The State of New Mexico Understands: Thou Shalt Not Kill

It should not come as any surprise to anyone that as a catholic and as a catholic bishop, I am unconditionally opposed to the death penalty. I would like to think that regardless of the elements of faith and episcopal rank notwithstanding - I would still be opposed to the death penalty.

Of all the social justice and peace issues I am personally and pastorally involved in, I had come to fear that there would never be, in my lifetime, any real political and social momentum that might finally bring a end to the death penalty throughout this country.

And then from the Land of the Enchantment comes some hope for us who still dream.

The good people of the State of New Mexico have abolished the death penalty from their books. I do not doubt for a moment that this decision came easy for the citizens of New Mexico, the members of their legislature or for Governor Bill Richardson - but God bless them all they did it.

It is my hope and prayer that this spark of hope will ignite the flames of humanity, reason and morality to begin sweeping across our country to inspire those States who continue to retain the death penalty on their book to follow the lead of New Mexico and abolish it.

We have been commanded by God not to kill. God did not provide any government any dispensations from this commandment and the good people of New Mexico realized that.

Thank you, New Mexico. I am feeling a bit more hopeful again.

Sincerely Yours,




James Alan Wilkowski
Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest
Chicago, Illinois

Traffic Jam Surveillance

Not the preferred place for anyone, anywhere...stuck in traffic. And in our case, a military convoy, feeling vulnerable in the best of conditions, sitting at a complete stand still does not help one feel like less of a target. So what to do as a passenger, to stay alert, aware of your surroundings and stay calm? Take pictures.

One of many murals in Diwaniya. This one outside a police station, on a t-wall, is a favorite.

Iraqi Highway Patrol..."IiPS?"

Got the reflection of our gunner as I took a shot of another driver.

Still see something new and surprising every time I leave Camp Echo.

Many buildings here with tell-tale signs of an unstable time. While our unit was in Baghdad I could hear distant shots and explosions from our FOB in the Green Zone at least once a week. It's much quieter here in the south.

I got the evil eye from this vehicle's passenger. I wasn't as bold as it might seem. I only tried to take shots of moving vehicles as they passed.

Once we got to and passed the bottle-neck, we caught up with the motorcycle, and traffic opened up.

Music Reviews: My iPod in iRaq

My Sansa MP3 player died a month or two before I deployed. As a gift I was given a new ipod which has become a little electronic friend over the last year. I've ordered a lot of new music from Amazon and often I make my own album covers to paste into the ipod as the album art. So this is my second post with short and sweet "reviews" of what I'm listening to and the covers I made.

This is the remix release of Thom Yorke's solo album Eraser (Radiohead). The original isn't easy to listen to with its cold industrial feel, and the remix version goes even further and deeper into the robo-lament territory. That said there is something purely organic emotional and appealing underneath that draws me back to the original. Not sure if this newer version will service in the same way over time.

I ordered two War Child CDs recently as well. I combined select tracks from both the Peace Songs and Heroes benefit CDs into one album on my player. The Heroes release is the newest and really good with newer artists covering classics. To be honest, Peace Songs, on 2 CDs, only has a few tracks I can wrap my head around, but I enjoy Heroes and look forward to future projects from War Child which benefits children in war torn regions of the world. Bowie's "Heroes" remade by TV on the Radio is the highlight. That's the HQ Kids from a previous blog on my album cover.

Dark Was The Night is also a benefit album. Various newer musicians and bands such as The National and My Morning Jacket have excellent song contributions to this project in support of finding a cure for AIDS. I just used one of my pics, inverted the colors, and added the title in a funky font.

I'm a big fan of The Magnetic Fields. A lot of their '90s music I consider classic, but over time I've become weary of the MF formula. This album might sound fresh to someone who isn't familiar with this band though. Steven Merritt's lyrics are so sad-silly-clever I almost feel bad to give anything other than a pure positive review. The original picture used on this cover is a blown up bunker in Kuwait.

This is a classic from my oldest favorite band, The Church. The guitars became more atmospheric over the years and Steve Kilbey came into his own vocal style so this album, released in '81 with it's combination post-punk songs, tight guitar structures, and Bowiesque singing that later became new wave cliche, is something they only really did on this first release, but works in nostalgic perfection.

Iraq War: 6 Years Gone

Not more than 6 years old, this boy has never known his country without American military presence. What his heart and mind will conjure up after we are gone, and after he grows up, is a speculation that the unseen world around him debates. Will this debate have any effect on his perspective? Probably not.

IPs going about their day. With my overactive imagination I can see this spot six years ago, but six years from now, it's much more difficult to imagine. If I re-enlist (currently stop-lossed) I may have a chance to find out. But seeing the world 6 years from now is what makes my head spin, and makes re-enlistment such a colorful grey area.

An IP heading home after work, about to make a left turn into traffic, his Glock 9mm visible, along with the Mosque and hospital in the distance. "Counter-flow traffic," no matter what kind of vehicle, is a regular thing in Iraq. I wonder if they learned it from us as we cross the median into lane #3 while going from point A to B all the time. This maneuver is "tactical" for military, avoiding ambush, but also now forbidden as part of the recently passed "SOFA agreement." Still happens both ways all the time though.

I noticed IPs posing for a dismounted soldier. I wanted the soldier to be in the picture too but she stepped back. Perhaps after 6 years this is something that Iraqis have gotten used to as well. I mentioned counter-flow traffic before. Well often we get the middle finger from kids in neighborhoods. I've wondered if they even knew what that gesture meant till one day a young teen came to my window right after we parked and ditched his scowl and bird for a wave and a smile as soon as he saw my camera. So the bird probably flew here from Hollywood as mush as it did from the passing soldiers in convoys.

