Not our children mind you. The children in the countries who attacked us, and those in the countries that are trying to kill us. Why not? They killed 3000 of our people. They are trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. Fair is fair. We can’t allow an attack on our homeland, killing 3000 people, to go unanswered. Not only that, if we don’t take action now and show them we mean business, they might attack again. We have no choice. The very security of the citizens of the United States is at stake so we must do whatever is necessary to protect them.
The people who attacked us are evil and developing weapons of mass destruction is evil. We must fight them wherever they are, no matter what country of the world. The very future of the world depends on our response and the need to eradicate terrorism and weapons of mass destruction in the hands of evil people.
War has costs. We must keep in mind those costs, but realize those costs are nothing compared to what could happen if we don’t react. Just as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved thousands of American lives, we need to take whatever actions necessary to save more American lives. That is the purpose of our military, save American lives and protect American interests. That is the American way.
Madeline Albright said it best in 1996 in her interview with Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes.
“Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Secretary of State Madeline Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.”
She did make a mea culpa to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, stating she should not have made that statement, but the facts are there.
Former SOS Albright isn’t the only politician or statesperson to make such a claim regarding the costs of war or political sanctions. But her statement certainly makes her one of the poster childs. Imagine thinking that over one half million dead children is worth the benefits we received from sanctioning Iraq. Imagine what kind of person Madeline Albright must be. Now imagine what Albright thinks, is normal for our politicians and diplomats. I remember watching a video of Bill Richardson where he said the same thing as Albright.
The utterly disgusting thing is she made these comments based on the sanctions on Iraq. Sanctions! The over 500,000 dead children occured because of sanctions. Then the U.S. flat out invaded and occupied Iraq which has resulted in the deaths of over 1 million MORE Iraqis, and has completely devastated the environment and infrastructure. If left to peace right now, it would take well over a generation to overcome the effects of the war and its destruction, including cancer causing and disease causing conditions.
But don’t kid yourself. We’re Americans, we take care of our own. If a half million kids have to die half way around the world so we can be safe here at home, so be it. No one said life is fair. We’re talking about a third world country here anyway.
So when you see what comes out of this current AIPAC meeting regarding Iran, i.e., the sanctions, don’t fret about what the cost may be. There may be some Iranian kids that die. But Iran might be able to make a nuclear weapon. That is unacceptable and if some children must die to keep it from happening, the world will be a better place.
Update: There is no doubt that the U.S. is going to use further sanctions against Iran to try and prevent its development of a nuclear weapon, however realistic that is. And there is not doubt that the country most interested in these sanctions, other than the U.S., is Israel (not that other countries don’t have similar interests). AIPAC is Israels most influential lobby group in the U.S. The meeting this week will focus on sanctions on Iran. My point is, we saw what sanctions did to Iraq and its children. What will these sanctions, if enacted, do to the children of Iran? This has no more to do with Israel and AIPAC than it does with the US Congress and Senate.
Crossposted at Daily Kos – http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
Charles Graner the ‘ringleader’ of the abuse at Abu Ghraib is appealing his 10 year Leavenworth sentence and dishonorable discharge. Graner is this guy, pictured with the mother of his child Lynndie England.