"his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American."

"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim - American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star - showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn't have a Christian cross.

It didn't have a Star of David.

It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan.

And he was an American.

He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life."

-- Colin Powell, Oct 19, 2008, on Meet The Press on the occasion of Powell's public endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States

Why are we doing this again?

In the name of "Democracy," again and again this country supports and props up dictators, despots and regimes that view their time in power as unbridled opportunity for violence and brutality, whether in South/Central America, Africa or S.E. Asia.

As if these governments are certain that, with the United States as patron, they will never fall out of control.

And this support has come from both Democrat and Republican administrations.

The below linked video is from Britain's Channel 4.

If even a tenth of the accusations are true, this is unconscionable.

And it's happening on our watch.

Channel 4 - "Death Squads"

Run

I've been trying to come up with something to say about this, but it's really beyond me.



All I can think of is a change of scene, and that every generation breeds fools and animals, on both sides..

35 years ago.

Only imagine muddy roads and murderous humidity, instead of dust and the desert.