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what the ever... the reason innocents are dying in iraq is because the terrorists don't want a democracy there.
SECRETARY of State Colin Powell tours tsunami-stricken Banda Aceh and says, "I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through the families and all of the people who heard this noise coming and then had their lives snuffed out by this wave."
Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a resolution that said: "The tsunami disaster cons utes a humanitarian tragedy of incredible proportions. . . . My heart goes out to the victims of this tragedy."
Last and hardly least, President Bush said: "The devastation in the region defies comprehension. . . . Our flags will fly at half-staff to honor the victims of this disaster. We mourn especially the tens of thousands of children who are lost. We think of the tens of thousands more who will grow up without their parents or their brothers or their sisters. We hold in our prayers all the people whose fate is still unknown."
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 Mitc 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."
The White House left the counting to journalists, doctors, think tanks, and human rights groups. The numbers range from conservative guesses of 3,200 in the first few weeks of the war and occupation estimates ranging from 15,000 to 100,000. No matter if the number was 3,200 or 32,000, this atrocity of silence makes the torture in Abu Ghraib pale in comparison
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.
Let us do what we can for the victims of the tsunami. But no matter how much we weep for them, no matter what donations we spare, the offerings will not spare us from history's judgment, if not God's. Lugar said his heart goes out to the victims of the tsunami. No hearts have gone out to Iraqi civilians in this heartless coverup.
Powell said of the tsunami, "The power of the wave to destroy bridges, to destroy factories, to destroy homes, to destroy crops, to destroy everything in its path is amazing." He said, "I have never seen anything like it in my experience."
Yes, he has. It was in Iraq. The tsunami was us.
Boston.com
what the ever... the reason innocents are dying in iraq is because the terrorists don't want a democracy there.
Actually Dan is right. The US going into Iraq was not preventable. It was inevitable. There was nothing more the US could do to prevent the losses that have occured. All we can do now is help the people as much as we can and ensure a safe and secure future for the people most effected.
Maybe if some of the lunatics in Tsunami-torn areas would stop shooting at the water and taking the water hostage, the Tsunami would go away.
Why was it inevitable?
Well, as we've been saying, after 12 years of violating 17 UN resolutions and a growing relationship with terrorism gladly cloaked by the UN, and our "allies" at the Security Council, it was becoming obvious to all but you, Manny, that Saddam Hussein was a growing threat that wasn't being diminished by diplomatic means.
And, after reading the report on his activities, it was apparent to all, but you again, that an exchange of technology and materials was all but inevitable.
That's why.
Because it happened already.
Hmm, I see, so the only options...full scale invasion, and nothing. Ok.
The fact that there have been no WMD and no ties between Saddam and 9/11 found proves to me that this president had his own agenda and nothing, even intelligence proving other wise, was going to make him change his course.
Even now he doesn't fully grasp the situation in Iraq for what it is.
A bad error in judgement which has cost thousands of lives and will continue to costs America for years and decades to come.
Did you just sleep from 1991 through to March of 2003? There was a whole of a lot more than "nothing" being done. Unfortunately, most of what was being done helped Iraq's nefarious plans and kept him in power while his population starved.
You need to educate yourself.
Do you actually believe the president is that dumb? Do you think he has no idea what is going on in Iraq? That he isn't informed of that every day. Some people are concerned about every pothole on the road, not realising that it is a very long road.
edit: nevermind. that will just lead to more partisan debate.
I don't think it's a matter of dumb, it's a matter of arrogance. He believes himself on a mission from God. To me, that's more frightening than a moron at 1600 P.A.Do you actually believe the president is that dumb?
I don't think he's on a mission from God. I doubt he feels that way either. Many religious people don't go around everday "on a mission from God", they simply use their religious beliefs as guidance in their lives. It's not nearly as scary as it can be made out to be.
We know Yoni, the US is good . . . every body else is bad
The US is right . . . the UN, Europe, you "allies" are wrong.
We understand . . .
you are completley wrong. President Bush made no error in judgment, he knew that there were no WMD's in iraq. Think of the logic of trying to invade a country with convential forces that has wmd's. you would be wipping out your entire army, not the way to get re-elected. His daddy's agenda was all that mattered.
Even more than an Exstatic in S.A.?
You do need to educate yourself INDEED!
Standing on the beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring down the barrel
At the arab on the ground
I can see his open mouth
But I hear no sound
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm The Stranger
Killing an arab
I can turn
And walk away
Or I can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever I chose
It amounts to the same
Absolutely nothing
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm The Stranger
Killing an arab
I feel the steel butt jump
Smooth in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring at myself
Reflected in the eyes
Of the dead man on the beach
The dead man on the beach
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm The Stranger
Killing an arab
I'm just trying to figure out how we went from a discussion on Iraq to talking about the (apparently) newest Blues Brother...
Glad you got smeagol.
it's nice to know that everything is so nice and neat that it can be organized into a black and white/ good and bad category. super!
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