| v> | | | | non-native palm trees along Pier View Way? A lot |
| Observations from the EdgeRobert T. | | | | of blood has been shed since Operation Shock |
| NanningaBuzz PublicationsJune 18, 2007 | | | | and Awe began bringing freedom to the Iraqi |
| While having breakfast at Oceanside's Long | | | | people. |
| Boarder Cafe, a friend visiting from Minnesota | | | | Haunting me for days, the faded yellow ribbons |
| asked why there were white ribbons tied around | | | | made me question the value of the ribbons. Why |
| the palm trees at the Civic Center. Ms. Minnesota | | | | did they fade? Are non fading ribbons even |
| found them to be rather sad. The locals at the | | | | possible? Why haven't they been replaced or |
| table smiled: They were yellow, once. was | | | | removed? Who put them there? Had they been |
| our response. | | | | forgotten and overlooked? Did they occur to |
| Yellow ribbons, long a symbol of waiting for the | | | | anyone else as litter? |
| return of a loved one or of military troops who | | | | Perhaps it was just the morning June gloom |
| are temporarily unable to come home, made their | | | | tripping me out, but the white ribbons also |
| cultural debut in 19th century. In 1979, yellow | | | | occurred to me as an insult to the men and |
| ribbons were used to show solidarity for | | | | women serving in Iraq. Left to linger, these |
| American hostages in Iran. | | | | ribbons, exposed as propaganda party favors, are |
| In the early '90's the yellow ribbon became | | | | a metaphor for the superficial reasoning that led |
| synonymous with support our troops as part of | | | | to the Bush Iraq debacle. |
| Operation Desert Storm and again in the 21st | | | | Perhaps a better, more apt interpretation of the |
| century for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation | | | | faded yellow ribbons, is the Tony Orlando and |
| Iron hammer, Operation Phantom Linebacker, | | | | Dawn hit of 1972, where the Yellow Ribbon was |
| Operation Lightning, Operation Squeeze Play, | | | | tied around the ol' Oak Tree. Their song |
| Operation Steel Curtain, Operation Together | | | | takes the yellow ribbon and applies it to federal |
| Forward, Operation Ivy Blizzard, and Operation | | | | prisoner's request to a loved one upon his release. |
| Red Dawn. | | | | A yellow ribbon was the sign of welcomed return |
| Sun-bleached, the faded yellow ribbons serve as | | | | he was looking for. |
| metaphor on many levels. Neglect and time, | | | | Of course I'm not implying U.S. Soldiers and |
| robbing them of their intended relevance, these | | | | marines are criminals nor convicts. What I am |
| white ribbons could easily symbolize the | | | | saying is that the men and women deployed as |
| federal government's commitment to bringing U.S. | | | | freedom fodder in Iraq are prisoners of a U.S. |
| Troops home and ending the occupation of Iraq. | | | | Foreign policy from which they should be released. |
| Like U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf, the | | | | It's not only time for someone to remove the |
| ribbons were oil based. | | | | faded yellow ribbons from the Civic Center palms, |
| Looming like ghosts, I can't help wonder how long | | | | it is also time to demand that we the people |
| those ribbons had been there. A year? Two? | | | | demand more than the simplistic thinking that put |
| Four? How many thresholds had passed since a | | | | them there in the first place. |
| well meaning individual tied the ribbons to the | | | | |