5th Anniversary on CNN Headline News

On the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq I was invited to talk about my son, Lt Ken Ballard, who was killed in Najaf, Iraq on 5.30.2004 on CNN Headline News. I like talking about Ken so I accepted immediately. I was in a studio in Mountain View, CA and Mike Galanos, the host was in Atlanta, GA. It's always kind of strange to be sitting alone in a room, except for the camera operator, talking to the camera. I didn't see the final results until my friend, Mike, posted the excerpt on You Tube (thanks, Mike!)

You never know what you will be asked in an interview; the request is typically general, but you don't know specific questions. The initial request was We’d like to hear from parents who think enough children have already been lost. I'm one of those parents, Bring 'em home! NOW! That wasn't exactly how the conversation turned out, but it went fine.

I liked the part most of all when Mike Galanos said that he was glad to share in celebrating Ken's life; so was I.

4000 US Deaths in Iraq

In our 6th year of military operations in Iraq, we knew this day would come, we knew this number would come. 4000. Any death from Iraq is unacceptable, but to hear the announcement of the 4000th US death in Iraq on Easter, a day of joyous celebration, is an affront, one of those karmic ironies that should not happen.

This deathwatch started ticking on March 21, 2003 with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 dead American soldiers. Jose Antonio Gutierrez, Kendall Damon Waters-Day, Brian Matthew Kennedy, Ryan Anthony Beaupre, Jay Thomas Aubin, Therrel Shane Childers were the first to die in Iraq. Why was this country not offended by the death of these 6 soldiers, these sons, brothers, fathers, friends? What number of deaths is okay or acceptable? We know 6 was okay. We know that 818, my son, Lt Ken Ballard's number from back in May 2004 was okay. If people don't take to the streets or write their Congressperson, or do something about ending this war and ending these deaths, then we know that 4000 US deaths is also okay. I don't know what number is unacceptable to the citizens of this country, but I do know that any number more than zero is unacceptable for a war based on lies. The 44th president will determine what number is acceptable. If military operations continue for 100 more years, as one candidate has suggested, we can only imagine what that number will be.

Some might wonder if the 4000th death is more notable than the 3999th, Morten Ender, a US Military Academy sociaologist who studies the military says "4000 is a good round number people can grab hold of, it reminds us of what's going on with a war that, since the (military's troop) surge, seems to have lost its place in the public mind" .

With the American media and public paying less attention than ever, marking this grievous milestone should put the occupation in Iraq back on the front page for at least one news cycle. It's the least we can do for the military who continue to be in harms way. Regardless of our politics, these men and women are occupying a country in our name. They need to know that they have the support of the people back at home, you know, support the warrior even if you don't support the war. It's a slap in their faces if we don't at least acknowledge their presence and the service to their country. With such a small percentage who do serve in the military, about 1% of the US population, we must remember that they serve.

The fear of any Gold Star family member, who has lost a loved one while serving in the military, is that their loved one will be forgotten. We Gold Star families can and will never forget and neither should our population. If only for this reason, we should mark this sad milestone.

According to USA Today, of the 4000 members of the military, one in six were too young to buy a beer. About two dozen were old enough for an AARP card. Eleven died on Thanksgiving Day, 11 on Christmas, and at least five on their birthdays.

Tonight 160,000 US families marked their Easter Sunday with an empty seat at their table because their loved ones are deployed to Iraq. 8 of those families do not even know that the life that they woke up to this morning is over. One roadside bomb, one IED 6000 miles away took care of their future and in one knock on the door, they will hear the words that every military family fears, "I regret to inform you".

My heart goes out to these families who have joined the ranks of other Gold Star Families. No one wants to be in this club. We can make sure their are no more Gold Star families. What will you do today to stop this occupation?

5 Damned Long years in Iraq

Back in 1967 Martin Luther King was speaking about the war in Viet Nam when he said “I oppose the war because I love America. I speak out against this war, not in anger, but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and, above all, with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as the moral example of the world. It is so in 2008.

Here we are again- 5 years of war in Iraq! 5 long years! 3990 dead American soldiers, 60,000 plus wounded American soldiers, millions of Iraqis displaced, and we will never know how many Iraqis have died in this war turned occupation of their country. We are spending $12 Billion dollars a month, $17 million dollars every hour and $275 million dollars a day. We know that 935 lies were told by various members of the administration that instills fear so that the citizens of this country would support this Global War on Terror in Iraq. That’s quite a lot of numbers to keep track of; but the best number of all is 307 and that is the number of days left until January 19, 2009, which means, we will be free of the dangerous, fear mongering Bush administration.

