"The devil's an optimist if he thinks he can make people any meaner."
- Karl Kraus (1874-1936), Austrian writer and satirist
This morning I read this AP story written by Niko Price. It was about the mass graves in Iraq, and it made me sick to my stomach.
"The killers kept banker's hours. They showed up for work at the barley field at 9 a.m., trailed by backhoes and three buses filled with blindfolded men, women and children as young as 1. Every day, witnesses say, the routine was the same: The backhoes dug a trench. Fifty people were led to the edge of the hole and shot, one by one, in the head. The backhoes covered them with dirt, then dug another hole for the next group. At 5 p.m., the killers - officials of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party - went home to rest up for another day of slaughter."
I simply cannot fathom how it would feel to see my loved ones--my wife, my boys, my brothers or my friends, led to the edge of a ditch and shot in the head, and to know I would follow them shortly.
Americans can't relate to this. We've never had to experience anything remotely like it, and hopefully never will. But millions of people in our world have experienced it. The Holocaust was worst, but more recently there have been others. Over a million died in Cambodia, under the Pol Pot regime, and millions more have died in Africa.
I'm truly conflicted about how the U.S should deal with these atrocities. My heart tells me we should do all we can, including military intervention, to stop them. My head tells me that getting involved is too complex, too costly and too dangerous. I don't think we should be a "white knight," and go it alone, but I fear that most major countries in the world have little interest in the problem, and wouldn't join in combating it. So do we just stand by, and continue watching innocent people die, or do we stand up to these monsters, and stop their killing? What do you think?
6 comments:
I feel exactly the same way you do. We are between a rock and a hard place in these situations. I have read about many of these "killing fields" in other parts of the world too, and it becomes so horrific to me that I find myself "tuning out", but at the same time I know that feigning ignorance is wrong and guilt sets in. I wouldn't want that on my conscience either. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.
The killings disturb me very much. I wrote about them too. Maybe the internet is the best place to start. We bring these atrocities to light. We put pressure on our legislators to include human rights in their dealings with these countries. We favor nations with cleaner records. The power of the dollar may yeild more results than soldiers.
I'm sorry to say that a lot of the blood is on our hands. We have gotten in bed with some pretty unsavory characters when we thought it was in our nation's interest (Saddam included!)
I would like to see us do more, but the Iraq War shows the folly of trying to go it alone, especially without clear objectives and no exit strategy.
I heard this story too and it makes me sick. Sounds like there are far more mass graves in Iraq than we have uncovered. I think the best thing we can do is what was done after the Holocaust, make sure we document the atrocities, help identify the dead and let the relatives and loved ones know, bury them in graves, give them our blessings and educate ourselves about how it came to be and how we can prevent such tragedies from happening again.
Great Post Ron!
First why doen't the media post this stuff instead dwelling on the things that hurt us. Think about it. First story of the day, "One more America killed in war!"
Why does the press not understand that when all they tell of is death they hurt the hearts of everyone who has someone fighting for us, and all of us who truely love them for their gift of their hearts for our country.
Why?
Bill Garvey
I think, Bill, because most of the major media have an agenda, and they report in ways that will support that agenda.
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