Thursday 23 September 2010

Whatever your losses are, ours are bigger

As Barack Obama's administration is turning the page on Iraq's war, some U.S. media outlets are focusing on the consequences of this war on the Americans first and then talk a little about the woes Iraqis have gone through since 2003 despite that the difference is huge between the two consequences on both nations.

They are talking about how many lives of U.S. troops this war claimed, how much American money was burned for it and the most irritated thing they are still quoting U.S. officials on the "seeds of democracy" the Americans have sown in this land and how Iraq will be stable and prosperous after the full U.S. withdrawal by December 2011.

But what made me furious this morning is the Associated Press story which wrote by its Washington-based writer, Robert Burns, about FBI interrogation records with Saddam Hussein henchman, Tariq Aziz while in U.S. military custody.

In its first version, Burns preferred to mention the number of the U.S. troops who were killed in Iraq before the number of Iraqis who were killed without any sin committed which is of course bigger than the U.S. loss of life.
"More than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, suspicions Saddam might have secretly collaborated with al-Qaida or other terror groups remains central to the continuing debate over the wisdom of launching the war, which has cost more than 4,400 U.S. lives and tends of thousands of Iraqis."
While in its second version, he preferred to omit the "tens of thousands of Iraqis," as if those killed Iraqis are not human beings and only the Americans are.

If you lost 4,400 lives we lost hundreds of thousands. We have a devastated society whose sects and ethnic groups hate each other more than before your invasion. We have at least five million individuals who were forced out of their homes. Our infrastructure is ruined, our antiquities are stolen and the once-fertile land is now a desert. An army of widows and orphans.

The list of the Americans' favors is too long.

I think at this critical period of time for both nations and from the ethical aspect, the American media should focus on how to prove that this war based on lies to bring those who masterminded it to justice and then they have to push for an official apology from U.S. to Iraqis who have suffered since 2003. Their readers should know that U.S. owes an apology to Iraqis.

kassakhoon@gmail.com

20 comments:

Bassam Sebti said...

The problem is that this is what the American public wants to hear. Iraq is a page that has been turned a long time ago. They no longer talk about the war and not even interested in doing so anymore.

I must say though liberal Americans feel our pain and acknowledge the mistakes that happen and do apologize about that. However, most conservative Americans are unbelievably arrogant and in complete denial of their mistakes. They think they are superior and we are the desert shepherds whom they came to rescue from the backwardness. Frustrating.

Baghdad's Kassakhoon said...

Thanks a lot for your comment.

Bruno said...

Bassam is 100% right when he points out the arrogance and closed-mindedness of the conservative strain of Americans. I've had interactions with them in the past and that analysis is spot on. They will make an argument that Iraqis "owe them" and ask when they will be paid back, accompanied by much whining about how Iraqis must "stand up so we can stand down" or somesuch nonsense.

But hey, at the end of the day they are "hated for their freedom".

Not all Americans are like this, it must be added.

Bassam Sebti said...

Bruno! Long time no see, buddy!

I agree with you. Not all Americans are like that.

Kasakhoon, you're very welcome! I enjoy your posts!

Baghdad's Kassakhoon said...

Bruno and Bassam! I agree with you.not all the Americans have the same feelings, but I think the media should not write what one group wants to read and hear otherwise they will lose their neutrality.
Good to hear that my post helped you find each others!

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