Tom Squitieri's official blog

We Do It For You; Now You Can Look And Act

WASHINGTON -- The first massacre victim I met was really two, an elderly couple still holding hands three days after an ambush along a dusty Bosnian road left them and a dozen others dead.

The only way to find out who they, and the others who were slain — to give them their voice, to tell their story — were was by getting close, looking at any documents they may have had, trying to piece together the bloodied event that left innocents baking and rotting in the hot August sun, or those who never made it out of the bus they thought would bring them to safety.

Moving their hands from pockets, rolling them over, whispering questions in their ears hoping for answers to help me tell their stories and, ideally, make them the last to suffer like this.

In the dust was Veselinka Masic, her birth certificate in her left front pocket; Mlade Todorovic, atop a school diploma and working papers; Veselinka Todorovic slain nearby, her bankbook showing 77,000 dinars - then around $385; Ninela-Nia Galvanic, 16; Dragica Pljevaljcic, 84; Joka Ikohic, 65; Dalibaor Matovic, 11; Dragon Spasogevic, 24.

And a baby, tiny, helpless, whose name I was never able to get.

It was called a small war, Bosnia. The elderly couple and those murdered with them would be faces of hundreds I would see, smell, touch, ponder, come far too close and internalize far too much.

Here is some of what I learned, no matter if it was in Bosnia, Haiti, Burundi, Rwanda, Iraq, Corsica, Afghanistan, and dozens of other places where innocents were murdered, bullied, raped, and tortured:

First, those who commit the crimes always say they did not do it. Second, the war crimes we journalists learn about - or discover on our own — are just a smattering of the horrors that have occurred.

The war in Ukraine has from the start been like those I had covered, one reason I considered steps to get to Ukraine, to get to besieged cities, to follow the flow of weapons from the United States to the hands of Ukrainian troops to their use. I knew, like others who crouched and ran with me in past wars, what was going to happen in Ukraine — and it did — and what is still to happen as that war worsens.

Destroyed buildings, attacks on schools and hospitals and shelters, hundreds fleeing, lawless troops. We knew that once the Russians arrived and then would retreat, greater horrors would be unleashed.

One of the biggest single horrors of the Bosnia war was the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim boys and men were slain and dumped in several mass graves as the area was “ethnically cleansed” of all Muslims. A war term to soften the horror, “ethnically cleansed.”

We found some of those mass graves and relayed the information to authorities. We trekked across mine-strewn roads and wound up arrested, but we did not stop.

Be a “voice for the voiceless,” my first editor told me again and again. So I, and others, did.

Those victims of those wars needed us to give them a voice. Just as those who are deep in Ukraine reporting are doing for these latest victims.

The world always wants to look away. It does not want to hear about the grandmother who dropped to her knees to kiss my muddy boots as she begged me to take her grandchildren to safety. It does not want to hear about the trembling voices from the pre-teen girls who were raped. It does not want to hear the boasts of the bullyboys who chortled — when I asked how they knew who the “others” are — said “they smell differently” and it made it easy to pick them out to murder. It does not see the bodies bobbing in an eddy of a river, after floating downstream from a Rwanda massacre site or the Burundi bodies chopped by “pangas” — machetes — to finish them off after first being gunned down.

And it never even seems to know of the bandaged bodies of the wounded, the bloated stomachs of the starving infants, and the soft whimpers of those slowly dying.

The world does not want to be the ones going through the pockets of rotting corpses to find out who these people were, the precious lives they led, before they were ruthlessly ambushed, now strewn for animals and nature to dismember their remains on that dusty road.

In Latvia, The Summer Winds Are Calm But No One Is Fooled, And No One Forgets

RIGA, Latvia — No one forgets. It is rule one in the often trampled lands of eastern and southern Europe.

And so, when Americans ponder why Latvians and others immediately recoil when a once angry bear growls again — and then ask for more, more, more support and military fortitude, just look at bruised history, geographic proximity, and ingrained memories of brutality and despotism that are deeper than the creases in the streets of old town Riga.

Today, the teasing summer wind from the Baltic Sea blows west to east across Latvia, somewhat pleasantly. That, however, is not how the winds of history have blown. They come from east to west, sometimes south to north. They are calm for the moment, after a derecho this spring.

“We are a relatively small country…with a border (with Belarus and Russia),” Latvian defense minister Artis Pabriks said Wednesday, summing up the reality. “Our military capacity is small.”

Riga, the capital of Latvia where Pabriks made his remarks, is about 630 miles from Kyiv and 572 miles from Moscow. The Russian and Belarus borders are about a two-hour drive.

“From our intelligence perspective, the border is of very high importance,” Pabriks said. “We pay attention all the time.”

He said from Latvia’s military perspective, “Belarus is not an independent country….and it will be integrated into Russia” at some point in time when Russia decides the time has come. “The Russian border and Belarus border and the Belarus and Russian border is one and the same,” he said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, visiting Latvia for two days of meetings, said his counterpart is sharply keyed on the realpolitik of Latvia’s location. “In terms of Latvia security, I can tell you your minister is absolutely focused on that,” Austin said. “I feel pretty good that he is focused on that."

This is Austin’s first trip to Latvia and the first by a U.S. defense secretary since William Perry came here in 1995. "I'm visiting at a critical time for Europe and for the world," Austin said.

Austin, who turned 69 on Monday, praised Latvia for its early support of Ukraine. “From the very beginning, Latvia … stepped up to the plate,” Austin said, adding that it quickly provided some weapons that “were very effective in the early days of the fight.”

A senior defense official said that Russia has pulled a significant number of its elite troops from its border with Latvia and other Baltic nations because of the need for reinforcement in Ukraine. Yet to presume those troops will not reconstitute and return would be folly, the official said - one reason why longer-term U.S. and NATO support for Latvia is critical, the official said.

These bad days were supposed to be over for Latvia, its Baltic neighbors and, in a larger sense, most of Central Europe when the Soviet Union imploded in 1991.

The United States established diplomatic relations with Latvia on July 28, 1922. The U.S. legation in Riga was officially opened on November 13, 1922. The United States never recognized the Soviet Union's occupation of Latvia that started in 1940.

