The 'tsunami' victims that we don't count

[rodeodance]

This op- ed says that for Iraq "The tsunami was us". Yes, right on!!


http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/01/07/the_tsunami_victims_that_we_dont_count/


The 'tsunami' victims that we don't count
Op-ed
By Derrick Z. Jackson | January 7, 2005

.....In the abstract, the outpouring was appropriate. In context, the sympathy was a stench unto itself. Tens of thousands of people die by an act of nature and we say we cannot imagine the horror. We say it defies comprehension. We call it a catastrophe.

In Iraq we kill off thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of innocent civilians with our own hands, and we reject any attempt to comprehend what we have done. Countless Iraqi civilians are homeless. We call it liberation.

Bush quoted all the numbers for the tsunami in speeches this week: 150,000 lives lost, including 90,000 in Indonesia; perhaps 5 million homeless; millions vulnerable to disease. That stands in hypocritical contrast to the refusal to count the Iraqi civilians killed in his invasion over false claims of weapons of mass destruction and the crime-ridden chaos of an occupation that did not plan on an "insurgency."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former Iraqi commander Tommy Franks both said, "We don't do body counts." Then, right in our faces, Powell said civilian casualty figures were "relatively low." Central Command spokesman Pete Mitchell hailed the invasion for its "unbelievably low amount of collateral damage and needless civilian death." Paul Bremer, Bush's former civilian reconstruction envoy, said, "We have freed people with one of the great military battles of all time, in a period of three weeks, with almost no collateral damage, very few civilian deaths, and they are now free."

[Briar]

1. Yes indeed!

"No flags have been flown at half-staff for Iraqi civilians. There have been no moments of silence in Congress. There have been no speeches by Bush mourning "the tens of thousands of children who are lost." Americans have not been asked to think of the "tens of thousands more who will grow up without their parents or their brothers or their sisters."

"In a nation that supposedly reelected Bush on "moral values," there have been no prayers from the White House for "all the people whose fate is still unknown" in Iraq. This was a bipartisan hypocrisy. Even Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, fell into the trap of favoritism, fueling the appearance that this war was a religious crusade.

"At the beginning of the war she said, "We pray for the swift and successful disarmament of Iraq with the least possible loss of life among our forces and the civilians of Iraq." But then she closed her message with: "May God bless our courageous forces and their brave families. May God bless the president of the United States. And may God bless America."

"Not once did Pelosi or any American politician say in the last two years, "God bless Iraqi civilians" or any variant. Only one time has Bush uttered "God bless the people of Iraq," and that was in announcing Saddam Hussein's capture. Not once has he asked God's blessing for the courageous civilians and the families of Iraq who had no choice but to brave our bombs."

[madrchsod]

2. no one gives a fuck

about all the women,children,and old men who were eaten by the dogs in fallujah now do they? 75% of the city was destroyed and no one cares. not one "politician" has spoken out on this , no one cares but the famlies and friends of the dead. i am ashamed to be a citizen of this country and i am angry that no one stopped his war.

[Skittles]

3. WE care, madrchsod

indeed we DO. BUT - we are unable to break the psychosis that seems to have gripped much of the American public.

[WillieWoohah]

4. The tsunami has nothing to do with Iraq n/t

[PapaJoe]

5. Bush to Share and Care

WASHINGTON -President Bush: Cancel the inauguration parties and donate the money saved - some $40 million - to the tsunami victims.

[slay]

6. Not counting civilian casualties in Iraq should be a war crime.

I never thought my country would turn into a nation regarded world wide as one of war criminal.

[Cheswick2.0]

7. kick

too sad to even comment

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NNadir]

9. This is one of the most powerful and accurate editorials I've read.

I have been saying this since a few days after the Tsunami.

Thanx for the link.

[infusionman]

10. We also don't count...

The hundreds of thousands of people here in the US who are lacking food, clothing, and medical care because King George decided to send our money over seas.

Why too when money goes over seas it's considered a grant but when we need money here in the US (such as for flood disaster relief in the greater Pittsburgh area,) only loans can be given?

[hraka]

11. Money overseas is a grant...

money here is welfare. Our goverment doesn't look out for its own, unless you count corporate sponsors getting big tax breaks.
The tsunami was a horrible tragedy but it wasn't perpetrated by anyone. What our governemt is doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in America is shameful. Charity begins at home, bush, and your home is here!