[عبدالله الخطيب]

The Saddest Acre
By: Abd Allah El Khateeb


It was a cold day
At half past two the wind had calmed down with a chill factor in the low thirties, in Washington D.C
I was there for a job interview when I decided to visit Arlington national cemetery
As I entered the burial ground, silence overwhelmed the atmosphere, the headstones line up straight in neat rows
I saw thousands rows of white upright gravestones, monuments for the US military personnel fallen during wars
I kept walking through to other sections as I thought about these graves
I looked at them.. I saw them stretching toward the horizon.. Endless graves
I reached my destination, death smells fresh here
From a distance, I watched a young lady as she leaned on a headstone, shedding tears of sorrow and grief, with broken heart and painful sadness. Not over who have gone and laid down his life in his prime youth, but over who were left behind in need for support,, fearing that they will be leaving next and soon, since the mourning rituals contended all other rituals and celebrations. Turned around to her only child who was standing next to her, hugged him.. a hot tear of sorrow slipped down her cheek
Here.. at what is called “the saddest ACRE in America”, section 60 of Arlington national cemetery, is a burial ground for soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan
A place that epitomizes the coast of a brutal war against Innocent people, under the pretext of combating terrorism