For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle -- as we did in the O.J. trial -- or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina -- or as fodder for the nightly news.
We can play Rev. Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words.
We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time."
~Barack Obama, powerfully defusing those who'd lie and twist words to blow this nation up, yesterday.
Amen, and amen.
I predict that there are some few on the more Rabid Right who will hang on to this non-issue about Reverend Wright's sermons and strive to swiftboat Obama with lies and vapid, empty-headed non-charges and baseless allegations.
I further predict that this will only further serve to marginalize the Rabid Right as the haters and deceivers that they are, God have mercy on their souls; that the rest of us are ready to move on and, with Obama, say, "NOT THIS TIME!"
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Between Reality and Fantasy
Following up on the previous post:
Out of concern of some preacher-bashing and truth-twisting that I've seen taking place, here are some REAL quotes expressing some of Reverend Jeremiah Wright's ACTUAL thoughts (as opposed to words and ideas that people are trying to foist on him):
“I don’t know how you can do ministry without having social justice as a piece of what you are doing."
“Jesus says, ‘As you’ve done to the least of these, you’ve done to me.’ [Each of] the ministries of our church address some of that Jesus agenda...”
[Trinity United Church of Christ members can get involved with more than 50 ministries, including those dedicated to supporting people affected by HIV/AIDS, victims of domestic violence and the un- and underemployed. TUCC also houses a community computer center and offers numerous educational opportunities for youth and adults in the congregation.]
“Don’t confuse your ‘bling-bling’ with your blessings. Don’t try to impress your oppressors.”
[One of the precepts of TUCC’s 12-Point Black Value System, established by the congregation in 1981, is the “disavowal of the pursuit of ‘middleclassness.’]
“In a democracy we need to learn how to disagree without breaking up our house and getting a divorce. We need to learn how to be unified in terms of nobody should go to bed hungry, nobody should die unnecessarily.”
[Can I get an Amen?]
"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye, We should have nuked Washington DC..."
"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost..."
=======
Now, as I state in the next post, I don't know jack about Jeremiah except for some brief snippets and quotes. He may well be putting out hateful or at least ill-advised messages.
But from what I've SEEN posted about him (as opposed to his actual postions) I suspect there's an attempt at a digital lynching going on in some "christian" quarters.
Now, I'm not one to normally do the "quote" thing around "christian," but the behavior I've seen demonstrated is not Christian in any sense.
If you have a problem with a brother, you point it out to them and, if you must discuss it publicly, you point out exactly what he's done that you disagree with. You don't say he's a false teacher and a hater and a racist without supporting such dangerous accusations.
Shameful, shameful, shameful.
I join with Wright in saying, "God DAMN that sort of behavior."
Out of concern of some preacher-bashing and truth-twisting that I've seen taking place, here are some REAL quotes expressing some of Reverend Jeremiah Wright's ACTUAL thoughts (as opposed to words and ideas that people are trying to foist on him):
“I don’t know how you can do ministry without having social justice as a piece of what you are doing."
“Jesus says, ‘As you’ve done to the least of these, you’ve done to me.’ [Each of] the ministries of our church address some of that Jesus agenda...”
[Trinity United Church of Christ members can get involved with more than 50 ministries, including those dedicated to supporting people affected by HIV/AIDS, victims of domestic violence and the un- and underemployed. TUCC also houses a community computer center and offers numerous educational opportunities for youth and adults in the congregation.]
“Don’t confuse your ‘bling-bling’ with your blessings. Don’t try to impress your oppressors.”
[One of the precepts of TUCC’s 12-Point Black Value System, established by the congregation in 1981, is the “disavowal of the pursuit of ‘middleclassness.’]
“In a democracy we need to learn how to disagree without breaking up our house and getting a divorce. We need to learn how to be unified in terms of nobody should go to bed hungry, nobody should die unnecessarily.”
[Can I get an Amen?]
"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye, We should have nuked Washington DC..."
"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost..."
=======
Now, as I state in the next post, I don't know jack about Jeremiah except for some brief snippets and quotes. He may well be putting out hateful or at least ill-advised messages.
But from what I've SEEN posted about him (as opposed to his actual postions) I suspect there's an attempt at a digital lynching going on in some "christian" quarters.
Now, I'm not one to normally do the "quote" thing around "christian," but the behavior I've seen demonstrated is not Christian in any sense.