This little guy was startled by soldiers coming from out-of-view, around the corner, even though he was talking to me at the truck window earlier. Often the little ones are very brave while approaching the trucks. We must seem trapped inside, but when the door opens, and we dismount, they scatter. The older ones instead take a chance at trying their English with us.

When I took this I was trying to use my zoom on people's faces and not shake too much. After I finished mission, I came back to my CHU and uploaded my shots on my computer. None of the other close up shots came out. Could be my mind's projection, but the mood on the face of this Diwaniyan woman, beneath the low wires along the busy street, seems to reflect the darker state of women within fundamentalist Muslim regions. I can't decide if it's my place to feel bad for them. It's their country, their religion, and my perception of it that sees pain. What could I do anyway? There are so many people in the world in needing rescue of one kind or another.

This is just a cool picture. The traffic, the people, the Arab cabbie leaning on his car. This is a zoomed and cropped shot. Sometimes I keep the silhouette of the window from inside the truck creating a cinematic wide screen effect and sometimes I crop it out and have a panoramic photograph afterwards.

This is a very busy main road in Diwaniya with an anti-counter-flow barrier running down the middle. Not easy to cross as a pedestrian and get two kids to the other side. The IP truck is going 45MPH or so. A lot of my shots are on or around this road. I don't know the actual Arabic name for it and cannot publish our "code name" for it here, for obvious reasons, though I've mentioned Route Irish in Baghdad. Over 6 years it's become quite famous as it's American war name. I've seen "Rt. Irish" t-shirts and bumper stickers here and in the states.

Apparently there's an amusement park in Diwaniya. It's such an out of place thing to see on the horizon. There's one just outside the Green Zone in Baghdad as well. I've seen this Ferris wheel in the distance but never got close enough for a better look. I've yet to see people on it though, or the wheel moving.

People here know the sound of our trucks. Women at home or children peek out to watch us pass. They know we're leaving soon though, and will pass by a last time. Casual conversations with IPs while waiting in the stations have given me the opportunity to conduct mini-NPR-interviews when an interpreter is available. Consistently local IPs have stated that they fear our departure. I ask if they think problems will arise from the tribes clashing inside Iraq, or from outside influences like Iran. "Both" is always the answer.

Diwaniya Iraq (Part 2)

Mother and Child

Roadside Free Enterprise

Rural Woman

Arabike

College Girls outside Al-Qadisiya University

Another Diwaniya DIY

Road Improvement Worker (by Al-Qadisiya University)

Woman Underneath

Diwaniya Police Academy Recruits

Al-Qadisiya University

This is located on the northwest side of Diwaniya which is located in the Al-Qadisiya Provence of Iraq. Being from a college town, where my family is at, Gainesville Florida, I found this an interesting sight. The school is in the middle of drastic renovations, but there are still plenty of students walking around, and I could only wonder what it would be like to study here.

Diwaniya Iraq

My Company flew into Amsterdam when we deployed, but never left the airport. Baghdad was my first look at a city, actually on the ground, outside of the United States. While there, I got to know Route Irish, the Karadah Peninsula, and the Green Zone quite well. I was just as amazed at the similarities to America as I was the differences. Parts of Baghdad actually look like parts of Jacksonville Florida, or Orlando.

Outside the city, downtown, in the suburbs, and on the outskirts, Diwaniya feels like another country all the time. Downtown the bustling business congestion, with a sensory mix of basted rotisserie chicken smells, out on the sidewalk, old Arab men scrolling prayer beads in hand, traffic cops whistle-whistling at every intersection and traffic circle, together make up the componants of this old middle eastern minitropolis.

The body-veiled women in all black rushing in pairs with one hand holding close the opening at their faces, the other holding the hand of a little one, and often cargo balanced on their heads. Vehicles of all kinds including donkey carts, motorcycle-trucks, beat up orange and white Datsun taxis.

In the suburbs children are everywhere. People live in everything from adobe-like "mud huts," to multi-story buildings that resemble municipal housing projects in the states. Merchants set up goods outside their stores which function as their homes when business hours are over. Their only advertisement, the items for sale lined up outside and/or the hand painted or Quark (the original but out of date graphic design computer program) looking plastic signs.

In all areas, but particularly in the poorer parts of town, trash is thrown out to end up wherever it may. No matter the economic level of an area there are satellite dishes and low wires up everywhere. And the children, kids of all ages are everywhere, usually without parents, but not always.


In population and geography, Diwaniya, located 181 kilometers south of Baghdad, is a middle-sized Iraqi city and a good pick to gauge the state of the country. Below, in the background, is the Al Hussein Teaching Hospital, in front of that is the main Mosque in town which has a huge ornate entry with wooden doors tall enough to keep a 12 foot Muslim from ducking on the way in.


There are plenty of contradictions in the landscape, and indications of a city in the midst of huge change. Obviously the changes are the same changes the whole country of Iraq is going through. From the rule of a tyrant, to war-time, to a time of fragile peace and international grants channeled to local governments for infrastructure. Seeing the same kids who sell sodas and fallafel pitas from vehicle to vehicle in traffic later sift through trash for something valuable is not unusual here. On a road that is still being paved, a make-shift guard shack, and above it, a multi-million dollar solar powered street lighting system.
Soon, months from now, I'll be long gone from here. I'm sure I'll wonder from time to time what became of this city I passed through on a daily basis as a fly on a wall of a Humvee. I never got off the beaten path in Baghdad like I have here in this town. I'll imagine these kids growing up here as I watch news reports on Iraq and it's new government. For now, pictures and a blog.