A Pacifist in Iraq; Sure, Why The Hell Not?
The woman to your right looks like your average aging Berkeley hippie who talks about the ills of American imperialism, the misdeeds of war, her desire to tar and feather our CoC, etc. Well she does do all of those things…but she’s taken it a step further.
Jane Stillwater is a 64-year-old Berkeley woman who left for Kuwait on Wednesday, hoping to embed with the U.S. military there and in Iraq as a blogger. And if she is refused? She’s got a sleeping bag and plans to sleep on the beach in Kuwait until her return flight in three weeks.
Protection? A Berkeley city councilman tried in vain to get her some body armor; she’s accepting online donations through PayPal so she can buy some in Kuwait.
Credentials? The military said the prolific blogger needs to be sponsored by a media outlet. No problem: The Lone Star Iconoclast, a 900-circulation liberal weekly in President Bush’s vacation getaway of Crawford, Texas, is sponsoring her. Not that it’s paying her. Then again, nearly all of the dozens of online columns Stillwater has produced over the past seven years for various publications have been labors of love.
Money for Arabic translators? Unnecessary. “I’ve been all over the world,” she said, “and you always find people who speak English.”
While we find that last part a little naive (people who speak English with natives these days end up in terrible places) we have to be honest–we hold a genuine sense of admiration for this perky old lady. She followed her quest to the end and apparently got what she wanted…she’s in Baghdad right now. You can follow her escapades at her blog.
Interesting lady. We wish her the best.
Berkeley Woman’s Iraq Quest [SF Gate]
Jane Stillwater’s Web Log [Blogspot]
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One Response to “A Pacifist in Iraq; Sure, Why The Hell Not?”
July 25th, 2008 at 5:42 am
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