Troops Out

My thoughts today keep moving to the situation in Iraq. The murder of Kenneth Bigley, a British hostage taken by Iraqi captors, haunts me.

I reflect that twenty years ago today was "the Brighton bombing" in UK, where a hotel was bombed during the Conservative party conference. The IRA sent the message: "Give Ireland peace and there will be no war." I joined the Troops Out Movement then. It happens that October also marks 30 years of the Troops Out Movement which campaigns for British troops out of Ireland and self-determination for the Irish people as a whole.

Portuguese national guards make up part of a multinational force under British command in the south of Iraq. Their mandate expires on November 12th. According to most newspaper polls the majority of people in Portugal want the troops out of Iraq. I feel weighed down and helpless as I watch events in Iraq unfold and feel the enormous implications these events have on all our lives. Their weight outmatches anything I've seen and worried about before. There is so much action and healing that needs to be done - at so many different levels.