Re: [Goanet] A Goan Falls in Iraq (O Heraldo, Sept 22)
* G * O * A * N * E * T C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * Enjoy your holiday in Goa. Stay at THE GARCA BRANCA from November to May There is no better, value for money, guest house. Confirm your bookings early or miss-out Visit http://www.garcabranca.com for details/booking/confirmation. --- V M [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A Goan Falls in Iraq by V. M. de Malar (From O Heraldo, Sept 22) Just 19, Nicholas Madaras of the US Army had almost completed his tour of duty, and was making plans to study medicine. The soft-eyed son of William and Shalini (nee Coutinho) Madaras, with maternal roots in Cuncolim and Loutolim, Mario observes: First of all, Nicholas Madaras was not a Goan by any stretch of anyone's imagination. He was an American-born, all-American kid, whose Mother happens to be from Goa, who was brave and patriotic enough to volunteer to be an American soldier, even though that meant risking one's own life. V.M. writes: It's clear from his memorial website ( www.nicholasmadaras.com) that Nick's 19 years constituted a rich and valuable life. and Then the photo wearing battle fatigues, and the story stops abruptly, permanently. Mario adds: Nicholas Madaras was an American hero who gave his life on behalf of his country, not Goa, and on behalf of freedom and democracy for Iraq. V.M. writes: More than 60 Connecticut residents died the state was swept up along with the rest of the USA in a national determination to strike back. As we know, this admirable instinct has been controversially diverted away from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda. Mario observes: Sadly, the striking back should have started way back in the mid-90's, when a whole series of attacks by Al Qaeda on US interests were well underway. Then, it could have prevented all the subsequent attacks on the US culminating in the sneak suicide attack on 9/11. V.M. writes: Instead, the Bush administration has used rage about 9/11 to trigger a military occupation in the heart of the Arab world. Mario observes: This is patently false. First of all, the liberation of Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and no US leader has said it had anything to do with 9/11. This is a deliberately false interpretation by opponents of Iraq's liberation of comments by US leaders that Iraq had growing ties to Al Qaeda from the presence there of Al Zarkawi and the Ansar Al Sunnah training camp at Salman Pak. Simultaneously, Saddam Hussein had been refusing to divulge any information about his WMD's as he had agreed to do in the cease-fire treaty in 1991, in spite of 16 UN resolutions over 12 years demanding that he do so. The concern after 9/11 was that with Al Qaeda's escalation to suicide attacks on the US mainland, that Saddam, who had also been encouraging suicide attacks on Israeli civilians, would provide Al Qaeda with his unaccounted for WMDs, which could then be used in another suicide attack on the US leading to far greater loss of life. Previously, President Clinton had signed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998 based on the same rationale as was used in the actual liberation in 2003. In 2003 there was also UN resolution 1441, which had given Saddam an ultimatum of serious consequences if he would not disarm and divulge what he had done with his WMDs. Finally, the assertion of an American military occupation in Iraq is also false, since the presence of the US-led coalition in Iraq is now at the request of a democratically constituted Iraqi government. It would be like saying that the Allies in WW-II occupied Europe whilst in the middle of liberating it. By this peculiar standard, the US also occupies Germany, Japan and S. Korea. V.M. writes: The Iraq campaign has been plagued with setbacks, and promising young men continue to die while pursuing fast-receding objectives. Mario observes: I'm not sure where V.M. gets the false idea that the objectives in Iraq are fast-receding since they were confirmed AGAIN just this week by both the US and Iraqi governments. V.M. writes: Madaras wasn't your average American grunt. His multicultural background and looks set him apart. He was sensitive to locals, especially children who loved soccer as much as he did. His mother says Nick always wanted us to send him candy and things to give out, and asked for soccer balls to share with Iraqi kids. She writes, he grew up very proud of his American and Goan/Indian heritage. This background showed, at his funeral another soldier serving in Baq'uba testified that Nick loved and honoured Iraqis. He wanted them to know he was there to keep them safe, said Pfc. John Cevasco, he knew he was there to do the right thing, and he never stopped trying to do
