LOST SOULS! CONCLUSION WHY DO PEOPLE DIE? Click Here For Part One Click Here For Part Two Click Here For Update One Click Here For Part Three Click Here For Part Four Click Here For Part Five Click Here For Update Two El Cid Wish You Were Here (Pictures) Alert Follow Up Alert Alert Three Click Here For Update Three Click Here For Press Announcement
WHY DO PEOPLE DIE? The simple answer is I do not know. Covering war for almost a decade, the question: WHY DO SOME PEOPLE DIE AND WHY DO SOME PEOPLE LIVE? Always is in the back if not the front of your mind! I know what saved me a week ago. It was a simple bag. A marble bag. A marble bag and the love of friends. Three weeks prior to this trip. I was greeted in the street one day by a beautiful young girl, who is a friend of mine. She informed me of a dream she had of me and felt that I needed some protection while I was away. Now, to make her happy, I accepted her gift. Her protection. A marble bag with a special charm or spell within. I took this gift along with another lucky charm-a dove made from an olive branch that another friend, another beautiful woman gave me. The two I tied to the end of my utility belt and went about my day-to-day business. Wearing them to make my friends happy and to remind myself of home. Last Monday I road in the back of the first SUV, as we made our way through Central Baghdad. Once the first explosion occurred, our team began to exit the vehicles and head to cover the story. I exited, the doors shut, they locked, my belt and bag became stuck. I could not release myself. I yelled for the keys or the security system to unlock the doors. Then blast number two. The delay was long enough to prevent me from being with the rest of the team at that explosion. My life was spared! What happened in the Market Place last week. Were there two bombs or four? Were there one hundred killed or four hundred? Was it the work of the militia or the government? Was it a plot by the CIA? The simple answer once again for me is; I DO NOT KNOW! What I do know is that three friends and fellow recorder's of history died! As for details, this is not important either. These three are dead. That is all that matters. Three wonderful people, with families, that touched the lives of many, and spent most of their lives putting themselves at risk so THE WORLD COULD KNOW THE TRUTH! "THE TRUTH": These words seem so distant at this moment, they seem lost-The only truth that seems to have come from our five days in Iraq is the message of the Cleric; "They know-the people of the world know war is bad-they know your government is corrupt and evil-they know that the American people like the people of Iraq are good-they know Mr. Valjean-you do not need to tell them." "Go home." BRAVO TEAM went to Iraq in search of a story, and we became the story. I want to thank each of you for reading and supporting Jean Valjean Lives. There is no way I can ever respond to all the e-mails we received over the last week-so I will just say on behalf of our entire Team and our families: THANK YOU! I would like to share with you a quote. A quote I once used in a previous article. A quote that I think at this moment is very relevant to our situation as HUMAN BEINGS. "WE HUMANS CAN LIVE QUITE WELL WITHOUT RECOURSE TO RELIGIOUS FAITH. RELIGION I TAKE TO BE CONCERNED WITH FAITH IN THE CLAIMS TO SALVATION OF ONE FAITH TRADITION OR ANOTHER. SPIRITUALITY I TAKE TO BE CONCERNED THOSE QUALITIES OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT-SUCH AS LOVE AND COMPASSION,PATIENCE, TOLERANCE, FORGIVENESS, CONTENTMENT, A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY, A SENSE OF HARMONY-WHICH BRING HAPPINESS TO BOTH SELF AND OTHERS. THERE IS NO REASON WHY AN INDIVIDUAL CANNOT DEVELOP THESE QUALITIES, EVEN TO A HIGHER DEGREE, WITHOUT RECOURSE TO ANY RELIGION. THIS IS WHY I SOMETIMES SAY THAT RELIGION IS SOMETHING WE CAN PERHAPS DO WITHOUT. WHAT WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT ARE THESE BASIC SPIRITUAL QUALITIES." "THIS MAY SEEM AN UNUSUAL STATEMENT, COMING AS THEY DO FROM A RELIGIOUS FIGURE. I AM, HOWEVER, TIBETAN BEFORE I AM DALAI LAMA, AND I AM HUMAN BEFORE I AM TIBETAN. SO WHILE AS DALAI LAMA I HAVE A SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY TO TIBETANS, AND AS A MONK I HAVE A SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD FURTHERING INTER RELIGIOUS HARMONY, AS A HUMAN BEING I HAVE A MUCH LARGER RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD THE WHOLE HUMAN FAMILY-WHICH INDEED WE ALL HAVE." DALAI LAMA What happens next? I don't know! What happens in the Middle East? At this moment I don't care! What am I going to do? I am going home! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
