Last night, I read a post over at Crooks and Liars that linked to a piece written by a young Iraqi blogger. I broke down before I finished reading. I’m not forwarding you there to push guilt or to convince you that re-deployment out of Iraq is the only sane or moral choice left (although that’s true). I’m recommending you read it because it’s so unmistakably real, and you can’t talk about something real in abstract terms and get it right unless you hang on tight to all the living breathing directly observable details to which the abstractions refer. When you talk about ‘the war,’ think about, “What will we talk about today you and I?” Read it through to the end — it won’t take too long.
Mohammed Ibn Laith, 16 years old, wrote the post after the death of his brother, a month before the death of his parents, and prior to surviving a recent bombing, alongside his brother and sister, that claimed the lives of his fellow bloggers.
I know that in a couple of days your (mine too?) memory of the piece will have faded. You might forget that Paris Hilton is a fictional character and American Idol is irrelevant. Once again, it will matter to you that your favorite Starbucks recipe could be just a bit better with a little tweaking. But, when you talk about the war, let it remind you of the piece:
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