Every government needs the compliance and cooperation of its population in order to carry out any policy. As we enter the sixth year of the illegal occupation of Iraq, the people of the US need to be challenged to confront the fact that our silence and passivity is complicity: over 1.3 million Iraqi people have been killed, torture has been institutionalized, basic habeas rights have been eliminated on the say-so of one proven liar (Bush), and this has all been done in our names. Little children in Iraq are not only terrorized by far worse scenes than Holy Name every day - they are the victims themselves of bombings, shootings, and the use of white phosphorous by "our troops."

I say thank-you from the bottom of my heart to the righteous protesters who didn't ignore or sugarcoat this reality just because prominent people were celebrating a religious holiday this past Sunday. The war won't end until we stop business as usual and take responsibility for ending it.