[Goanet] A Goan Falls in Iraq (O Heraldo, Sept 22)
* G * O * A * N * E * T C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * Enjoy your holiday in Goa. Stay at THE GARCA BRANCA from November to May There is no better, value for money, guest house. Confirm your bookings early or miss-out Visit http://www.garcabranca.com for details/booking/confirmation. A Goan Falls in Iraq by V. M. de Malar (From O Heraldo, Sept 22) Just 19, Nicholas Madaras of the US Army had almost completed his tour of duty, and was making plans to study medicine. The soft-eyed son of William and Shalini (nee Coutinho) Madaras, with maternal roots in Cuncolim and Loutolim, was on foot patrol in the Iraqi town of Baq'uba when a makeshift bomb badly wounded him. The teenage soldier died soon after, in the arms of his grieving sergeant, another casualty in the troubled campaign that has claimed the lives of almost 3000 Americans, and an estimated 100,000 Iraqis. Beyond mere statistics, Nick Madaras's death strikes home all the way to his Konkan homeland. It has affected family and friends across our scattered diaspora, in Australia, the U.K. and beyond. And it highlights a somber thread in our culture – Goan men have served and died on foreign fields, under foreign flags, for generations. It's clear from his memorial website ( www.nicholasmadaras.com) that Nick's 19 years constituted a rich and valuable life. The tributes are heart-breaking – a mother who lost a son in Iraq writes we have…joined a group none of us wanted to join, an infantry comrade writes, I will think about him every day for the rest of my life. A classmate says, he was like a brother to me, and a teacher admits he was one of the most unusual, interesting students that I've had in a long career. There are revealing photos – the young Goan-American on the soccer field, poised and balanced, clearly a leader. And more that are hard to look at now– with adoring kid brother Christopher and sister Marie, with parents Shalini and Bill. They illustrate the transition from baby-faced kid to teenager. Then the photo wearing battle fatigues, and the story stops abruptly, permanently. Madaras was buried less than 24 hours after the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center towers. The incidents are closely related – the Goan-American lived in a town full of commuters to the business district targeted. More than 60 Connecticut residents died –the state was swept up along with the rest of the USA in a national determination to strike back. As we know, this admirable instinct has been controversially diverted away from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda. Instead, the Bush administration has used rage about 9/11 to trigger a military occupation in the heart of the Arab world. The Iraq campaign has been plagued with setbacks, and promising young men continue to die while pursuing fast-receding objectives. Madaras wasn't your average American grunt. His multicultural background and looks set him apart. He was sensitive to locals, especially children who loved soccer as much as he did. His mother says Nick always wanted us to send him candy and things to give out, and asked for soccer balls to share with Iraqi kids. She writes, he grew up very proud of his American and Goan/Indian heritage. This background showed, at his funeral another soldier serving in Baq'uba testified that Nick loved and honoured Iraqis. He wanted them to know he was there to keep them safe, said Pfc. John Cevasco, he knew he was there to do the right thing, and he never stopped trying to do it. There are two sides to this very sad story. Nick Madaras was an American patriot who died for his beloved country. But this son of Goa also fits into our own tragic continuum of lives lost on foreign soil, fighting alien wars. In Iraq itself, thousands of Indians lie in disgracefully unmarked graves, casualties of a previous, pointless imperial campaign. Goans served the British military for generations, in Malaya, Singapore and beyond. We served the Portuguese military, most notably in Mozambique where a Mhapsekar carved out an entire kingdom for the Europeans. We know that 700 Goans died at sea during World War II alone. And here's historical irony, one who almost died was Thomas Coutinho, who survived a sunk ship to become Chief Reporter for Sir Pherozeshah Mehta's Bombay Chronicle, whose daughter, Shalini, is Nicholas Madaras's mother. The past is always with us, and the hurt is always the same when one of our own falls, no matter how far away. Rest in Peace, Nicholas Madaras. -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/attachments/20060922/a789c3af/attachment.html ___ Goanet mailing list
