Set You Down This

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart
Absent thee from felicity awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.

-- Hamlet

Everybody realizes that it's something that will affect the rest of our lives.

-- U.S. Army Captain, Killed in Fallujah, November 13, 2004

Two years ago this Monday, the man you see above was shot dead in Fallujah by insurgents as he entered a house. He died on the floor of the kitchen. For today, I will just direct your attention to the comments on yesterday's post, by someone who knows a thing or two about the sickening business of Iraq. A tale told by idiots indeed. That man, and hundreds of thousands of others, deserved better. We can do little here but try to preserve some elements of the stories -- and so we do.

I also draw your attention to the Columbia Journalism Review, which now has an oral history of the war, from interviews with journalists, complete with stunning photo galleries, from one of which I took the image you see above.