In the eyes of Latvians, by attacking Ukraine, Russian leader Putin has launched a thrust against the European post-Cold War order to which Latvia and others have enjoyed a new birth of freedom and democracy. Latvia’s population is about 30 percent ethnic Russian; the war has once again resuscitated the issue of tearing down the Monument for Liberators in Riga, constructed in 1985 to celebrate Soviet victory in WWII and perceived by many Latvians as a site that glorifies the Soviet occupation of Latvia.

For the moment, the summer evening breeze gives many a chance to pause, ponder, plan, and prepare.

Austin said Russia has committed a significant portion of its most capable forces to its Ukraine invasion. "As a result, they have lost quite a bit of important equipment, tanks, and mechanized vehicles," Austin said. "They've also lost (an) enormous amount of people killed and wounded."

Yet he cautioned that Russia still has a significant military capability — especially in the air and sea domains. ”We don't ever want to lose sight of that. But, again, you know, Russia would endeavor … to regenerate capability going forward," he said. "The sanctions and some of the trade restrictions will make that a bit more difficult."

Thus Pabrik's laser focus on the winds of war still blowing in the east.

“The outcome of the Russian invasion of Ukraine must have only one result, which means Russia must lose and Ukraine must win,” Pabriks said.

Pentagon Perturbed At Parsing

WASHINGTON — In a Defense Department world where a “readout” — the name of the staid press release that portends to describe in detail a meeting or event — can be written weeks in advance, the idea of journalists being accused by Pentagon officials of trying to parse words for clarity and precision left some bemused, pondering, and underscoring the paucity of actual information.

Writ large, during the last Pentagon on-camera briefing, Deputy Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh was asked why meetings with the Chinese are defined using the word “discussed” when meetings with the Russians are described as “talks.”

“Are we planning on having talks with China, something more substantial? Instead? -- are they going to go in a room and just discuss talking points?,” one reporter asked Singh.

Singh's reply: “Seems like a bit of parsing of words here.”

Yet the words used by the Pentagon in the readouts do mean different things, as the reporter explained.

“One is we just go in and have a conversation; the other is we go in and have high talks,” the reporter said. “So they keep using ‘discussed’ all the time when we're only describing China. We never say the word "talk". "They went in and had high -- high talks.”

Singh suggested the reporter was “reading a little too much into some of the wording here, just in terms of discussed, met with, had a conversation. I mean, we've used certain -- certainly, different words to characterize meetings, but I think the biggest takeaway that I would urge you to consider here is that this was an open dialogue.”

Words make a difference. Poet R.M. Engelhardt was not at the Tuesday briefing, so we will respond in his stead: “Words are powerful. Words make a difference. They can create and destroy. They can open doors and close doors. Words can create illusion or magic, love or destruction. … All those things.”

“SLAVA UKANINl” -- As Zelensky Brings The Stature And Face of Freedom To Washington

WASHINGTON -- He entered Washington less than 24 hours after appearing with his front-line troops in a city under war zone fire. He presented Congress with a Ukrainian battle flag, given to him on Tuesday in that frontline city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine and signed by the troops.

And Volodymyr Zelensky met the opportunity to talk to Washington and take its attention fully using resolute, captivating, humor, history and magnetism.

"We stand united," he said.

His address to Congress, which lasted 24 minutes, was the first time a foreign leader addressed Congress during wartime since Winston Churchill did so in 1941 during World War II. The trip to Washington was also the first known time Zelensky has left Ukraine since Russia invaded in late February.

“Just like the Battle of Saratoga, the fight for Bakhmut will change the trajectory of our war for independence and for freedom,” he said at one point - gambling that Americans know their own history.

“They threw everything against us, similar to the other tyranny, which is in the Battle of the Bulge, threw everything it had against the free world. Just like the brave American soldiers which held their lines and fought back Hitler’s forces during the Christmas of 1944, brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to Putin’s forces this Christmas,” he added.

He also connected Russia to one nation considered by the GOP to be a danger to the U.S. “Russia found an ally in this genocidal policy — Iran,” Zelensky said. “Iranian deadly drones sent to Russia in the hundreds became a threat to our critical infrastructure. That is how one terrorist has found the other.”

At another point in his speech, Zelensky noted the skills of Ukrainian soldiers when it comes to operating U.S. weaponry. “Ukraine never asked the American soldiers to fight on our land instead of us. I assure you that Ukrainian soldiers can perfectly operate American tanks and planes themselves,” he said, leading to laughs and claps in the chamber.

As Zelensky wrapped up his speech, you could hear shouts of “Slava Ukraini,” which means “glory to Ukraine,” in the chamber.

“I hope my words of respect and gratitude resonate in each American heart,” Zelensky said. “Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

He said that "Our two nations are allies in this battle. And next year will be a turning point, I know it, the point when Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom. The freedom of people who stand for their values.”

Earlier, at the end of Wednesday’s news conference, Biden sought to reassure Zelensky, telling him, “You don’t have to worry. We are staying with Ukraine as long as Ukraine is there.”

Zelensky said that Ukraine had “already offered proposals.” He did not say what they were, but he said he had discussed them with Biden, the president was supportive of them, and they included 10 points for “our joint security.” There was also mention of a summit.

Asked about the idea of a “just peace,” he mused on what that phrase might mean for his compatriots who had lost family members to Russian aggression. “You know how many parents lost their sons, daughters on the front lines? So what is just peace for them? Money is nothing, and no compensations or reparations are of no consequence,” he said at the press conference.

As Two Big Meetings Open, Ukraine Looks To Change History As War Starts Round Two

BRUSSELS: In the days before World War One, Germany’s ambassador to Belgium, Clause von Below-Saleske, said he was happy to be in this capital city after stints in danger zones because “Nothing ever happens in Brussels.”

The Ukrainians here to meet with friends and NATO nations fervently hope that not to be true today.

In a geographic switch, Ukraine’s supporters open key meetings today here — as opposed to Ramstein, Germany — as a Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine appears to be taking form. Not yet formed: promised deliveries of armor, artillery, air defense to Ukraine, as ammunition is being depleted.

In one shorthand, it is a contest between Russian forces relying increasingly on sheer weight of numbers while Ukraine is counting more on the quality that comes with advanced western systems and training to blunt Russian advances and launch a counter-offensive.

