Trapped at the Circus of Death
There’s a report out this morning that eleven people have been killed in Iraq as the result of a US air strike. Yes, the report said among the dead there were women and children. My guess is there were probably innocent men among the dead also.
How many more? How many more Americans and Iraqis will die before this atrocious circus of death will end.
It is a circus you know. The barker sold it as the show of all shows. He promised those who attended would be shocked and awed. He lured them into his tent and then once they were inside, he quietly blocked the exits.
The show began, but no clowns appeared. There were no beautiful ladies riding handsome horses. There were no skimpily clad people flying through the air from one golden swing to another. There were no balloons and no venders of sweets. This circus was not what those in attendance had hoped for. There were no signs of happiness and joy anywhere. The crowd waited in anticipation. They wanted to be entertained. They wanted to applaud a great and wonderful show. Then, all at once there was a blast that could only be described as earth shaking. The lights went out and then there was another explosion and another and another. The lights flickered back on. In the center ring there were hundreds and hundreds of dead people. The audience gasped. They saw dead soldiers in American uniforms. They saw foreign faces of men, women and little children. Ladies in the audience screamed and covered the eyes of their crying children. The men looked on in confusion and disbelief. Then an eerie silence fell over the crowd, interrupted occasionally by the tiny whimper of a child in its mother’s arms.
People were stunned. They couldn’t believe what had happened or why. As they tried to regain their composure, another blast occurred and again the lights went out for a short time. This time when the lighting returned there were even more dead bodies before them. Someone in the crowd screamed, “Please make it stop”. A few jumped from their seats and ran for the exits. They tried to escape but there was no way out. They were trapped in the tent. The only one with the key to the exits was no where to be found. The barker who had promised them a wonderful show had left his audience trapped in a circus, a theater of death, and he hadn’t attended the event. He never even heard the whimper of a single child or the scream of a single woman. He was gone.
How many more? How many more Americans and Iraqis will die before this atrocious circus of death will end.
It is a circus you know. The barker sold it as the show of all shows. He promised those who attended would be shocked and awed. He lured them into his tent and then once they were inside, he quietly blocked the exits.
The show began, but no clowns appeared. There were no beautiful ladies riding handsome horses. There were no skimpily clad people flying through the air from one golden swing to another. There were no balloons and no venders of sweets. This circus was not what those in attendance had hoped for. There were no signs of happiness and joy anywhere. The crowd waited in anticipation. They wanted to be entertained. They wanted to applaud a great and wonderful show. Then, all at once there was a blast that could only be described as earth shaking. The lights went out and then there was another explosion and another and another. The lights flickered back on. In the center ring there were hundreds and hundreds of dead people. The audience gasped. They saw dead soldiers in American uniforms. They saw foreign faces of men, women and little children. Ladies in the audience screamed and covered the eyes of their crying children. The men looked on in confusion and disbelief. Then an eerie silence fell over the crowd, interrupted occasionally by the tiny whimper of a child in its mother’s arms.
People were stunned. They couldn’t believe what had happened or why. As they tried to regain their composure, another blast occurred and again the lights went out for a short time. This time when the lighting returned there were even more dead bodies before them. Someone in the crowd screamed, “Please make it stop”. A few jumped from their seats and ran for the exits. They tried to escape but there was no way out. They were trapped in the tent. The only one with the key to the exits was no where to be found. The barker who had promised them a wonderful show had left his audience trapped in a circus, a theater of death, and he hadn’t attended the event. He never even heard the whimper of a single child or the scream of a single woman. He was gone.
posted by pissed off patricia at 6:21 AM
26 Comments:
A long, dark carnival of the soul. We've allowed our national soul and our national morality to be reduced to strongarm tactics and state-sponsored terrorism.
Your allegory is outstanding. Now, if only people would really see the circus for what it is: An attack on humanity for a natural resource that the barker wants to control for money.
