I'm Upset Over This News

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Two Americans were killed in the attack on the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan this weekend. Their names haven't yet been released, but they were active duty military stationed at the US embassy.

This could have been our family. We were on embassy duty a few years ago. I still know many people who are serving in embassies and with the way I tend to loose touch of people as they rotate, I may well know the families involved here.

I was already unsettled because I kept picturing the receptions we used to go to in just this type of hotel. There is a plaque at the headquarters in DC with names of all the attaches killed in the line of duty. I used to look at that plaque between classes and wonder if I would see the names of friends added to it. Kind of hard to concentrate on teaching math this morning.

[JudoMom]

Two Americans were killed in the attack on the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan this weekend. Their names haven't yet been released, but they were active duty military stationed at the US embassy.

This could have been our family. We were on embassy duty a few years ago. I still know many people who are serving in embassies and with the way I tend to loose touch of people as they rotate, I may well know the families involved here.

I was already unsettled because I kept picturing the receptions we used to go to in just this type of hotel. There is a plaque at the headquarters in DC with names of all the attaches killed in the line of duty. I used to look at that plaque between classes and wonder if I would see the names of friends added to it. Kind of hard to concentrate on teaching math this morning.

:grouphug:

[laylamcb]

:grouphug: Wow, that must've hit awfully close to home. I'm so sorry....

It's just horrible, isn't it? I was listening to NPR the other day, and one of the commentators made the statement that Pakistan is "looking more and more like a failed state."

Um, how scary is THAT?

Makes you want to just grab your kids and hold on tight, doesn't it?

[Cadam]

My mil is working at the Embassy in a different country but it is scary and I wonder who is next, will it be her next time?:grouphug:

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm sure that's very upsetting.

We moved to Florida in 1998. But for several years before we moved, my husband worked in the World Financial Center, in one of the smaller buildings right next to the World Trade Center. In addition, one of the companies for whom I had done some editorial work had recently moved their offices from midtown into World Trade. And before we had our daughter, I worked in an office near Wall Street and used to commute through World Trade every day.

So, 9/11 felt very personal and very close for me. Although I hadn't kept in touch with former co-workers, I watched that news coverage with the nagging knowledge that there were likely people I knew among the dead.

And, had we not moved when we did, my husband could have been among them.

It's a horrible feeling, and I'm so sorry you're experiencing it now.

[Kate in Arabia]

I was already unsettled because I kept picturing the receptions we used to go to in just this type of hotel.

Yes, we often go to weddings or other celebrations in hotels like these. What's additionally upsetting is that in addition to the foreign folks who often stay at these hotels, many local people use the hotels for their own functions.

It is just senseless, and I fear even more a nuclear-capable Pakistan (or India, for that matter). I wonder if there will be more international urgency to intervene should things dissolve further.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'm sure that's very upsetting.

We moved to Florida in 1998. But for several years before we moved, my husband worked in the World Financial Center, in one of the smaller buildings right next to the World Trade Center. In addition, one of the companies for whom I had done some editorial work had recently moved their offices from midtown into World Trade. And before we had our daughter, I worked in an office near Wall Street and used to commute through World Trade every day.

So, 9/11 felt very personal and very close for me. Although I hadn't kept in touch with former co-workers, I watched that news coverage with the nagging knowledge that there were likely people I knew among the dead.

And, had we not moved when we did, my husband could have been among them.

It's a horrible feeling, and I'm so sorry you're experiencing it now.

I completely understand. My MIL had been in the Trade Center complex the week before September 11th. FIL is a fire chief and spent a lot of time with the FDNY helping them to recover and rebuild the command structure. DH was in the Pentagon.
I think part of my reaction is because I'm still mulling over the September 11th anniversary. Part of it is that dh has traveled a lot the past couple years and has stayed in hotels very similar to this Marriott. Part of it is a frustration that I feel there is an international conflict that is ongoing and that is being ignored by huge swaths of the media and by the public.
I'm not trying to start a who's suffered more thread, because I know there are families here with husbands in much more of harms way than my own is right now. This bombing has just triggered a lot of frustration and annoyance.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Yes, we often go to weddings or other celebrations in hotels like these. What's additionally upsetting is that in addition to the foreign folks who often stay at these hotels, many local people use the hotels for their own functions.

It is just senseless, and I fear even more a nuclear-capable Pakistan (or India, for that matter). I wonder if there will be more international urgency to intervene should things dissolve further.

You are totally right. I look at the actions of these people. I look at the books on my shelves about the anarchist and revolutionalry movements of the 1850s - 1920s and I fear for our ability to survive.

[elegantlion]

:grouphug: Thinking of you.

[Heather in the Kootenays]

:grouphug: It's hard when events like this hit so close to home.

[Sparkle]

:grouphug: Sebastian, it's terrible, isn't it? I felt so sad and dismayed seeing the photos of the Marriott in the newspaper, and thinking of the people who were in there. :(

[Camy]

I didn't realize they were active duty personnel. Sigh. Praying for their families...

[lovemyboys]

Part of it is a frustration that I feel there is an international conflict that is ongoing and that is being ignored by huge swaths of the media and by the public.
I'm not trying to start a who's suffered more thread, because I know there are families here with husbands in much more of harms way than my own is right now. This bombing has just triggered a lot of frustration and annoyance.

Same here -- we have connections to each of the 3 sites that were involved in Sept. 11 (including the downed plane in Pa.), so it is hard to see.

And we have had friends over the years in embassies and foreign service.

Today I heard that this bombing might have been an assassination attempt on the new leader who changed plans just beforehand. Am I remembering that his wife was killed some years ago, or do I have another leader in mind? That was a scary deja vu also.

Sigh.

[GVA]

It was the recommended hotel for Americans with business at the embassy. Yet another reason why I'm glad he's permanently stationed stateside...

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I completely understand. My MIL had been in the Trade Center complex the week before September 11th. FIL is a fire chief and spent a lot of time with the FDNY helping them to recover and rebuild the command structure. DH was in the Pentagon.
I think part of my reaction is because I'm still mulling over the September 11th anniversary. Part of it is that dh has traveled a lot the past couple years and has stayed in hotels very similar to this Marriott. Part of it is a frustration that I feel there is an international conflict that is ongoing and that is being ignored by huge swaths of the media and by the public.
I'm not trying to start a who's suffered more thread, because I know there are families here with husbands in much more of harms way than my own is right now. This bombing has just triggered a lot of frustration and annoyance.

Note: Emphasis above is my own-not Sebastian's...

Is it actually being ignored or just misrepresented? I am beginning to believe that people know about the conflict and since they cannot hide from it they are choosing to minimize, misunderstand and misrepresent the conflict. If they can present said conflict in the light they want to see it in they can continue to keep their heads in the sand and not deal with the emotional, philosophical and political realities it presents. Meanwhile, those who's lives it has affected are being quietly set apart from society to deal with their losses and are tucked away where their pain won't affect others or conflict with their perceptions.

This attitude frustrates me far more than mere ignorance.

In the meantime, families like yours are always in our prayers.