“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday. “Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel, and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield.”

Three senior defense officials briefing reporters on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s plane en route to Brussels said the Ukraine meeting will stress armor, artillery and air defenses. There will also be updates on repairs and maintenance.

They insisted that all nations are taking steps to replenish stockpiles. “The engine is firing at a very fast pace” one said.

Existing and future supply of weapons to Ukraine will both be on the table when the defense group meets at NATO headquarters for the first time.

NATO allies will also hold a meeting of defense ministers directly afterward to hear the latest assessment from Ukrainian counterparts and discuss the alliance’s future defense challenges.

“Of course it is important to discuss new systems, but the most urgent need is to ensure that all the systems which are already there, or have been pledged, are delivered and work as they should,” Stoltenberg said.

The three senior defense officials said the training Ukrainians are now receiving to synchronize artillery fire with ground movements will give them an edge over the Russians in the upcoming fights.

Ukraine's Supporters Scramble To Get Weapons Into The Fight, To Repeat -- Not Rewrite -- History

BRUSSELS - In 1914, as troops invading France moved through this very region, those in charge of the defense of Paris scrambled to rush men and material to blunt that offensive. They had little time to react and threw everything they could find — including taxicabs — to get what was needed into the fight to counter that offensive.

They succeeded.

Now, from the NATO secretary-general on down, many here acknowledge that the Russians have either started — or will soon begin — an offensive of some proportion before the Ukrainians can do the same.

So a similar scramble to that of 1914 appears to be looming.

Defense ministers have outlined a deep and wide range of military support pledged to Ukraine; yet — with ports jammed and railways clogged, with some production off pace — the question is how certain are they that this support will get to Ukraine in time?

Asked that question point blank on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the goal is to give what Ukraine needs — but he passed on the “get there in time” part of equation.

“Our goal is to make sure that we give Ukraine additional capabilities so that they can be -- not only be marginally-successful, they can be decisive on the battlefield in the -- in their upcoming offensive,” Austin said.

“What we're seeing from Russia is Russia is -- continues to pour large numbers of additional people into the fight. And those people are ill-trained and ill-equipped. And because of that, we see them incurring a lot of casualties,” Austin said. “And we'll probably continue to see that going forward. That's -- that's their strength: They have a lot of people.”

The latest thinking — that means in the last 24 hours — is that the Russian offensive will happen in different ways, on different parts of the front line and at different times, not as one single thing.

Russian forces have mounted probing attacks in the north around Kreminna, and the south around Vuhledar. Russian artillery strikes are also running at their highest rate since last summer, with as many as 100 strikes a day.

U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace said, "We now estimate 97 percent of the whole Russian army is in Ukraine.” He also said that its combat effectiveness has decreased by 40 percent due to an “almost First World War level of attrition” that measures Russian advances in meters in human wave attacks.

Russia is positioning fighter jets, bombers and helicopters to potentially provide air support for a land offensive. Moscow has also established new army field camps at Voronezh and Kursk, near Ukraine’s north-eastern border, exactly where it positioned troops a year ago before the invasion.

Eleven countries have signed on to send tanks to Ukraine; 22 countries have pledged infantry fighting vehicles, 16 nations have committed to send Kyiv “artillery and munitions” and nine countries are supporting the supply of air defense systems.

“Ukraine will integrate recent commitments of armored vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles and tanks with fires that achieve the effect of synchronized ground maneuver,” said Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said earlier in the week.

For months, Ukraine has expended significant resources and troops defending Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region. U.S. military analysts and planners have argued that it is unrealistic to simultaneously defend Bakhmut and launch a spring counteroffensive to retake what the United States views as more critical territory.

One possible goal: empowering Ukraine to retake as much territory as possible in coming months before sitting down with Russia’s Putin at the negotiating table.

On Wednesday, the think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies said Russia has likely lost 2,000-plus tanks in the Ukraine war—more than half of its operational fleet. However, while the battlefield losses are notable, Russia retains a large number of old tanks in long-term storage, currently estimated at 5,000, meaning Moscow can continue to pursue an attritional strategy for some time to come.

Ukraine has seen its tank count rise from 858 to 953 by partly offsetting its own losses by capturing an estimated 500 from Russia, of which it has “pressed a fair amount into service,” according to the IISS.

Many analysts suggest that the Russians are going to make sure they have overwhelming superiority to advance a couple of kilometers, capture a village, and keep going with a step-by-step kind of progress.

Estonia Makes It Clear: Putin Is Winning

TALLINN, Estonia — There is no mystery to Estonians as to what Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan is to win in Ukraine nor what he plans to do next, in the Baltics, as he waits out a battle of attrition that they say is in his favor.

They know because, among other things, their grandparents told them.

“Seeing those, those butchers, deportations of kids, mass graves, executions, all these things, you know, these, until recently, these were stories from our grandparents, and now they are being relived, again,” Kristjan Mäe, head of the Estonian Ministry of Defense’s NATO and EU department, said.

“Except this time, these are televised on social media and so forth. So in that sense, it's just not an assumption. It's me as an Estonian citizen, really wanting Ukraine to win this war, knowing the cost if Ukraine will not win this war,” he said.

Mäe said if Russia is not defeated — not just stopped — in Ukraine, it is only a matter of time before Putin strikes the Baltic nations and elsewhere. Estonia borders Russia.

His superiors agree.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told the Munich Security Conference that no Russian crime against Ukraine and its people must go unpunished, and no Russian leader be immune from responsibility. “So that history does not repeat itself, we need to prosecute the crime of aggression,” she said.

The defense minister, Hanno Pevkur, said Russia will be in for a surprise if it continues its efforts and that “It’s not too late and it is never too late” to send more weapons and support to Ukraine.

“Don’t play with us,” Pevkur said during a news conference here with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “When there’s a hope, and when there’s a last man standing, there is, there is a chance to win this war. As long as we international allies, international partners of Ukraine, can deliver them what they need.”

For his part, Austin provided reassurance in words to match U.S weapons and personnel flow to Estonia.