If you have a problem with a brother, you point it out to them and, if you must discuss it publicly, you point out exactly what he's done that you disagree with. You don't say he's a false teacher and a hater and a racist without supporting such dangerous accusations.
Shameful, shameful, shameful.
I join with Wright in saying, "God DAMN that sort of behavior."
If They're Not Against Us, They're For Us...
Those who aren't against us are for us?
Isn't that backwards? If we've learned nothing during the Bush years, isn't it that, "If you're not FOR us, you're AGAINST us?" I mean, isn't that his whole legacy?
Well, that favorite philosopher of Bush - Jesus - did utter that saying once, but Jesus also said it the opposite way. In Mark 9, we see the boys on a journey...
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."
Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me."
John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea."
So, what? Shall we call Jesus a liar? Shall we say, "Anyone who gives a cup of cold water to one in need will not lose his reward - UNLESS, that is, he is a Democrat. Or a Republican. Or a Muslim. Or just anyone that we don't like..."??
I've seen many complaints here lately about Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Now, I knew nothing of the man before this month and now, all I know are the little excerpts of sermons that I've heard or read.
But there are many, it seems, foaming at the mouth claiming he's not a Christian, that he's a false teacher, a teacher of hate and racism. When I've asked people what exactly Wright has said that makes them make such a strong charge, they've been reluctant to produce an exact quote, preferring to say, "If you can't see he's obviously an American-hating racist, then there's a problem with you!!"
Whoever receives a child in my name, receives me. Whoever gives a cup of cold water will receive his reward. If they're not against us, they're for us.
Could it be that one difference between some of us is that some tend towards Jesus' saying "If you're not for me, you're against me" (in Matthew 12) while others of us tend towards Jesus' saying "Those who aren't against us are for us"?
I tend to include those who claim to be God followers as a brother or a sister. Now, if they take actions that aren't Godly (encouraging hate, spreading rumors, bearing false witness), I will tell them that they've strayed from the way. But that is not the same as my saying, "You're not on the same team! You hate America! You're not a Christian!!"
Others seem to tend to be more quick to jump to the opposite conclusion. "I don't like the way that sounds, this fella must be a traitor, a communist, not a christian!"
In the case of Reverend Wright, I'll have to say that some of the snippets I've read and heard (out of context) sound more divisive or argumentative than I think is healthy for a strong community. His words have sometimes sounded a bit like Us against Them kind of thinking.
Now, I will say that most of what I've heard from him - even in these snippets selected to make him sound bad - I've tended to agree with. It's just how he's expressed it that I have some reservations with.
But short of some solid quote where he is expressing anti-Christian, ungodly thoughts, I would gladly tend to include him in my circle of faith community. He's not against Us, seems to me. He's for us. For the US, for the body of Christ, for the world community, for the poor and oppressed.
So why the animosity and presumption of guilt on the part of some?
He sure seems to be on the same team to me.
You think?
Isn't that backwards? If we've learned nothing during the Bush years, isn't it that, "If you're not FOR us, you're AGAINST us?" I mean, isn't that his whole legacy?
Well, that favorite philosopher of Bush - Jesus - did utter that saying once, but Jesus also said it the opposite way. In Mark 9, we see the boys on a journey...
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."
Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me."
John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea."
So, what? Shall we call Jesus a liar? Shall we say, "Anyone who gives a cup of cold water to one in need will not lose his reward - UNLESS, that is, he is a Democrat. Or a Republican. Or a Muslim. Or just anyone that we don't like..."??
I've seen many complaints here lately about Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Now, I knew nothing of the man before this month and now, all I know are the little excerpts of sermons that I've heard or read.
But there are many, it seems, foaming at the mouth claiming he's not a Christian, that he's a false teacher, a teacher of hate and racism. When I've asked people what exactly Wright has said that makes them make such a strong charge, they've been reluctant to produce an exact quote, preferring to say, "If you can't see he's obviously an American-hating racist, then there's a problem with you!!"
Whoever receives a child in my name, receives me. Whoever gives a cup of cold water will receive his reward. If they're not against us, they're for us.
Could it be that one difference between some of us is that some tend towards Jesus' saying "If you're not for me, you're against me" (in Matthew 12) while others of us tend towards Jesus' saying "Those who aren't against us are for us"?
