Civilians were a deliberate target of the thousands of sorties flown against Iraq cities, civilian shelters, hospitals, schools, factories (including those for medical supplies), roads, power stations, & the entire infrastructure of the country. (Now we know where Israel learned its tactics in Gaza!) There were tens of thousands of civilian casualties & no possible accurate accounting since the intention was to bring the Iraqi people & any possible resistance to their knees.
The sanctions against Iraq as a result of this war led to the death of 500,000 Iraqi children. The then US secretary of state, the despicable Madeleine Albright, notoriously made the statement on the 60-Minutes TV program (in 1996) that the US considered the price paid by these innocent children “worth it” to accomplish US goals.
The war was so daunting in its barbarity that it had a dampening affect on antiwar activity in the US & weakened a vibrant, active movement--from which it is still recovering. But be assured it will.
There’ll be eulogies galore for this war criminal. Our only regret is they weren’t written decades ago & delivered to his prison hospital. May he rest comfortably in the fires of hell. And we look forward to writing the obituary for Madeleine Albright. (Caricature by Gene Haas)
Good riddance..The world is a better place without this sac of excrement celebrated as a hero by the nauseating war-loving culture. Who would forget his direct responsibility in the death of thousands, including civilians, on the "highway of death" that even attorney general Ramsay Clark called a violation of the third Geneva Convention which outlaws the killing of forces out of combat.
ReplyDeleteThere's also the killing of disarmed soldiers who had also surrendered. Seymour Hersh alleges American combat vehicles opened fire on a large group of more than 350 disarmed Iraqi soldiers who had surrendered at a U.S. military checkpoint after fleeing the devastation on Highway 8 on February 27.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death
Amen to your comment! I wish had thought of the term "sac of excrement" when I wrote this.
DeleteAmen to your comment! I wish had thought of the term "sac of excrement" when I wrote this.
DeleteIn the film "My Beautiful Launderette" a Pakistani father tells his British-born son, "You're not a real man until you've killed a man" (words along those lines). I sometimes wonder if this is an idea with widespread appeal among Americans. The opportunity to shoot and kill an unarmed opponent appears to be preferred. I remember when the killer Gary Gilmour was to be executed in Utah by firing squad. The authorities asked for volunteers to do the shooting, and was overwhelmed by the stampede of would-be participants.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about the Gilmour execution, Jemmy. Creepy as hell! (And btw, "My Beautiful Launderette" is a lovely movie as I remember it.)
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