Responding to an Estonian reporter, Austin recounted his pre-invasion pledge to Pevkur: “I told him that if Russia invaded Ukraine, we would deploy forces to Estonia the next day. And we did. We were the first to be here. And we meant every word we said, and we’ll live up to our commitments going forward,” Austin said.

Yet Mäe and other Estonian officials fret that no one beyond those in the Baltics and possibly Poland grasp how Putin really is and how he operates.

“Putin does not recognize the border of the Baltic States as an internationally recognized border,” Mäe said. “He calls that the contact line.”

“Our concern is that Russia feels very comfortable with the war of attrition. They can outlast the relative cost for them,” he said during a 45-minute interview. “I don't think we are currently winning this war.”

Mäe projected that the upcoming fighting “will be intense, bloody, but they might still not lead to the strategic breakthrough, that perhaps we would like to see.

“But that attrition war will not end in three months time, six months time. So it’s a battle of narratives, but it’s a battle of strategies as well. Today, we are not changing the calculation, the tank brigades, additional air defense systems and missiles are not changing the calculation,” he said.

“Fundamentally, Russia has won this war, because they have moved closer to their strategic objectives. And their objective is to undermine the international order."

The Estonians, like Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, are among the fiercest advocates for more assistance to Ukraine and are among the loudest in warning about Putin’s greater intentions and how he chooses to conduct warfare.

Estonia was taken over by the Nazis in World War Two and subjected to a brutal occupation. Some of the government officials who were slain have their names on a plaque at the entrance to Stenbock House, where Austin had a meeting with Kallas.

Soviet troops drove out the Nazis only to impose a higher grip of subjugation, forcing Estonia into part of the U.S.S.R. Thousands of Estonians were slain, tortured, deported, disappeared, and imprisoned during the Soviet rule.

Both occupations explain why Estonians have been unceasing in their forceful admonitions that more and more is needed to help Ukraine now — or else.

Mäe and other Estonian officials point to the Minsk ceasefire agreement signed after Putin illegally annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in southern Ukraine in 2014 as a reminder. In subsequent years, Putin enhanced pro-Russia separatist operatives in several eastern Ukrainian cities and in parts of Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, and Estonia— showing how he is fine with using stagnation in conflicts as steps toward his larger goals, they say.

“That's that's the concern, we, we're making it easier for him, if we send these messages, he doesn't have the necessary kind of pressure within the system,” Mäe said.

Mäe noted that economic sanctions have not put much pressure on Putin. “So we need to ratchet it up,” he said. “So kind of simplistically speaking, we need some sort of an economic spring offensive as well.”

Estonia is spending 1.1 percent of its GDP, the most among all nations, in support of Ukraine. It has also welcomed roughly 60,000 refugees.

“We have never done it in our, in our past, or in the 30 years. And it’s not like Ukrainians have been tremendously close to Estonians,” Mäe said. Instead, it is “because the majority of Estonians understand the importance of this war, and the outcome of this war.”

He notes that others in the world — especially China as it hungrily eyes Taiwan — are watching to see if NATO and the west convincing deals with Putin.

Pentagon again sends land mines to Ukraine with a wink and a nod

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is upping its flow of land mine capability to Ukraine, looking the other way to the questionable use of land mines by both Ukraine and Russia in the current conflict.

Cold War style anti-tank ladies are included in the latest military assistance package, $325 million,  announced last week for Ukraine.

The Pentagon would not say how many M21 mines were included in the assistance package.

Earlier in the conflict, the Pentagon sent anti-personnel mines, known as Claymores, to Ukraine. U.S. officials say the landmines are provided with no guidance or, at least publicly, with no strings attached — a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy which gives the Pentagon the ability have it both ways if U.S.-supplied weapons are used outside the bounds of international treaties.

The Claymore anti-personnel mine, under some circumstances and tactical use, is prohibited by the Ottawa land mines treaty.

Under the treaty, Claymores can be used if detonated only with a remote control device, meaning an individual has to do it with purpose and not be accident. If they are rigged to detonate with a tripwire or other trick method they are prohibited.

“We provide equipment to the Ukrainians, and they determine how they're going to use it,” Brig Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said at a previous Pentagon briefing when asked about concerns surrounding the Claymore mine.

He also said that “to clarify, too, I think sometimes the -- the term, you know, as I looked into this, admittedly, as an Air Force guy. This is an antipersonnel device above ground, so mines in that sense is a little bit of a misnomer, but yeah.”

The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively prohibits all types of victim-activated explosive devices, regardless of the technical features and regardless of the mine’s predicted longevity, delivery method, or type of manufacture (improvised or factory-made).

The M21 is not banned by the Ottawa treaty. It does not have self-destruct features; that means when fighting concludes, they would have to be removed manually. It is metal, and thus can be detected easier thank plastic version.

It is is a high explosive antitank landmine which uses the Misznay-Schardin effect (high explosive wave that propels a concave steel plate at extremely high velocity) against the underside, tracks, or wheels of armored vehicles. It is activated by an M607 fuze which functions upon application of either horizontal or vertical pressure.

About 200,000 M21 mines were produced in the U.S. and licensed copies, the K441 and K442, were produced in South Korea. The Pentagon has an estimated 175,000 M21 mines stockpiled.

Ukraine signed the Mine Ban Treaty on February 24, 1999 and became a state party on June 1, 2006.

Russia has not joined the treaty, but is bound by the prohibitions and restrictions on mines, booby-traps, and other devices found in Amended Protocol II of the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), as well as Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law. which was signed by Ukraine.

The United States is not a party to the treaty.

Russian forces have used at least seven types of antipersonnel mines in at least four regions of Ukraine: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Sumy. This marks an unusual situation in which a country that is not party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty uses the weapon on the territory of a party to the treaty.

Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have extensively used anti-vehicle mines (also called anti-tank mines) in at least six regions: Donetsk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. Hand-emplaced TM-62 series anti-vehicle mines appear to be the type most frequently used.

According to the Ottawa treaty, Claymores are mines covered by the treaty protocols, regardless if they are above or below the ground. Ryder then said, “The capabilities that we're providing are in compliance with the Ottawa Treaty.”

Requests to the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Department of Public Relations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for comments, clarifications and perspective did not generate responses.