I tend to include those who claim to be God followers as a brother or a sister. Now, if they take actions that aren't Godly (encouraging hate, spreading rumors, bearing false witness), I will tell them that they've strayed from the way. But that is not the same as my saying, "You're not on the same team! You hate America! You're not a Christian!!"
Others seem to tend to be more quick to jump to the opposite conclusion. "I don't like the way that sounds, this fella must be a traitor, a communist, not a christian!"
In the case of Reverend Wright, I'll have to say that some of the snippets I've read and heard (out of context) sound more divisive or argumentative than I think is healthy for a strong community. His words have sometimes sounded a bit like Us against Them kind of thinking.
Now, I will say that most of what I've heard from him - even in these snippets selected to make him sound bad - I've tended to agree with. It's just how he's expressed it that I have some reservations with.
But short of some solid quote where he is expressing anti-Christian, ungodly thoughts, I would gladly tend to include him in my circle of faith community. He's not against Us, seems to me. He's for us. For the US, for the body of Christ, for the world community, for the poor and oppressed.
So why the animosity and presumption of guilt on the part of some?
He sure seems to be on the same team to me.
You think?
Friday, March 14, 2008
Spring approacheth
We had a grand snowstorm last week, depositing nearly a foot of snow in a few brief hours. It disrupted the weekend a little, but for the most part, the streets cleared quickly and it gave everyone who wished a short time to go sledding, build snow creatures and otherwise cavort. Then, just as quickly as it had arrived, the snow was gone.
The snow left in its place the beginnings of Spring. Trees are beginning to bud. Lilies and crocus are poking through the nicely damp ground, in some cases, already flowering. Creeks are flowing with vigor and joy. And birds of all sorts and sizes are filling the air with their song.
I made a quick trip the other day over to the Friends' Farm across the river, and was greeted by an incredible symphony of song bursting from all of the above. I walked thru the woods and had to tear myself away from the beauty of it all much too soon.
In my very brief visit there, I spotted cardinals, a bluebird, a hawk and a crow soaring overhead, an eastern towhee, sparrows and multiple birds I could not identify from a distance. I also collected a few snippets of the symphony, shown below along with some photos.
Let those with ears, enjoy.
God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars. ~Martin Luther
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.... People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back. ~Alice Walker
But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will teach you: or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. ~Job 12
Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. ~Rachel Carson
The snow left in its place the beginnings of Spring. Trees are beginning to bud. Lilies and crocus are poking through the nicely damp ground, in some cases, already flowering. Creeks are flowing with vigor and joy. And birds of all sorts and sizes are filling the air with their song.
I made a quick trip the other day over to the Friends' Farm across the river, and was greeted by an incredible symphony of song bursting from all of the above. I walked thru the woods and had to tear myself away from the beauty of it all much too soon.
In my very brief visit there, I spotted cardinals, a bluebird, a hawk and a crow soaring overhead, an eastern towhee, sparrows and multiple birds I could not identify from a distance. I also collected a few snippets of the symphony, shown below along with some photos.
Let those with ears, enjoy.
God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars. ~Martin Luther
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.... People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back. ~Alice Walker
But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will teach you: or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. ~Job 12
Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. ~Rachel Carson
Monday, March 10, 2008
Wipeout
I went with my daughter and some friends sledding this weekend, to enjoy our rare snowfall deep enough to actually enjoy. The day was warm, the snow was soft and perfect and a grand time was had by all.
A few photos and quotes to share the day with you follow.
The snow notwithstanding, Spring is just around the corner, friends.
======
“Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.”
~Soren Kierkegaard
A few photos and quotes to share the day with you follow.
The snow notwithstanding, Spring is just around the corner, friends.
======
“Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.”
~Soren Kierkegaard
Snowy Thistle
Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
~Robert Frost
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
~Robert Frost
Sledding Kids
“Look round and round upon this bare bleak plain, and see even here, upon a winter's day, how beautiful the shadows are! Alas! it is the nature of their kind to be so. The loveliest things in life, Tom, are but shadows; and they come and go, and change and fade away, as rapidly as these!”
~Charles Dickens
~Charles Dickens
Andy Sledding
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
~Albert Camus
~Albert Camus
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Behold the birds of the air...
In the news...
