Two words that one would never expect to be in the same news article are: “vacation” and “Iraq“. Yet, here they are in a headline story filed from Baghdad by Associated Press:

“But the benchmarks have been blocked by divisions among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders. In August, the parliament is taking a one-month vacation — a shorter break than the usual two months, but still enough to anger some in Congress who say lawmakers should push through reforms while American soldiers are dying.”

link: Iraqi prime minister says U.S. troops can go ‘anytime they want’

While the country edges toward civil war, the political leaders take a vacation break. While citizens die on an almost daily basis, the parliament adjourns for a holiday. While American and coalition forces suffer casualties with horrid regularity, the politicians make the sacrifice of cutting short their vacation.

That is insanity. That is immoral. - Doesn’t that behaviour say more than enough about the lives lost in that conflict?

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]iraq, vacation, parliament, war, insanity[/tags]