Last June, the Biden administration announced that it would restrict the use of anti-personnel land mines by the U.S. military, aligning the country’s policy more closely with the international treaty.

Caissons Stop Rolling, As Army Scrambles To Reverse, Improve Conditions That Put Arlington Horses In Jeopardy

WASHINGTON — One week after the Army privately touted its steps to improve the conditions for horses working at Arlington cemetery, it decided to shut down the Army's Caisson platoon, the ceremonial horse unit that is the centerpiece of the service to carry the bodies of fallen troops for burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

The suspension follows four equine deaths in the platoon over the last year and as well as deep, festering and some say negligent living conditions for the horses and a seemingly stark lack of elementary training for those who care and handle the horses, congressional aides said.

The slowness of the Army to address the problem has raised bipartisan ire from Congress, which has directed millions in funding to improve the living conditions for the horses — and has increased concerns in equine and humane organizations.

“This is a national tragedy,” Jim Gath, founder and chair of the Tierra Madre Horse and Human Sanctuary in Cave Creek, Arizona, and author of 10 books, including ‘I Hear You, Horse,” said in an interview. "These horse are being used to take heroes to the final resting place. They have been treated as if nobody is in charge of these horses and their well-being.”

The shut down is for at least 45 days to prioritize the health of the herd. The Army said the "suspension" will not impact military honors at the cemetery.

The concerns over the Army’s poor treatment of the Arlington horses is one element of growing national concerns over equine conditions - including those of race horses. Prior to the recent Kentucky Derby, five horses were scratched from the race — the most since 1936 — amid a 10-day stretch where seven horses died at Churchill Downs, including two on race day.

Asked on May 4 if Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was satisfied with the Army's decision to stand down the Caisson unit at Arlington National Cemetery as a way to further review the treatment of the horses there, Deputy Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said, “So I know what you're referring to. I just don't have more information on that. I'd be happy to take that question and get back to you and provide an answer.”

For months and most likely years, the Arlington herd was living in small, unsanitary lots covered in more than a dozen inches of excrement. They were also eating low-quality hay and other materials, congressional aides said.

More than a dozen inspections conducted between 2019 and 2022 gave the horse facilities “unsatisfactory” sanitary ratings, despite supposed efforts made by the soldiers of Caisson Platoon, who train and care for the horses. A lack of space, inadequate funding and the turnover of unit commanders were noted as the primary issues. The 60-some horses were fed poor-quality feed, suffered parasite infestations and lived in excrement-filled mud lots.

Roughly half of the horses in the unit were over 20 years old -- or geriatric.

“You want someone with practical experience,” Gath said. “You want someone who has dealt with these issues in the past.

“They are putting these horses in jeopardy,” he said. “The details in what they plan to do is every thing. They need to walk down every stall, teeth to tail (exam), get a permanent record going, the types of feed, the types of hay, the supplements they get, the medicine, the physical (activity) for them you do to bring them back proper health.

“It’s all about the horse,” Gath said. “I would be more than glad to come out there and help with those evaluations - just like we do here at Tierra Madre."

Facing severe congressional criticism and the threat of civilian lawsuits - some comparing the Army’s treatment of its horses to horses broken down in some big city tourist systems — the Army said it was undertaking a significant review and upgrade of operating procedure and living conditions for the beleaguered herd.

That includes, for the first time, creating an adoption program through which certain individuals can adopt retired horses. The Army did not provide details on the program nor if individuals or organization could support the existing herd working at the cemetery.

“Raising awareness for and participating in this program is a great way to support the Caisson Platoon,” Army Col. June Jeffrey-Kim, Director of Public Affairs, Military District of Washington, said in a statement to Red Snow News.

Two horses died within 96 hours of each other in February 2022, one with 44 pounds of gravel found in his gut upon necropsy. Tony, the horse with 44 pounds of sediment in his gut, died of sand colic, the result of being fed in inappropriate feeding areas. Mickey, the other horse that died in February, died of septic colic, which was caused by an untreated gastrointestinal illness or injury. Manure and bacteria made their way into his bloodstream, causing an infection.

Rio, a 19-year-old horse, died on Oct. 24, 2022, and Rambler, a 14-year-old horse, died a month later. Both were euthanized by veterinarians as a result of their ailments. Rio died of surgical complications after he suffered a left limb fracture; he underwent three surgeries to attempt to fix the injury, but veterinarians determined he would be euthanized for quality-of-life purposes.

Ramble died of "acute abdominal distress;" it is unclear if it was caused by sediment in his gut as the unit was waiting for necropsy results at the time. Horses can die from an ailment called "colic," a general term for abdominal pain that can vary in severity and pain for the animal.

In January of this year, the unit closed its stable to the public for a month to "minimize spreading a contagious [to other horses] upper respiratory bacterial infection that was found in" one of the horses.

Part of that criticism has centered around how much space the unit has allotted to the herd at Forts Myer and Belvoir, facilities that currently offer less than 20% of the area that equine experts recommend. Provisions to improve the horses' conditions were included in the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, that passed Congress last year.

Even with the added 14 acres, the herd is still short of the "generally required" 1-2 acres per horse.

In an email response to Red Snow News, the Army outlined on background what it is doing to improve the care and status of the horses.

That includes repairing shelters, fences lines and removing hazardous objects, and repairing stalls, repairing the bar heating system; and acquired and establishing a new 14-acre pasture in Fairfax County after working jointly with the Bureau of Land Management; placing concrete pads around hay feeders and installing rubber mats in feeding areas to reduce the ingestion of sand and gravel.

It said it hired a herd manager with equine and agricultural degrees to oversee all aspects of herd health from procurement to retirement and a facilities manager with a degree in environmental biology and 16 years of professional animal care management to upgrade and improve equine equipment and facilities for the entire herd.

The Army also said it established relationships with civilian farriers to address corrective and orthopedic shoeing needs, worked with civilian saddle fitters to properly match horses to existing cavalry saddle, and established relationships with local agricultural experts like the Virginia Tech Extension Offices to consult on our pasture rotation schedule and the elimination of toxic plants.

It did not identify any of those relationships for verification.

It also said it updated the Basic Horsemanship Class to include more instruction on horse care, horsemanship, and riding skills for new soldiers.