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices were sent soaring above $105 a barrel Thursday after a surprise drop in U.S. crude oil supplies and OPEC's decision not to boost production sent oil to a record settle Wednesday.
======
And more news telling us other ways that our auto-centric society costs, costs, costs...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Traffic crashes cost American motorists more than $160 billion a year while inflicting a staggering per-person toll on small cities such as Little Rock, Arkansas, Columbia, South Carolina, and Pensacola, Florida, according to a AAA research report...
...Maryland-based Cambridge Systematics Inc., which conducted the research for the automobile association, found that crashes cost U.S. motorists $164.2 billion a year, or about $1,051 per person. That's more than double the $67.6 billion in annual costs from congestion, which works out to about $430 per person.
=====
And, at ELAshley's place, Eric is citing an economist who predicts dire days ahead due to our oil dependencies...
...It all boils down to this, Maxwell told EnergyTechStocks.com: We live in a world where there is only about 1.2% more oil available each year, not enough to keep up with 1.5% annual demand growth. Between now and 2010, this supply shortfall will be made up through a drawdown in inventories, helped out by a slowdown in demand in 2008 and 2009 due to a recession or near-recession in the U.S.
But in 2010, Maxwell said, the shortfall will become greater than can be made up by what’s still in inventory, and thus will begin a long period of global oil scarcity that will get worse starting in 2012 or 2013, which is when Maxwell foresees a “peak” in conventional oil production. It gets even worse in 2015, which is when he expects a peak in the production of all liquids, a category that includes condensates, tar sands oil and biodiesel.
Maxwell described the period 2010 through 2015 as the “letting down” of production. In 2015, he said, the all-liquids peak arrives, after which production “starts down,” even as demand continues up. He added that production will start down even though new oilfields will go into production, and even if there is only a 4.5% average annual depletion rate from existing fields, which is what Cambridge Energy Research Associates has optimistically concluded. (Others believe the depletion rate is significantly higher.)
=====
What is significant (and a little slimy) about this Maxwell scenario above is that it isn't coming from some "environmental wacko" but rather an investing "expert," who is telling people how best to invest in the pending crises (that's the slimy part...) It is becoming more evident that changes will be forced upon us. I'm wondering how we will embrace those changes?
Perhaps now that Cuba may be seeing some changes come their way, perhaps we can open our minds enough to learn some of their oil-free wisdom (without embracing any of their idiocies).
And that's some of the news that's fit to consider today.
We ought pay attention...
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices were sent soaring above $105 a barrel Thursday after a surprise drop in U.S. crude oil supplies and OPEC's decision not to boost production sent oil to a record settle Wednesday.
======
And more news telling us other ways that our auto-centric society costs, costs, costs...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Traffic crashes cost American motorists more than $160 billion a year while inflicting a staggering per-person toll on small cities such as Little Rock, Arkansas, Columbia, South Carolina, and Pensacola, Florida, according to a AAA research report...
...Maryland-based Cambridge Systematics Inc., which conducted the research for the automobile association, found that crashes cost U.S. motorists $164.2 billion a year, or about $1,051 per person. That's more than double the $67.6 billion in annual costs from congestion, which works out to about $430 per person.
=====
And, at ELAshley's place, Eric is citing an economist who predicts dire days ahead due to our oil dependencies...
...It all boils down to this, Maxwell told EnergyTechStocks.com: We live in a world where there is only about 1.2% more oil available each year, not enough to keep up with 1.5% annual demand growth. Between now and 2010, this supply shortfall will be made up through a drawdown in inventories, helped out by a slowdown in demand in 2008 and 2009 due to a recession or near-recession in the U.S.
But in 2010, Maxwell said, the shortfall will become greater than can be made up by what’s still in inventory, and thus will begin a long period of global oil scarcity that will get worse starting in 2012 or 2013, which is when Maxwell foresees a “peak” in conventional oil production. It gets even worse in 2015, which is when he expects a peak in the production of all liquids, a category that includes condensates, tar sands oil and biodiesel.
Maxwell described the period 2010 through 2015 as the “letting down” of production. In 2015, he said, the all-liquids peak arrives, after which production “starts down,” even as demand continues up. He added that production will start down even though new oilfields will go into production, and even if there is only a 4.5% average annual depletion rate from existing fields, which is what Cambridge Energy Research Associates has optimistically concluded. (Others believe the depletion rate is significantly higher.)
