Change the Channel
I was looking for a recent body count from Iraq, meaning I wanted to know how many American soldiers had died over there. I find that the mainstream media tends to shy away from giving us those numbers on a regular basis and because of that, most people have no idea how many soldiers have died in Iraq. However, while I was searching, I came across something equally disturbing. The web page is www.iraqbodycount.net and the body count it is tallying is that of innocent civilians killed in Iraq since the "war" started. At a minimum the number is currently 11,164 and at maximum the number is up to 13,118. They also have a data base that shows you where they got all of their figures. Let's round for practical purposes and say 12,000 innocent civilians were killed in a little over a year. When asked how the average Iraq citizens should react to hearing figures like that and seeing images of "innocent civilans being killed" Big. Gen Mark Kimmit told them to "just change the channel."
Ok, so what I want to really know is why we think Iraqis are fundamentally different from Americans. Do we think they love their families any less than we do? Why do we think they could be any less appalled by images of their neighbors and co-workers being blown to bits on the nightly news? How can we think that they are immune to pain and suffering and most importantly anger at the sight of "collateral" deaths. Why do we think that they should be more able to turn the channel on 12,00 innocent deaths than we were able to simply change the channel when 3,300 Americans died on September 11th. Despite what the Bush administration has tried to tell us, the average Iraqi citizen is not evil and they are not terrorists: they are mothers and fathers and teachers and doctors and they are suffering.
Remember how far the effects of 9/11 reached? Did any of us not know of a friend, or a friend of a friend that suffered? 3,300 people died in a country of 293,760,300 people, and we were devastated. The American people prayed and cried, banded together, and then we went out into the world and tried to avenge those deaths. Now think of Iraq: 12,000 people killed in a country with a population of 25,000,000. These people are human beings with the same human emotions and reactions as the rest of us. To expect them not to act on the hurt and suffering they are surrounded with would be the same as watching America "just change the channel" on 9/11.
Ok, so what I want to really know is why we think Iraqis are fundamentally different from Americans. Do we think they love their families any less than we do? Why do we think they could be any less appalled by images of their neighbors and co-workers being blown to bits on the nightly news? How can we think that they are immune to pain and suffering and most importantly anger at the sight of "collateral" deaths. Why do we think that they should be more able to turn the channel on 12,00 innocent deaths than we were able to simply change the channel when 3,300 Americans died on September 11th. Despite what the Bush administration has tried to tell us, the average Iraqi citizen is not evil and they are not terrorists: they are mothers and fathers and teachers and doctors and they are suffering.
Remember how far the effects of 9/11 reached? Did any of us not know of a friend, or a friend of a friend that suffered? 3,300 people died in a country of 293,760,300 people, and we were devastated. The American people prayed and cried, banded together, and then we went out into the world and tried to avenge those deaths. Now think of Iraq: 12,000 people killed in a country with a population of 25,000,000. These people are human beings with the same human emotions and reactions as the rest of us. To expect them not to act on the hurt and suffering they are surrounded with would be the same as watching America "just change the channel" on 9/11.
1 Comments:
I was just listening to an interview on NPR, or course, with two soldiers who were part of the first gulf war's interrogation unit. They expressed their concerns that the latest prison scandals hurt the ability of the U.S. to earn credibility on the world stage. I, too, am concerned that the callous attitude of the current leaders (who soon will be out of the picture) will lead to more attacks. The world is not a safer place now because Bush makes us a target.
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