As for horse care, it said it has “established nutritional minimums for forage and supplements; organized routine check-ins to monitor horse weight and body condition.” t also said it has updated hay, feed, and supplement contracts to provide more nutritional value for the herd and address existing health concerns.

Part of the improvements are to install commercial slow feed nets in stalls to better align with natural horse consumption habits and improve grain feed schedules and protocols “ensuring each horse receives feed based on their individual dietary needs,” the Army said.

The Army also made adjustments to what horses must wear, moving toward what horse experts say are basics that should have been done long ago.

They include procuring Western style saddle pads to address pressure, discomfort, and soreness related to poor tack fit from the existing cavalry saddles; adopting Hippo setup for wagon tack to address neck pain soreness from existing tack fit; procured English saddles for section horses to increase ergonomics for horse and ride, and ordered new girths and headstalls to improve tack fit for the cemetery herd.

It Will Be "Hamas's Problem," As The IDF War Room Plans "Something Off The Beaten Path"

TEL AVIV, Israel — Four stories deep underground, the war room in the Kirya — Israel’s version of the Pentagon — is buzzing. A few hours earlier, the Israeli government gave Palestinians living in Gaza 24 hours to move south for their own safety.

How they were to do that was not part of the war room buzz. Instead the key clarion offered by those in the war room is “we will have to be disruptive.”

That does not bode for an easy time for the 1.1 million Palestinians who are expected to move south for presumed safety. Nor does it portend well for the thousands of Israeli soldiers who are expected to move street by street, house by house, warren by warren, and tunnel by tunnel to flush out and kill Hamas fighters.

“I assume that we will move quickly,” a senior member of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) said in an interview. “Now we are in a fight greater than we have seen before.”

The senior IDF official spoke only on the condition he not be identified. He was unperturbed about the impact on innocent Palestinians.

‘That will be Hamas’s problem,” he said. “Again, we are at war.”

Israel has called for the evacuation of 1.1 million residents in north Gaza to move south in the next 24 hours, a deadline that seems to have begun. The United Nations considers it "impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” it said in a statement.

Israel’s military offered residents of Gaza a three-hour midday window to leave via a main highway, but Gaza’s Health Ministry refused to evacuate hospitals.

“There is nowhere in Gaza that can accept the number of patients in our intensive care unit or neonatal intensive care unit or even the operating rooms,” said Dr. Muhammad Abu Salima, the director of Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical complex.

Agreeing that Israel has failed repeatedly to beat down and destroy Hamas in the past, the senior IDF official said to expect “something off the beaten path” in the upcoming assault.

Just what path that may be is unclear amidst the frenetic meld of bodies and images and pulses in the war room, the duel between the unknowns of concerns and the determination of retribution — the place where the IDF displays its emotions of its heart and steeliness of its brain.

The High Command Center at Kirya is nicknamed "the Pit." It is the underground war room in the heart of Tel Aviv, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All operations, both overt and covert, which the IDF guides over land, sea and air, emanate from the Pit.

Ironically, it is near the site of the first-ever unconcealed Haganah attack on a British installations in 1947.

Access by swipe cards, whose codes repeatedly change, the war room has multiple screens against one of its olive green walls, sometimes showing unedited footage being taken by IDF camera persons on the front lines — and elsewhere.

The debate, the directions, the decisions, are hashed out around a conference table in the center of the room, made with cedar wood from Galilee.

U.S. officials are privately urging Israel to abide by the laws of war. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a press briefing with Israel defense Minister Yoav Gallant, said, “ My experience in working with the Israeli forces is they are professional, they're disciplined and they are focused on the right things.  And so I expect that going forward, they will continue to exhibit that same degree of professionalism that we've seen in the past.”

Austin added, “The international community fought ISIS who in some cases was embedded deeply in built-up areas, and that international coalition fought valiantly and protected civilians and created corridors for humanitarian movement even in the midst of a pretty significant fight.  So again, this is a professional force.  It is well led and I have every expectation that it will be disciplined.”

He said that “we'd be more than happy to share with our allies here, in terms of operating effectively in dense urban terrain, creating safe humanitarian corridors, making sure that we're thoughtful about how we shape the battle and making sure that, you know, our objectives are well-defined and so we'll continue to share the lessons that we've learned over the years.”

Gallant insisted that “Israel never and ever, will not shoot civilians on purpose.  Therefore we are asking all the civilians in Gaza City to go south of Gaza.  And the reason is that because we don't want to harm them.”

However, he added that “the camouflage of the terrorists is the civil population.  Therefore we need to separate them.” He made it clear that “We are going to destroy Hamas infrastructures, Hamas headquarters, Hamas military establishment, and take these phenomena out of Gaza and out of the Earth.  They cannot live among human civilized people.”

That was the same word coming from the war room.

“Our soldiers became lazy because they trusted technology,” the senior IDF official said. Not this time, he said.

With No Restrictions On Use, War Materials Fly To Israel And Surge Into Gaza, With One Mission: Attack

NEVATIM AIR BASE, Israel  — Before you begin to wander about and explore this air base in southeastern Israel, they offer up a clear tutorial.

If you hear the siren, you have 90 seconds to run to the shelter to avoid the incoming. This base, the hub for U.S. military aid flowing to Israel, is in military jargon a “high-target area.”

On the day Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited here, however, there was a different kind of incoming —one the Israelis were cheering and not warning about: a load of U.S. munitions and military supplies for the already launched retaliation against Hamas into Gaza.

It will not be here long. The U.S incoming becomes the Israeli outgoing. Non-stop service, in a matter of days — if not hours, officials said.

The ammunition and other supplies will "enable significant strikes and preparations for additional scenarios" as Israeli forces prepare for a wide-ranging offensive against Hamas, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

And while Israeli officials are still deciding how to attack Hamas beyond vowing new techniques, there is zero talk about what to do once they occupy Gaza, or thoughts about an exit plan.

This is, after all, the real Gaza — not where Israel trains soldiers on techniques at its Urban Warfare Training Center, referred to internally by the name of “mini-Gaza.”