=====
What is significant (and a little slimy) about this Maxwell scenario above is that it isn't coming from some "environmental wacko" but rather an investing "expert," who is telling people how best to invest in the pending crises (that's the slimy part...) It is becoming more evident that changes will be forced upon us. I'm wondering how we will embrace those changes?
Perhaps now that Cuba may be seeing some changes come their way, perhaps we can open our minds enough to learn some of their oil-free wisdom (without embracing any of their idiocies).
And that's some of the news that's fit to consider today.
We ought pay attention...
Monday, March 3, 2008
Another Drop
In the news today:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States on Monday used precision missiles to strike a "known terrorist target" in southern Somalia, a U.S. military official said.
The strike near Dhoobley, which is close to the Kenyan border, was aimed at a "facility where there were known terrorists" affiliated with East African al Qaeda operations, according to the official.
The strike destroyed two houses -- killing three women and three children, and wounding another 20 people -- Dhoobley's District Commissioner Ali Nur Ali Dherre told CNN. Dherre said the remains of the missiles were marked "US K."
The U.S. military official said the United States is still collecting post-strike information and is not yet able to confirm any casualties.
He described Monday's strike as "very deliberate" and said forces tried to use caution to avoid hitting civilians.
Villagers have fled in fear of another strike, Dherre said.
"We woke up with a loud and big bang and when we came out we found our neighbor's house completely obliterated as if no house existed here," Fatuma Abdullahi, a resident of the town, told The Associated Press. "We are taking shelter under trees. Three planes were flying over our heads."
Clan elder Ahmed Nur Dalab told AP that said a senior Islamic official, Hassan Turki, was in town Sunday to mediate between his fighters and a militia loyal to the government. Turki's forces took over Dhoobley last week, AP reported.
Dherre told CNN he did not know of any Islamist extremists in the village.
The United States conducted similar strikes in southern Somalia in January 2007 against al Qaeda targets, hoping to kill some of the militants suspected in the 1998 attacks against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
======
What I'm wondering is, how the hell do we have permission to choose to drop a bomb in Somalia? It's not mentioned in the article. Has the gov't of Somalia said it's okay for us to conduct bombing raids?
Or are we just beyond laws here in the US?
And, if they knew there were terrorists there, why not go in and arrest them instead of bombing children "by accident"? Or is it that we don't have permission to arrest and so we'll bomb instead?
What the hell?! (And I mean that quite literally.)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States on Monday used precision missiles to strike a "known terrorist target" in southern Somalia, a U.S. military official said.
The strike near Dhoobley, which is close to the Kenyan border, was aimed at a "facility where there were known terrorists" affiliated with East African al Qaeda operations, according to the official.
The strike destroyed two houses -- killing three women and three children, and wounding another 20 people -- Dhoobley's District Commissioner Ali Nur Ali Dherre told CNN. Dherre said the remains of the missiles were marked "US K."
The U.S. military official said the United States is still collecting post-strike information and is not yet able to confirm any casualties.
He described Monday's strike as "very deliberate" and said forces tried to use caution to avoid hitting civilians.
Villagers have fled in fear of another strike, Dherre said.
"We woke up with a loud and big bang and when we came out we found our neighbor's house completely obliterated as if no house existed here," Fatuma Abdullahi, a resident of the town, told The Associated Press. "We are taking shelter under trees. Three planes were flying over our heads."
Clan elder Ahmed Nur Dalab told AP that said a senior Islamic official, Hassan Turki, was in town Sunday to mediate between his fighters and a militia loyal to the government. Turki's forces took over Dhoobley last week, AP reported.
Dherre told CNN he did not know of any Islamist extremists in the village.
The United States conducted similar strikes in southern Somalia in January 2007 against al Qaeda targets, hoping to kill some of the militants suspected in the 1998 attacks against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
======
What I'm wondering is, how the hell do we have permission to choose to drop a bomb in Somalia? It's not mentioned in the article. Has the gov't of Somalia said it's okay for us to conduct bombing raids?
Or are we just beyond laws here in the US?
And, if they knew there were terrorists there, why not go in and arrest them instead of bombing children "by accident"? Or is it that we don't have permission to arrest and so we'll bomb instead?
What the hell?! (And I mean that quite literally.)
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