[Peace-discuss] Re: misgivings on Iraq War: A Four Year Reflection

[lale at uiuc.edu]

Hello,
    I have been quiet a long time, just watching the conversation unravel and taking notes. I honestly did not expect the nature of the display itself to generate such furious debate. Debate is good, but we must all be careful not to discount the good intentions of others. The memorial to the Americans lost was not intended to make less of the Iraqi's lost. They are both tragedies that are intertwined in the same campaign. My original e-mail mentioned the need to display the Iraqi death toll, though this has been overlooked, perhaps because not everyone in this discussion received it. I was unsure of how to properly address the Iraqi casualties and liked the idea of creating a prominent visual display, so that's why we decided address the American death toll rather than do nothing.
         Now, after reading some helpful suggestions (thank you to those who posted them), we plan to add the Iraqi death toll by using 1 flag to represent 500 deaths (so, 1300 white flags for Iraqis and 7 American flags for Americans). This has reduced the cost of the display (which we've already ordered), though we would still appreciate endorsements (monetary or not).
      I agree to disagree on the issue of the American flag, which will still be used to represent American deaths. The US has never completely lived up to its ideals, it is not perfect; our government has led its people into horrible situations (for example, Iraq). The flag has been used to display blind patriotism and the worst aspects of nationalism, but I believe we can also use it in our fight to make America better (not richer, not more dominant, not unilateralist; better= just, multilateralist, diplomatic, environmentally friendly...). I think the people that see the display will not mistake it as an alliance with pro-war forces, but will see the human cost of war.
                                          Respectfully,
                                          Allison Lale

p.s. The date has been pushed back to late April.