Saturday, May 27, 2006
The Haditha, Iraq Massacre
Where is there accountability with regard to the atrocities committed in Iraq?
It's not enough for the our president to say recently along with England's Tony Blair that mistakes were made in Iraq; even a three-year old could have told us that.
Of late, we have the atrocities committed by Marines in Haditha, Iraq, last November, yet we are only now beginning to learn about it. In short, Marines retaliated against the village after a Marine was killed. What is unacceptable about the retaliation is that Marines killed families and their children, including a three-year old girl. Eman Waleed, nine-years old, who was wounded but who survived the incident only because the dead landed over her reports that she saw Marines shoot her mother, grandfather and grandmother.
How does the USA government explain this? Granted, officials might not have been present when the Marines "lost it" but what about Abu Ghraib? And let us not forget the massacre of My Lai during the Vietnam War.
A pattern of activity seems to be present. The question should be: Who is accountable? What forces are in play that allow such activities to happen?
Once the USA seemed to be the ideal democracy that was above such rapprochements, but more and more one sees the varnish fading and exposing rotten wood.
Could it be that the USA "thinks" it's better than others but simply hides its rotten wood better than other countries that call themselves democracies? I won't even mention countries that don't purport to be above the fray.
It's not enough for the our president to say recently along with England's Tony Blair that mistakes were made in Iraq; even a three-year old could have told us that.
Of late, we have the atrocities committed by Marines in Haditha, Iraq, last November, yet we are only now beginning to learn about it. In short, Marines retaliated against the village after a Marine was killed. What is unacceptable about the retaliation is that Marines killed families and their children, including a three-year old girl. Eman Waleed, nine-years old, who was wounded but who survived the incident only because the dead landed over her reports that she saw Marines shoot her mother, grandfather and grandmother.
How does the USA government explain this? Granted, officials might not have been present when the Marines "lost it" but what about Abu Ghraib? And let us not forget the massacre of My Lai during the Vietnam War.
A pattern of activity seems to be present. The question should be: Who is accountable? What forces are in play that allow such activities to happen?
Once the USA seemed to be the ideal democracy that was above such rapprochements, but more and more one sees the varnish fading and exposing rotten wood.
Could it be that the USA "thinks" it's better than others but simply hides its rotten wood better than other countries that call themselves democracies? I won't even mention countries that don't purport to be above the fray.
