Racism at Core of Iraq Invasion

[BJ]

This is quite a long editorial column but one well worth the read.
Racism at Core of Iraq Invasion, by Firas Al-Atraqchi

2004-04-29 | The popular perception in the US is that Iraq is a country of uncivilized criminals and terrorists raised to hate America because common people hate freedom and liberty, “ragheads” and “sand niggers” who brought down the Twin Towers in New York City and attacked the Pentagon. US-based columnists have taken to calling Iraqis lazy and ungrateful. A few days ago, in a prime-time press conference, US President George Bush said the Iraqis must take control of their own destinies come June 30th.
(-snip-)
A full week after the killing of the four Blackwater employees, more than 700 people have been killed in Fallujah. There are more than 2,000 wounded civilians. More than 147 houses have been entirely destroyed. Four mosques have been damaged. Doctors are running out of vital supplies. The city is under siege, cut off from food, water, and medicine supplies. “We are resorting to collective punishment,” Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria told Chris Matthews on Hardball recently. He denied the official US position that fighters in the “Sunni Triangle” are dead-enders. He also claimed uneven-handedness in Iraq was feeding the “insurgency.”
(-snip-)
It is no surprise then when we hear that British commanders in Iraq were condemning the Americans’ heavy-handed and disproportionate military tactics in Iraq . According to The Telegraph's Sean Rayment, a British officer, “who agreed to the interview on the condition of anonymity, said that part of the problem was that American troops viewed Iraqis as 'untermenschen' - the Nazi expression for ‘sub-humans’.
(-snip-)

Link to column in its entirety

[htuttle]

1. I think racism is at the core of the Iraq-Al Queda link beliefs, too

Thats why it doesn't seem to matter to so many Americans that there wasn't actually any link or cooperation between Iraq and Al Queda.

To them, there still IS a link -- they are both Arab. That's all the linkage a lot of Americans need.

[Nancy Waterman]

4. I have been thinking exactly the same thing

This confabulation of Iraq and al Qaida sounds like the old: "They all look alike" attitude.

It hit me particularly strongly when Bush melded together al Qaida, the Jersualem terrorism, Chechnya, etc. They are all the same to him. I think racism is inherent in his whole attitude toward terrorism, what it is, and how we fight it.

[riverwalker]

2. the most racist comment

I hear is: "They only understand force". It's been parroted by talking heads for some time. Was used in the I/P conflict and carried over now to Iraq and the entire Arab world. It's not supported by history, or psychology, or even human nature. It is merely a rationale for oppression, or as the article states for 'untermenschen'.
Great article.

[truth2power]

3. It makes me sick the way this administration

characterizes the Iraqi people, as if they are subhuman and no one can reach the pinnacle of civilization of the americans.

Think about this: We have gone to war with the people who taught us to read and write.

Maybe a little humility is in order here.