If you are already angry about the War in Iraq, then this will probably raise your blood pressure. I know it raised mine. It might make your stomach turn too.
After their fathers have been killed as a result of this god---- invasion and occupation of Iraq, many of the widows and daughters are left with no way to support themselves. The result? Iraqi women and girls have been pushed into prostitution in order to survive. A huge sex business has sprouted up in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Syria, where these girls are being exploited.
And the Bush administration has the nerve to insult my intelligence by telling me that Iraqis are better off today than they were before the invasion? Bush & Co. can go straight to hell.
The U.S. HAS to know that this is going on. And since the U.S. is responsible to a large degree for the condition that these women and their families find themselves in, why hasn't the U.S. created programs to take care of this situation? These families (who have lost bread winners) could be fastracked for entry into the U.S. or Europe if they so choose, and provided with the funds needed to take care of their basic living expenses until they are able to take care of themselves. We have to keep in mind that a loss of a father in the U.S. (though just as tragic) is not quite the same as the loss of a father in more traditional countries around the world such as Iraq. This is because men in Iraq are typically the primary (and often the only) breadwinners for a family.
But when I think about it... it should be no surprise that the current administration has done nothing about this problem. Their whole philosophy is.... F--- it... let them struggle for their lives. This is the same policy that Republicans have in this country-- little concern for the poor. Katrina was a good example of government indifference regarding the poor here in this country. While New Orleans was about to drown, frat boy was literally partying. If they do little to help the poor in this country, I can see how it is easy for them to not give a damn about Iraqs poor. This is also the same government and same political party that hates to take responsibility for any of its messes.
They (Republicans) are so afraid of developing anything that looks remotely like "welfare" that they are willing to let people suffer the worst kinds of indignities in Iraq, even if such conditions were a result of Republican policies....in this case, the invasion. And the U.S. wants to preach to other nations about Human Rights??? When the U.S. has created one of the biggest Human Rights Disasters in modern history? PLEASE! And I thought that the Republican party was the party that stood for "Family Values"? They are always preaching it to us. But I guess being able to feed and cloth your children is not a family value.
This has also been allowed to happen partly because of cultural arrogance and indifference by the American public. People in this country live such comfortable lives (generally speaking....in comparison with Iraqis) that they don't have much of a clue about the kind of suffering that ordinary Iraqis are dealing with. Therefore, there is a lack of urgency and a lack of empathy on the part of the American public.... not to mention the politicians. To them, the Iraq war and its consequences are just like a video game that they see on their TV screens each day.
It is sickening that while all of this is going on (ironically as a result of American indifference and apathy that led to the war in the first place) Americans are much more concerned with who will win American Idol. The fact that the major news networks give more coverage to Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears, Rosie O'Donnell, and other mindless bullshit and give very little coverage to stories like the ones below or the genocide in Darfur is a perfect example of American indifference. And because of the media, this kind of indifference is reinforced and has almost become sanctioned and institutionalized as a cultural norm in this country. The thugs who run this country want a nation full of halfwits... this allows them to invade countries like Iraq or Panama and to pretty much get away with whatever they want. The more mindless bullshit that they can keep you occupied with, the less time you have to watch what they are doing to you and to other folks around the planet.
The U.S. has basically destroyed Iraq. The economy is virtually gone. And they did it under false pretenses, in an effort to obtain some sort of strategic foothold in the Middle East. I predicted in 1999 that if Bush were to become President, that the U.S. would become entangled in a disaster in the Middle East, most likely in Iraq. Now here we are... and the casualties & consequences keep piling up on both sides.
With each passing day, I feel that this country is becoming more bankrupt, morally, culturally, & politically.
I am at my wits end with this war. It has already lasted longer than World War II.
Four troubling stories below
Story of 19 Year old Nafisa Ridwan
The story of Hiba
Report from CBS
An older report from Slate
Posts
4 comments:
With each passing day, I feel that this country becoming more bankrupt, morally, culturally, & politically.
I am at my wits end with this war. It has already lasted longer than World War II.
Don't give up on us yet. The only hope I have is that in the past when the country has swung to extremes, we eventually swing in the opposite direction, but it usually happens at critical mass. I mean just look at the lenth of time it took to get from Plessy vs. Ferguson to Brown v. Board of Education.
I hope that you are memorializing your thoughts and views on the war. You might even want to gather your posts and put them together in a book as a lesson to future generations. Maybe there is a refugee organization you can have a campaign for. Or run for office.
Our system of government broke down in the lead up to the war. The separation of powers collapsed. Congress didn't carry out its constitutional duty. Politicians did what was politically expedient instead of being good stewards of their constitutional obligations. its not just the War in Iraq, but all aspects of government.
Elections have consequences. I'm not talking about 2006, but 2000.
gem2001 said "Our system of government broke down in the lead up to the war"
The Exodus Mentality would have to respectfully disagree with you on that statement. Our system of government broke down long before that. Have you seen the Freedom to Fascism movie by Aaron Russo. I don't subscribe to his entire agenda, but there is some astounding information in there that confirms other information I have seen, and I am convinced that the government of this country was hijacked a long time ago. What we are seeing now is just that the hijackers are bolder, feeling that they have control of the plane and not really caring who knows about it anymore. They have all the passengers on this crazy plane ride terrified and they are playing on that terror to do whatever they damn well please.
"The only hope I have is that in the past when the country has swung to extremes, we eventually swing in the opposite direction, but it usually happens at critical mass." Your pendulum swinging analogy is good but perhaps you should consider another likely outcome of those extreme swings. Perhaps the swing has become so extreme that there is no chance of recovery, the pendulum action ceases to exist, something breaks down, and an empire collapses. The swinging pendulum of world affairs is not the ideal situation we should be advocating for.
I almost cried when I saw the pictures of those girls. I don't know for sure if they were grieving for lost fathers, but whatever could cause that much sorrow, that it transferred from a still picture to my soul, cannot be a good thing. I hope my daughter never has to feel such pain.
The heroic passengers who supposedly rushed the hijackers of that fourth plane on 9/11 are an example we would do well to emulate. The majority of the people in America realize that the country has been hijacked. Who's willing to do something about it, other than elect a new set of hijackers?
It really is sad, but what do you expect from the American public? You expect them to care about something NOT superficial? Come now, be fair here:
Why worry about people dying in Iraq, when the new American Idol is being crowned?
Why care about Darfur, when the season finally of “Grey’s Anatomy” is coming on?
Why worry about what civil liberties the President is trampling on, when we really need to know who K. Fed will get with next?
The media of course is complicit. The President is resisting congress to give the military a 3.5 % raise (see: http://djblackadam.typepad.com/damnitq/2007/05/the_president_s.html), while he is screaming about how much he supports them as he ask the congress to fund his war contractor party. Not a peep from the press OR the Democrats.
All in all, pathetic.
Your pendulum swinging analogy is good but perhaps you should consider another likely outcome of those extreme swings. Perhaps the swing has become so extreme that there is no chance of recovery, the pendulum action ceases to exist, something breaks down, and an empire collapses. The swinging pendulum of world affairs is not the ideal situation we should be advocating for.
I still believe in the promise of America. No, we don't always get it right, I think we have what it takes to try. Maybe I am an idealist. Maybe I choose to remain blissfully ignorant if for no other reason than the alternative is too horrifying to imagine and I might as well immigrate the Canada right now
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