Torn.

Israel/Palestine coffin display.

Reminds me of a Yoko Ono antiwar display, except she planted trees in the coffins.

It is heartening to note that mother nature also has a roadmap for peace among Wild Baboons.

Die with your boots on if you are going to die.

"Shoes on the body of an Iraqi soldier killed as Army troops advanced north through Iraq tell a
story about a poorly equipped army. Almost all of the Iraqi dead -- more than eight in one location --
were wearing worn-out civilian-style shoes." (Photo: David Leeson / Dallas Morning News / Corbis).

My grandfather had many children and worked very hard all his life (roofing) just to scrape by.
I remember him wearing worn out shoes similar to those the slain Iraqi is wearing. That Iraqi will
never see his children or grandkids again and they will never see him. Those are the boots of the
resistance fighters? No body armor either. When you aint got nuthin, you aint got nuthin to lose.

They don’t have WMD's - they don’t even have boots. What the hell are we doing there?

Middle east professor Juan Cole interviewed on Fresh Air tody (audio is online)

Feeling in need of a fluent perspective on the current situation in Iraq following the presidents campaign speech? (Opps! I meant "press conference")

Fresh Air's Terry Gross interviewed Juan Cole today.

"Cole is an authority on modern Islamic movements. He is professor of modern Middle East and South Asia history at the University of Michigan. His most recent book is Sacred Space and Holy War: The Politics, Culture and History of Shi`ite Islam. The book collects some of his work on the history of the Shiite branch of Islam in modern Iraq, Iran and the Persian Gulf region."

Juan Cole's weblog is also a good source of informed commentary on the middle east.