This
past week has shown how people of various religions,
nationalities, and ethnic backgrounds are able to come together
to help in a crisis—the victims of the Tsunami in this
instance.
Tens
of thousands of children are now orphans, with hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, now refugees, to say the least. The
death toll—over 156,000—is still rising. No one knows what
it will be in the end, but one thing is certain: it will be a
huge number.
It
is good to see the outpouring of the world’s people coming to
the aid of the Tsunami victims.
My
question is simply this, where is the world’s concern for the
tens of thousands of Iraq’s children that have been so
completely decimated by the US invasion and subsequent
occupation of Iraq?
In
the 12 years of US sanctions on Iraq prior to the invasion, over
500,000 children died as a direct result of those sanctions.
Where were the care and concern of the world then? Where were
the so-called “compassionate conservatives” of the US then?
Oops! Forgot for a moment; they are the ones supporting the Iraq
war.
Currently
in Iraq, over 100,000
(and the number is growing rapidly) Iraqis have been killed by
US bombs, “smart” bombs—that keep going to the wrong
address and killing more children—and handheld weapons—for
up close and personal killing. It has been estimated that well
over half of that number have been women and children.
The
“collateral damage” the US keeps referring to is the Iraqi
children, in large part. Where is the compassion for them? Or is
it that they deserve to die simply because they are the children
of Iraq?
The
sanctions that were in place on Iraq, then the invasion, have
been directly responsible for the wholesale slaughter of
Iraq’s children. The infant mortality rate in Iraq is now
higher than it was 40 years ago. This also is a direct result of
US actions in the country.
Then
there are the children that will die a slow death due to
exposure to depleted uranium (DU)—over 4,000 tons of it to
date. Iraq has been contaminated by US weapons made of DU. This
has been a type of nuclear warfare, pure and simple.
I
have yet to see or hear reports by US corporate media, the White
House, the Department of Defense, or the Pentagon about the
children of Iraq who have been killed in the tens of thousands
by the Bush administration “policies” and its war on Iraq.
What
I do hear coming from that bunch and its talking heads is,
“bomb them all in the name of the Lord.” Not long ago,
former Secretary of State Madeline Albright was asked, “We
have heard that a half million children have died. I mean,
that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And—and you
know, is the price worth it?” She took about ten seconds to
mull it over, and then said, “We think the price is worth
it.” That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?
So
while Bush and company go about the business of politicizing the
horrific disaster the Tsunami caused, the wholesale slaughter of
children born out of the invasion of Iraq will continue; it is
the children of Iraq that have, and will continue to pay, the
ultimate and highest cost—their lives.
As
a footnote, next month Bush will be asking his Republican
cheerleader Congress for $100 billion dollars more so that he
may continue the slaughter in Iraq for another year. His
war-profiteering corporate sponsors will benefit greatly;
everyone else will pay the cost—especially the children of
Iraq who will continue to be the recipients of the US
“smart” bombs made of depleted uranium.
Jack
Dalton is a
disabled Vietnam veteran and the Co-Editor of the Project
for the Old American Century web publication.