Israel has some 170,000 troops typically on active duty and has called up some 360,000 reservists for the war — three-fourths of its estimated capacity, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Hamas has 15,000 to 20,000 fighters, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates. Israel puts the number higher, at up to 30,000 fighters.

Over the roar of a U.S .military cargo plane — dropping off the second load on munitions and supplies - Austin told the Israelis, “we will continue to do what is necessary to assure that you have what you need.”

A senior Israeli defense official in Tel Aviv told reporters that a first flight in from the U.S. had already given Israel small diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome air defense system. That assistance has been put into the fight immediately, he said.

Nevatim Air Base, technically known as Air Force Base 28, is located southeast of Be'er Sheva, the largest city in the Negev desert of Israel and one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the country. It was built as a rough runway in 1947 for the Sherut Avir, the air wing of the Haganah

Since 2003 the base has gradually received more squadrons of F-16s. A third runway was built in the mid-2000s decade as part of a project to accommodate the transfer of military activities previously taking place at Ben Gurion Airport and now it is home to F-35 fighters.

The word “nevatim” means “sprouts,” in Hebrew — and that certainly is what has happened vis-a-vis weapons and materials appearing for the Israelis on these runways.

Giving military aid to Israel is not something new. Between 1951 and 2022, Israel received $225.2 billion in US military aid, adjusted for inflation, which is approximately 71% of its aid from all sources.

“U.S. Secretary of Defense General Lloyd Austin, when you said that you stand with Israel, you showed up.  You stand here with us.  Mr. Secretary, you have shown us what it means to be an ally, to be a friend, to be a brother,” Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier in the day.

“In fact, today we will receive the second aircraft carrying essential munition to the IDF,” he said.

Since then multiple shipments have arrived and the flow has no stop date at present. Included were JDAM kits — essentially a tail fin and navigation kit that turns a “dumb” bomb into a “smart” bomb that can be guided to a target.

“So make no mistake: The United States will make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and Israel has a right to protect its people,” Austin said.

Much like Ukraine, atop Israel’s request list is “critical ammunition.” But unlike Ukraine — where the U.S has placed restrictions on the use of some war materials provided — Israel has a free hand.

“We did not put any preconditions on Israel when it comes to using our security assistance,” Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters.

“We certainly expect Israel, as with any ally or partner, to uphold the law of war. It should be very clear that Hamas is the one putting Palestinians or those in Gaza at great risk. I mean, they are putting their command-and-control units inside hospitals, inside areas where there are innocent civilians,” she said.

“So, the fact that they've set up command centers at these hospitals just shows the brutality that they're willing to engage on, that they're willing to use civilians as a way to mask their operations but also to see them as casualties.”

Later, she said, “we did not put preconditions on Israel when it came to providing security assistance. We feel that Israel, and democracies like us should follow the law of war and follow the law of war in protecting innocent civilians and directly targeting where these known terrorists are.”

As for the use of U.S. supplied weapons, there may be many blind eyes.

Israel has historically displayed a hostile attitude toward journalists covering its conflicts. It is not likely that Israel will permit reporters to embed with its ground force.

The U.S. may know, but is expected to remain silent.

"We had a long talk about that (Israel's invasion plans), and what alternatives there are. Our military is talking to theirs, but I'm not going to get into that, either,” President Biden said.

Said Austin: “ I'll leave it to Israel to talk about its potential plans and its approach to conducting operations.

As The Man In The Arena, Austin Faces A Ticking Clock, Wobbly Allies, And A Wallet Needing Refilled

BRUSSELS — When Lloyd Austin was a general dealing with the morass in Iraq in 2008, he was given the unenviable task of bringing order and victory to military operations in Basra and Sadr City.

He managed to accomplish both over a period of four weeks, surprising many and feeding a legend among some of his admirers. As one journalist wrote, “having visited Baghdad barely a month later, the turnaround was dramatic.”

Now Defense Secretary Austin is looking at another four-week timetable as he seeks another dramatic turnaround — the great challenge of somehow getting Ukraine’s battle against the Russians into a higher gear again before winter begins to grip the battlefield and provide succor to Moscow, and aid flowing to Ukraine slows down.

This time he cannot directly command or implement his strategy. His forces are suppled by those who speak different languages, have different politics, and do not respond well to direct orders.

It will be a test for his oft-stated belief in “strategic patience.”

Adding to the challenge: at this crucial juncture, Austin has been stripped of the usual fortitude of U.S. military largess to bestow upon Ukraine, after Congress failed to pass new funding for Kiev. His usual bromide of urging others nations to 'dig deeper” did not resonate this time, as he arrived at NATO and the Ukraine Contact Group with an empty wallet that had no immediate suggestions of being refilled.

Austin acknowledged, on the plane ride to Brussels, that his job had been complicated by the fact that the House didn't pass the extra money for Ukraine.

“Certainly. And certainly hope to have all bodies functioning and all branches functioning. So, we hope to resolve that quickly and we also hope that we'll get our leaders confirmed so that we can make sure that all of our senior guys are in their seats,” he said.

A lack of new money, changing governments in partner nations, unease among some front-line nations, and the coming of winter has made the legendary four-week timetable a tough one.

Austin’s new takeaway is the formation of “capability coalitions” to let some nations hover and focus on a particularly area — such a developing an air fore for Ukraine — as a way to get enthusiasm high, support still churning, when funds get lower or nations get stingy.

“That’s going to make our security assistance more nimble,” Austin said during one session. “And it will help us to more powerfully marshal the resources to help secure Ukraine’s future.”

As one cliche goes, time — not an ally at the moment — will tell.

Here is another cliche: War is uncertain, Austin has repeatedly said.

"Anybody that thinks they can accurately produce any type of outcome in a war, … have another thing coming to them, because … it doesn't happen that way," the secretary said to reporters earlier this year. "There will be stops and starts. There will be things that happen that [the] Ukrainians didn't anticipate. There will be opportunities for the Ukrainians to exploit.”

Austin has yet to be able to nudge the Ukrainians to tactics that may work, while using the calendar to an advantage. Neither he nor Pentagon officials want to even hint they disagree with Ukrainian military decisions - one of the topics that defense ministers from other NATO nations at the conference more freely buzzed and mused about.

