1.5 million served. 30,000 wounded. 4,500 lost lives – american lives & iraqi lives. thousands of iraqis displaced, refugees in other countries now. many of whom i have met here in in sweden. and finally, after tons of money, years of violence, and a country turned upside-down… almost 9 years later, the war in iraq is over. the question is, what do we do now? will we continue to turn to war in order to solve our problems or spread our beliefs/philosophies (we americans said that we wanted iraq to be democratic. did we ask them? did we consider their history & their culture?) or will we dig down deep, swallow our pride, think of others, and seek the way of peace instead? it’s up to us. only we can choose.
war is over. if we want it to be.
in december 1971 john lennon released a song, inspired by another war. the viet nam war. a time when many people gathered together to protest violence & to spread a message of peace instead. yes. i am a true hippie. i really do believe in peace. i love john lennon, mother theresa, martin luther king, jr., bono, and ghandi. i like rainbows & music & flowers. i think that people can live in harmony with one another. i hope for acceptance, diversity, & respect. i admire the weird, eclectic people in the world who not afraid to be unique & different. i like to dance in a drum circle. i hug trees. i shop fair trade when i can. i am thankful & in awe of the beautiful world, which i believe we are called to take care of. and i will protest & share a message of peace anytime & anywhere i can. yep. i believe that it is possible… a world of love.
please listen (click on the song title) & think about how to spread love, not hate. not only at christmas, but every day of the year: happy christmas (war is over)
peace. and i mean it. for real.
the problem with peace comes not with the people, but with the governments who subsist on power and subjugation.
as a people, we have to get the governments to listen. Somehow.
i agree completely! it is the governments that ultimately are making these decisions of war and continued violence. as idealistic as it may sound, i still believe in the voice of one person. and if we all use our voices loud enough, then perhaps our message of peace will be heard. i still believe that one person can & does make a difference. somehow we must use our voices, our lives to influence those who are in power and to hold them accountable for the decisions they make.