Now that we have this news today, of the Iraq Obscenity Circus, the following question looms larger: Why is it that W can weep for an austistic basketball hero, but not for those people he sent to their death in Iraq?
I stick by my theory, he never wept for the kid or for anyone else. He has no heart and no tears.
Let us pray before we prey.
Eprof is right, and we need to see it for what it is. Reject their smoke and mirrors. Maybe we need a better louder barker???
Oh thats right anyone who tries gets little or no support...
Even if Bush has heard the cries of men, women, and children, even if he has seen the photos of body parts strewn across the streets and sidewalks stained with blood...I seriously doubt he would care. He would not shed a tear nor lose any sleep.
To him its the "price of freedom"...The Iraqis are "liberated". They should be "thanking" Bush.
Its hard to have feeling for people when you view them as statistics, pawns, and exploitable labor in your little big game of World Monopoly hybrided with Risk. Milton-Bradley is shocked and awed.
Just as an indication of how close to the truth you are, read a little bit about the Ringling Bros Circus fire in Hartford, CT in 1944. The Hartford big top was waterproofed with a mixture of parafin (candle wax) and white gasoline (Coleman fuel). Stuart O'Nan, who wrote a book about the circus fire, describes the victims in much the same way you describe yours.
A very moving piece, and one that should be required reading.
it is disgusting. the real disgusting part is that we have been doing these airstrikes and killing innocent people all throughout Clinton's term in office as well
that may be so graemeanfinson, perhaps some civilians died durin Clintons surgical strategic air strikes on Iraq.
But it pales in comparison to the 100,000 Iraqis that have died under Bush, the torture at Abu Ghraib, and Gitmo.
It also pales in comparison to the 2300 US soldiers DEAD and 14,000 US Soldiers wounded.
Not one US soldier died during Kosovo.
There are no innocents in Iraq. Doesn't everyone know that if they were innocent, they would have found a way out? We're fightin' 'em there, so's we doesn't haff ta fight 'em here!
A nice allegory. But don't forget the Bush contortionist -- who bends language into a freak show where "healthy forests" become clearcut central and "enhanced interrogation techniques" become cruel torture. Now I know why the ringmaster carries a whip.
PoP, you are most likely right about the weeping...not a drop, not for no one, but himself.
Incidentially, I linked up in a related post at my location today.
Blog on Sister.
Wow! Thanks for the link windspike. We wee blogs appreciate the help. :)
Great post. You are right-he was a great barker. People are still waiting... Today, I noticed there are still people picketing for shrub. One of the signs read, "we already tried peace." I was tempted to stop and ask them if they are proud of us attacking a 3rd world country, and we can't even get out of it. I didn't have time, though.
PoP:
I can add yet another drip to the many water tortures today: The FBI was checking out "pacifist" groups even before the war in Iraq and listing them in their reports under "international terrorism." Is there no end to the drip, drip, drip of this administration?
Guess not eprof2. The Girl Scouts might be next.
I want my money refunded. This circus stinks to high heaven.
Outstanding blog, Patricia. I'll be back to read more.
Really beautifully written....and so sad....
( you probally read Bahgdad Burning?...it's on the top of my bloroll...this piece really reminds me of her....)
I spend most of my time enraged at all this insanity. My husband gets irritated with me because I mumble to the TV news stories...usually at something one of the Bush morons has said. I think I have a permanent snort that interrupts my speech pattern now and again. Everytime someone dies...be it soldier or civilian...my blood boils a notch higher. I think it's time for the 60's demonstrations...they did some good. Good post...too bad we still have these things to blog about.
It just gets worse and worse. So sad.
and thanks to the money made by ticket sales, the show can go on, and on, and on....
The clowns are in the White House.
LOL, good one Yank! And welcome :)
Powerful writing here, Patricia. This should be printed out and sent to every newspaper in the country. You have definitely captured our minds with this one.
great post indeed
Post a Comment
<< Home