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Thoughts & Prayers
Sarmad Ali is a young Wall Street Journal reporter. I have been hearing about him for two years now, because he is a classmate and very good friend of my friend Cyrus Farivar. They both went to J-school at Columbia right after me; Cyrus went to Berkeley and came back to the bay after he graduated. Cyrus bubbles over with enthusiasm and regard for his friends, and even though I've never met Sarmad, I feel some warmth towards him--it has just rubbed off from Cyrus.
Sarmad is Iraqi. Today he wrote in the WSJ about the disappearance, two months ago, of his father. He still does not know where his father is; it seems to have been a while since he has heard from any of his family. The war has taken a great toll on his family. It is a difficult piece to read, but I think it is important. War is eating at our lives, our friends' lives, the lives of the friends of our friends: acid waves propagating through our single, shared world. We cannot ignore the flood, however high we seem to stand. You can read Sarmad's piece on Cyrus's blog; at the Wall Street Journal site. I hope he gets some message of relief soon.
Comments (4)
In my prayers, too. My heart aches for everyone affected by the war.
Posted on Feb-18-2007 | Link
What a sad story. I can't imagine what he's been going through -- completely helpless to solve his family's problems and isolated from anyone who can relate to them.
Posted on Feb-18-2007 | Link
What a heartbreaking story. It is hard to understand what good this war is doing to whom. Yet Bush, Cheney, and their cronies will insist that this war was necessary and they are "winning" it. Our Congress and Senate act like they are powerless to stop it. We the people have become apathetic and are looking the other way, minding our own everyday business. One wonders what history will say about us.
Posted on Feb-18-2007 | Link
Sometimes I feel that the Journal buries some of the best stories on Saturday. It was a very moving narrative. If you don't have WSJ, you can still listen to the story here.
Posted on Feb-19-2007 | Link