The News Today - 02 Aug 2010
"Most of US troops to leave Iraq by August 31st of this year"
Saw this on the late news tonight and my first thought was WOW, seriously?! It's about bloody time !!! I didn't think it was a good idea when America 'invaded' Iraq in 2003, and while the US army's presence there has no doubt done a lot of good, I also wonder if the situation might not have been resolved better without intervention from the USA.
After showing a short clip of President Obama talking about how he'd made this promise as part of his campaign and was now delivering on that promise (Way to go, Mister President !!), the newsreader continued.
While the situation in Iraq seems to be getting better, with only some US military personnel staying on to train Iraqis about safety and such, the story in Afghanistan seems to be the opposite of that in Iraq.
A tiny little part of me wonders how bad it would have been, or would not have been as the case may be, if the US hadn't interfered in Afghanistan either. But alas, I'm no political analyst or Middle-East specialist, I'm just a girl who believes that violence is not the answer to anything at all and that sending in negotiators would have been better than sending in the troops.
Also in the news: flooding in Pakistan after heavy rainfall (more than a thousand dead and a million and a half affected) is still bad however the waters look to be receding slightly, and on the opposite end of the scale - huge forest fires are still raging in Russia and a State of Emergency has been declared in fourteen areas of the country.
I guess we live in a world of problems, wars, disasters and contradictions. However, we also live in a world of infinite possibilities. Strange to use the word 'possibilities' in relation to natural disaster and war, however it fits how I'm feeling. In one country it is water causing the problems, in another it is fire. From one extreme to the other. US troops are (finally!) being recalled from one country, yet in another country the troops are staying and more troops were sent in recently. (ditto on the finally!)
The news is full, day in and day out, of stories about fighting, war, famine, political problems and natural disasters.
Listening to stories like these and reading about them in the papers reminds me of a Dutch children's song I used to love. The title (translated) is "If I was the boss of the evening news" and tells the story of a girl (or perhaps it was a boy?) who wishes she was in charge of the evening news.
She'd change all the bad news to happy news and tell stories about happy things like a dog who had nine puppies, a dentist who doesn't hurt people when filling holes, people recovering after an illness and that sort of thing. Part of the lyrics are as follows:
I guess this song becoming reality any time soon is wishful thinking on my part as too many people in this world still seem to believe that fighting is the way to get what they want. However just as the girl singing the song and the writer (Robert Long) who wrote the lyrics - I will keep on dreaming of the possibility of peace on earth and doing my best to help make it become reality one day.
Saw this on the late news tonight and my first thought was WOW, seriously?! It's about bloody time !!! I didn't think it was a good idea when America 'invaded' Iraq in 2003, and while the US army's presence there has no doubt done a lot of good, I also wonder if the situation might not have been resolved better without intervention from the USA.
After showing a short clip of President Obama talking about how he'd made this promise as part of his campaign and was now delivering on that promise (Way to go, Mister President !!), the newsreader continued.
While the situation in Iraq seems to be getting better, with only some US military personnel staying on to train Iraqis about safety and such, the story in Afghanistan seems to be the opposite of that in Iraq.
A tiny little part of me wonders how bad it would have been, or would not have been as the case may be, if the US hadn't interfered in Afghanistan either. But alas, I'm no political analyst or Middle-East specialist, I'm just a girl who believes that violence is not the answer to anything at all and that sending in negotiators would have been better than sending in the troops.
Also in the news: flooding in Pakistan after heavy rainfall (more than a thousand dead and a million and a half affected) is still bad however the waters look to be receding slightly, and on the opposite end of the scale - huge forest fires are still raging in Russia and a State of Emergency has been declared in fourteen areas of the country.
I guess we live in a world of problems, wars, disasters and contradictions. However, we also live in a world of infinite possibilities. Strange to use the word 'possibilities' in relation to natural disaster and war, however it fits how I'm feeling. In one country it is water causing the problems, in another it is fire. From one extreme to the other. US troops are (finally!) being recalled from one country, yet in another country the troops are staying and more troops were sent in recently. (ditto on the finally!)
The news is full, day in and day out, of stories about fighting, war, famine, political problems and natural disasters.
Listening to stories like these and reading about them in the papers reminds me of a Dutch children's song I used to love. The title (translated) is "If I was the boss of the evening news" and tells the story of a girl (or perhaps it was a boy?) who wishes she was in charge of the evening news.
She'd change all the bad news to happy news and tell stories about happy things like a dog who had nine puppies, a dentist who doesn't hurt people when filling holes, people recovering after an illness and that sort of thing. Part of the lyrics are as follows:
Als ik de baas zou zijn van het journaalsource: Kinderen voor Kinderen website
Dan werd metéén het nieuws een heel stuk positiever
De hele wereld werd meteen een beetje liever,
want ik negeerde alle narigheid totaal
If I was the boss of the evening news
then the news would become a whole lot more positive
The whole world would become a bit nicer
Because I would completely ignore all the bad things
I guess this song becoming reality any time soon is wishful thinking on my part as too many people in this world still seem to believe that fighting is the way to get what they want. However just as the girl singing the song and the writer (Robert Long) who wrote the lyrics - I will keep on dreaming of the possibility of peace on earth and doing my best to help make it become reality one day.
