-
RSS
The massacre at Virgina Tech was an absolute tragedy. Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall does not dispute that in his latest illustrated commentary. Rather, he uses it as a new moral benchmark to illuminate the scale of suffering experienced a world away, in a place we have already emotionally withdrawn from even as we debate our future physical exit.
4 Comments
-
Support Barack Obama
It’s too bad this guy would make light of such an insane tragedy to push his political agenda. He should feel lucky he has the right to do so.
I guess he thinks Iraq was much better off when Saddam had a monopoly on killing in Iraq. At least he had the courtesy to mustard gas thousands of Sunni’s in secret so the rest of the world didn’t have to be bothered by it.
i don’t feel ted rall is belittleing the terrible virginia tech tragedy.
in this country of approx 300 million people, the devastation felt is noteworthy.
i feel deeply for a country of 26 million where 100+ people are killed in a day sometimes, in a war created by our ‘elected’ officials.
the psyche of the iraqi people will be scared for generations.
these are not events to compare or get defensive about.
To Richard:
You’re correct, these are not events to be compared. But, what drives me crazy is that the only reason that anyone cares about what’s going on in Iraq today is that it’s on the news 24/7. Nobody cared before that. Or is it only because Americans are involved?
Did you know that Saddam was responsible for killing upwards of 2 million of his citizens?
Did you know that females in Iraq were regularly raped and beaten by Saddams henchmen?
Did you know that one of the penalties for speaking ill of Saddam or his family was tongue amputation?
Did you know that citizens of Iraq were regularly imprisoned, tortured, beaten and killed for no reason?
Did you know that Saddam would keep thousands of Iraqi citizens imprisoned without any due process and use them as guinea pigs in biological weapons tests?
Did you know that Saddam required boys aged 10-15 to participate in paramilitary training lasting up to 14 hours a day?
Did you know that food was rationed in Iraq via food ration cards and that Saddam would consistently hold the threat of having food ration cards revoked if Iraqi citizens failed to obey his “rules”?
These are just a few of the charges brought by the UN and all were failed to be acted upon by the UN.
I’m pretty certain that the psyche of the Iraqi people has already been scarred for generations.
The bottom line is that this cartoon is offensive and I completely disagree with York’s assessment that Mr. Rall doesn’t dispute the tradgedy in VA. “Only 32″? How do you think the families of those victims would feel about the assertion that 32 victims is an insignificant number? How would you feel if your family or friend was one of those victims?
And don’t get me started about a moral benchmark. Morality is not conditional. If you want to talk about it from a moral perspective, let’s talk about the immorality of the rest of the world, including us, that we let Saddam stay in power for so long. The fact is, whether you agree or disagree with the reason we went into Iraq, it was high time somebody did something about him.
So, am I getting defensive? Perhaps. But, I’ve had an ass full of people that are looking at this situation in a vacuum.
It’s a completely different discussion, but this war was never about WMD or some supposed connection between Saddam and Bin Laden. It is about the wholesale restructuring of the Middle East after 9/11. Bush said from the beginning that Iraq was the “next step” in the war on terrorism. Translation: that little freak in Iran is the next one in the cross hairs. There’s no way pressure could be put on Iran without having access to it from both sides. If you don’t buy it, take a look at a map of the ME. That’s why going into Iraq had to be done now, after we went into Afghanistan. Oh sure, it was handled with gross incompetence and arrogance. Sure, Bush and his crew clearly thought they were going to ride into town, oust the bad guys and that both countries would have thriving democracies by now. But, don’t forget, the men surrounding Bush are all old schoolers who have been in the top levels of govt for the last 30 yrs while Islamic fundamentalists having been increasingly taking shots at Americans and other Western interests. All the while we’ve essentially done nothing in retaliation. Arguably you can make a case that we’re in the position we’re in today because Reagan not only didn’t retalitate against the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, but then he beat a hasty retreat with our troops. In the long run, that strategy hasn’t saved lives, it’s cost lives! Bin Laden himself identified that specific action as having emboldened him and his followers that if enough people die, America will always retreat. And that is exactly what Congress is suggesting we do today. It only emboldened them then and it will only embolden them further if we do the same thing today.
So, while I abhor the way it’s been handled, the fact is that if we elect a sufficient intellect this next time out that can start using diplomacy and PR to a better end, we still have a chance to make life in the Middle East better for all it’s people. Unfortunately, it’s a long way off, but just cause it’s a tough row to hoe doesn’t necessarily mean we should abandon it. Don’t forget, membership in the Nazi party grew by over 1 million AFTER we entered into WWII and we ultimately defeated their cause.
York: thanks for the unlimited space to rant.
Scott, you are more than welcome.
I have always wanted yorkrules to be much more of a conversation than a monologue, so I truly appreciate your contribution, as well as Richard’s.
I encourage both of you, and everyone else, to comment frequently and at length, whenever you feel so compelled.
I will continue to try to touch sensitive nerves - political, musical, artistic, and literary - in order to foster the conversation.
Cheers,
York