know the charges against you?
- A President who has utter contempt for the Constitution and the law?
- A Nation that attacks without provocation, and lies about the putative reasons?
Shame on you, Shirley Buxton.
The patriots and ‘founding fathers’ you pretend to admire were, in fact revolutionaries who took up arms to overthrow a repressive government. That’s why we call it the American Revolutionary War! Furthermore, the original Pledge of Allegiance you quote was written by a socialist, Francis Bellamy in 1892, and did not include the words, “under God”. This phrase was added by Congress in 1954 during the height of the McCarthy repression.
Consider:
Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.
–Benjamin Franklin
The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.
–John Adams
Give me liberty or give me death!
–Patrick Henry
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.
–Sam Adams
Copyright © 2007 Henry Edward Hardy
Literary Bohemian on Fear and War
Literary Bohemian has a really nice essay about the war(s). This brought a lump to my throat, probably because I miss my own brother so much. The Kevin Tillman letter about his brother Pat gets me for the same reason I suppose. God bless you and watch over you and your brother both, and us all.
I’ve been thinking a lot about war lately –perhaps because the President’s State of the Union address happened recently or because there is talk all over the internet and the news about going to war with Iran. Mostly though, I’ve been thinking about war because my little brother is on a ship at this very moment, destined for the Middle East.
More at: Fear and War
See also: After Pat’s Birthday
Copyright © 2007 Henry Edward Hardy
About Scanlyze
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Scanlyze is an online magazine of essays, commentary, satire, and analysis. Were we half as clever, for inspiration we would take Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, Swift, Montaigne, or Seneca.
“The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.”
John F. Kennedy, October 26, 1963
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