Too Many Martyrs, Too Many Victims

Today, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting sent out an action alert about the under-reporting of Iraqi civilian casualties by all the major newsmedia. Instead of using Lancet's figure of 100,000+ Iraqi casualties, the networks have reported between 11,000 and 16,000 Iraqi civilian deaths.

For my friends who follow the work of Michael Klare and others, it should be refreshing to see this piece that Truthout picked up from the San Francisco Chronicle, about the actual "age of [oil] scarcity" of which this war is one example.

One of my favorite readers asked for more dish on the WWP split, and after some very brief google searching, I found an article on Bella Ciao which is not only an unusually good news site, but also must be named after that great Italian Partisan song, whose lyrics are to follow, first in Italian then in English. However, that article, which had the most information I could find, was still not completely clear, and this relates to the WWP's decision not to explain their split publicly.

And since I'm feeling a bit hopeless about things, on this second anniversary week of the U.S.'s continuing planet-wrecking, youth grinding, global crisis inducing war, maybe it's good to close with this old partisan song, that sees hope in the moment of martyrdom. I'm sure it's very much how those in the world's many occupied "zones" must feel today.

Bella Ciao.........
Una mattina, mi sono alzato
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
Una mattina mi sono alzato
e ho trovato l'invasor

O partigiano portami via
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
O partigiano portami via
perche mi sento di morir

E se muoio da partigiano
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
e se muoio da partigiano
tu mi devi seppellir

E seppellire lassa in montagna
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
e seppellire lassa in montagna
sotto l'ombra di un bel fior

E le genti che passeranno
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
e le genti che passeranno
ti diranno che bel fior

È questo il fiore del partigiano
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
è questo il fiore del partigiano
morto per la liberta

English translation

This morning I awakened
Oh Goodbye beautiful, beautiful, goodbye Goodbye Goodbye
This morning I awakened
And I found the invader

Oh partisan carry me away
Oh Goodbye beautiful, etc
Oh partisan carry me away
Because I feel death approaching

And if I die as a partisan
Oh Goodbye beautiful, etc.
And if I die as a partisan
Then you must bury me

Bury me up in the mountain
Oh Goodbye beautiful etc.
Bury me up in the mountain
Under the shade of a beautiful flower

And those who shall pass
Oh Goodbye beautiful (etc)
And those who shall pass
Will tell you what a beautiful flower it is

This is the flower of the partisan
Oh Goodbye beautiful (etc)
This is the flower of the partisan
Who died for freedom