“I don't want to judge them. And I won’t,” Austin said in an interview with PBS in Brussels. “It's my intent to support them as best we can. And I think they're putting that support to get use. And they're learning as I go along. So it has evolved, it will continue to evolve.”

Keeping those ministers in support was one reason Ukraine President Zelensky showed up at the NATO meeting here for the first time — to look each in the eye, thank them, and say how their support is critical and helping.

“That is just something that really strikes this profound chord. And it was, you know, it was a message from the heart and you could just see you could just see the ministers responding,” one senior defense official said.

Austin said Ukraine’s troops “face this key moment on the battlefield” and that the United States “must ensure that America’s indispensable assistance 
to Ukraine continues to flow without disruption.”

“You Know The Conflagration That Will Come”

The Press Club bar closes early now, to the regret of many of the dwindling number of old timers. The younger members were full of energy as they dashed out to begin a weekend of holiday parties. The bar emptied as quickly as if it were 40 years ago and a hot story just broke.

I thought I would sneak out and go down the hall and maybe pretend to find the once-hidden 24/7 poker room. No such luck. The efficient staff was already cleaning up and making sure all were leaving; they also had parties to burst forth later.

So I did what comes naturally on a dark windy evening in downtown DC. Walking though the streets of our beautiful Capitol, remembering the history made — shivering from both the Potomac River wind and the visions of what I sensed was coming.

As often the case, I rambled toward the monuments and wound up near my namesake, Thomas, at his memorial near the river. My hope was he may offer up wisdom to my tiring eyes and my shaking soul.

Across the river the Pentagon stood in subdued light, looking like a fortress from the outside. Yet I knew better. Even there, the system was crumbling and false words tried to make everyone sound brave and smart. No doubt they were patting themselves on the backs for their new promotions and laughing smugly about how they evade reporters’ questions.

“You wrote something before, Mr. Jefferson. Several things actually to pull together an unruly bunch into one voice. Please do it again,” I said to his stoic statue. He merely looked forward, out at the Tidal Basin.

“He is not going to answer you,” said a faint voice from behind me. “Even they are unsure what to say.”

I turned to see the Old Geezer, moving slowly, his eyes sunken and his breathing halting as he slowly walked up, paused, and sat on the marble steps.

“That is my fear also, Old Geezer. That the wolves that sit outside the house of democracy finally have the key and they have determined how to guide the sheep to dinner,” I said.

The Old Geezer finally made it to the top of the steps. I had not seen him for a few years, years that had taken a toll on the country and on most of us. He seemed shorter this year, more bent over but his smile reappeared as he pulled an old flask from his pocket.

“Isn’t fun to still break national park regulations,” he said as he took a taste, then handed me the metal container. I took a sip and recognized what I thought was a long lost elixir — moonshine from the hills of western Pennsylvania.

It warmed my body and at least for the moment my spirits.

“That taste reminds of days when politicians were not a threat to democracy, when reporters were not targets all over the world, where challenges always eventually met with teamwork,” I said.

The Old Geezer sniffed and wiped my mouth with a handkerchief. “Those days are in a hibernation that extends long past the natural winter, Tomaso,” he said.

“Everyone hoped — and that is the word hoped — that 2023 would be ‘normal’ again,” I said. “Well, it is, but not the normal they expected or wanted. It’s the normal where the bad guys wear the badges and the dwindling number of good guys have no idea what to do.”

He took another sip and looked again at the water. So I continued.

“I thought the nightmares of the past were aberrations. That ethnic cleansing and war rapes were not to happen again, that the last elections were to correct the course, that the words of those honored here would ring loud and true again, and rouse the slumbering to see the nightmare that is unfolding. But I feel this is a planet of the apes scenario, where I am going to wake up soon and see things that once meant greatness are graveyards.”

“The wrong things have been emancipated,” I said. “We are living in country now where the information we need to govern ourselves has been replaced by political spin and propaganda, hate and vile bravado.”

“What are your dreams telling you, Tomaso,” the Old Geezer said, “Have you learned to listen to them yet?”

I nodded yes. “Very much so and yet unclear. They show turmoil and voices from the past trying to help. Reporter friends reappearing, offering smiles, and even phone numbers, and reassurance but then leaving with no pathways. Lots of trips to places that seem to be on earth but on no maps.

“And there was even a call on a land line, with man’s voice — not computer calls — saying my name, as if pleading for help, or warnings.”

The Old Geezer took another sip and said, “And I bet you did not respond.”

He knew. “No I did not,” I said. “I was hoping that what you told me once — that the quieter you become, the more you are able to hear — would work.”

He spoke his head no and looked at Jefferson. “Those once wise guidelines are perforated,” he said. He turned to me. “You have to work harder than ever before, and strip it all away to think clearly and wisely now, Tomaso.“

My turn again to take a sip. “You know, Old Geezer, when I was a little boy, I used to run as fast I could from the darkened basement, afraid of the monsters that I knew where there, only to be laughed at by my father. ‘There is nothing there to be afraid of,’ he would say.

“Well, I am no longer afraid of the dark. In fact, sometimes I long for it for I see much better in it. And those monsters are still there.”

The Old Geezer nodded. “They were always there,” he said. “You just knew how to get out of their grasp before.

“Don’t them catch you now,” he said. “Many are obvious… but many remain hidden just around the corner as you walk you dog.”

We were quiet for a moment, and the Old Geezer looked back at Jefferson. “You know the conflagration that will come,” he said.

Then I had an idea.

“Old Geezer, we cannot save the world tonight but we can save a few old trees. A friend sent me a note saying how the police department in her city told her that the left-over trees from their annual tree sale would be free, lying on the ground at a street corner. That seems to be the perfect conclusion for how the year transpired — good things tossed aside. So let’s go grab them and decorate them all and keep some bright lights glowing.”

The Old Geezer nodded. “A good idea from you, Tomaso. I guess miracles can still happen. You go get the Jeep and I will wait here.”

I walked slowly down the slick steps, as I listened to the Old Geezer part some more wisdom with Jefferson. Soon, though, his voice faded and as I walked by the other monuments I heard Dr. King praying for a new dream and FDR voicing about a new fear as they struggled to find words and a way to heal a plummeting, broken nation.