Well, I just got back from 'The Vigil', never having been to one before, at least not this kind of vigil. This was a vigil in Westlake Center to mark the passing of the 1,000th soldier killed in Iraq (officially). Of course, those in the know are aware the 1,000th soldier killed was awhile back.


I went out there with my camera to document how many people were out to mark this important event, and my rough head count made it out to about 150'ish. Well, a few americans is better than none. Perhaps when the numbers run into the millions. I've heard that 30,000 Iraqis have now died in the 'liberation' of their country, thanks to our 'smart bombs' that make a nice, neat little crater with minimal 'collateral damage'. Personally I think that is a deliberate underestimate. Funny, if I knew one of those things was being dropped on the house next door I wouldn't stand across the street to watch. How about you? I didn't think so.
I took some photos from the balcony overlooking Westlake Center precisly at eight, and at that point the crowd was under 100. After I went down to the plaza to check everyone out, it seemed that the majority of people gathered were in their late 30's and 40's, very few young or counterculture people out there. After looking around and wishing there were more people there, I became one of them myself and asked for a candle to light and hold with the others. There were a noticable assortment of new agey types though, including one woman who went around the circle of 150'ish, waving a bundle of sage, brushing a large black feather across the face of everyone and saying something about crazy horse or chief joseph or. . . . Who knows, it all went up with the sage. As she went from person to person her sage bundle went out, and each person had to try to re-light it with the candle they were holding for the vigil. Then she came to me and I gave it a really good dose of flame and got that thing really burning. And in the excitement of having a fully functioning smoky bundle o' sage. . . she forgot to give me her contrived native american blessing. Oh well.
There was an Iraqi flag waving close by, something that I had mixed feelings about. It's still the Baathist flag, not a truly independent Iraqi flag. At least they had the current one that says 'God Is Great' in Arabic, instead of the 1992 flag that was held over Saddam's statues head in the faked 'liberation of downtown Baghdad'. You remember that one, don't you? The one that seemed like a crowd had spontaneously come out to tear down the statue of Saddam, yet the only flag they could come up with was one that hadn't been in use since 1992? The one that if you pulled the camera back from the crowd you could see that it was very small, gathered around the american military vehicles very closely? All young men about the same age, no elderly, no women, in spite of Iraq being a very secular country?
After about 45 minutes everyone made a circle and quietly dispersed. I hope that each and every one of you not only remembers the soldiers that have died in this war, but especially the innocent civilians as well. And the children. Never forget the children.