Today on the 5^th anniversary of the invasion into Iraq, donning his rose colored glasses again, Bush told employees at the Pentagon, "War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq," and "No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure, but those costs are necessary,". The war has come at a high cost, indeed, but the financial costs were not necessary, the psychological costs were not necessary and the human costs were never necessary; not for the United States and not for Iraq. Cheney says the US will complete the mission in Iraq, but that doesn’t mean any more today than when he said the same thing in 2003.

5 years ago, in 2003, most Americans did not have to be touched by the war unless you were sucked in by the rush to the glory of war as this country was wrapped in the American flag by Fox news and other corporate media. In 2008, you still do not have to be touched by the war. When Bush proclaims that America is at war, he ignores the fact that it is the 1% of this country who carries the burden of war, the military and their families. Military families bear the burden of repeated deployments, PTSD, increased rates of divorce, deployments for those with existing physical and psychological injuries and suicides at an alarming rate. But for most people, life goes on normally. This administration likes it that way just fine.

Instead of Bush going quietly at the end of his presidency, he continues to offend us with his vetoes, his threats and his smirks. We just wish he would just go away. We wish we could wake up from this national nightmare and find that these past 7 years have been a bad, bad dream. But we know better and we have much to do to repair the damage. When did the US become known for torture, spying & lying? When did the US lose our standing in the world? When did PEACE become a bad word?

If this president is clueless about the concept of a $4 gallon of gasoline, then how can we be surprised when he says speaking to members of the military in Afghanistan just this Friday, "I must say, I'm a little envious," "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines helping this young democracy succeed. "It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history." George Bush has really got to go!

We have marched, written letters, sent faxes, held meetings, made phone calls, and this week as we enter the 6^th year of this occupation, we will continue to do the same until the troops come home. If we do not, if we remain silent, then those in Washington will think that we do not care about the carnage being done in our good name or the $3 Trillion dollars being spent. BUT, we do care. The truth is, if ending the occupation in Iraq was a priority in Washington and around the world, our troops would be home! Our voices must make it a priority.

I am not so naïve as to think that any of the presidential candidates will really bring the troops home, not to our definition anyway. So we must remind them. OFTEN.

While we can all pretty much agree that this Congress has not produced what we asked, consider what they might have not done without our voices? We ARE their conscience! Back in November of 2000, I stayed up late watching the election returns much like watching an automobile accident unfold. As you might recall, it was morbidly fascinating. When it was finally announced that George Bush would be the 43^rd president of the United States, I remember thinking, “well, really how bad could it be? The term is only 4 years, how much damage can he do? Surely he will surround himself with experience people” And he did, but that would turn out to be a defining moment and the worst election of my life. I didn’t know it, but that November decision made by the Supreme Court laid the path to my role as a Gold Star Mother.

As for Ken, I miss him every minute of every day. When Ken was killed, people told me it would get better. They were wrong; it is different, but life without Ken will never be better. As a friend described Ken at his memorial, There was "no secret icing on the cake, just a plain, honest man . . . who would get crazy every so often.'' As a single mom, Ken was my north star, my grounding. But when Ken died, so did my future. We Gold Star families are the human cost of this war. We are left behind to pick up the pieces of our broken lives. We will go on with our lives, but there will always be a part of our heart that is a desperately empty black hole.

For those people who still think it would be a “travesty for everyone who has lost their lives to just pull out of Iraq”, I say it would be a travesty to lose more lives. I wouldn’t wish this life on anyone.

They say you do not get something if you don’t ask for it, so I am going to ask that you stay engaged in this movement to end the war as Iraq fatigue settles in and fades from the front page. Let Congress hear our voices. Someday they may really, really understand that the American people will stand with them, if they stand with the American people. They do not have to continue funding this war to show us that they support the troops. They are not unpatriotic because they want to bring this war to an end and to bring the troops home.

Five years of this war in Iraq is long enough, continuing it for one more day is just wrong. Bring the troops and the subcontractors home now!

This posting is a part of the March 19 Iraq War Blogswarm. Please wander over and see what others are saying about this sad anniversary.