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America’s slaughter of Iraqis and AfghansPaul Balles* 11 July 2007 Paul J. Balles comments on the “new holocaust” – the USA’s war on Iraq and Afghanistan. He attributes the continuing slaughter of Iraqis and Afghans, despite growing US popular opposition, to powerful lobbies, foremost the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and big oil. The headlines alone about Iraq and Afghanistan make daunting reading. Here are some from the Information Clearing House (ICH) for 6 July 2007: "At least 37 killed as US occupation grinds on" "Baghdad car bomb kills another 12" "Baghdad killings 'rise sharply'" "Marines face scrutiny in Iraqi deaths" "Killing 10,000 Iraqis every month" "Mercenaries back from occupied Iraq suffer trauma from battle " "Afghan blasts kill 13 people" "Another NATO occupation force soldier killed in Afghanistan" "Afghanistan: Over six million face food insecurity" "Afghan prison bodies discovered" These were just one day's ICH headlines. The same thing has been going on day after day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year since America's coalition forces bombed, invaded and occupied these two countries. On the same day, ICH reported more than 655,000 Iraqis slaughtered during America's war on Iraq, 3,592 US military personnel sacrificed in America's war on Iraq, and the cost of the war in Iraq has so far amounted to more than 440 billion dollars. On the next day, ICH reported "At least 59 killed in another bloody day of US occupation" in Iraq. In addition "Afghan battle kills 33 'Taliban'" and "10 Afghan police officers, three NATO occupation force soldiers killed.” On the following day "At least 179 people killed in Iraq's carnage," "At least 137 dead in three suicide attacks in occupied northern Iraq," “Nine US soldiers killed in Iraq,” "Iraq war costs could top 1.4 trillion dollars," "107 civilians among 170 killed by US occupation forces in Afghanistan" and "11 Afghan civilians, 20 militants killed by occupation forces." I searched for the same data in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. It wasn’t there. I looked for it on MSNBC, ABC, CNN and BBC. It wasn’t there. Why does all this under-reported bloodletting continue? In Afghanistan's case, the Taliban harboured Osama Bin-Laden, the reputed mastermind of 9/11; and they refused to hand Bin-Laden over to America. Bombings, an invasion, the creation of millions of refugees and a puppet government, and the return of the poppy growing warlords to feed the world's drug industry have left the invaders looking for Bin-Laden empty handed. Intelligence sources say that Bin-Laden continues to bask in the unofficial generosity of Pakistan under the guidance of America's friendly dictator, General Musharraf, almost six years after 9/11. Among the friendly deeds celebrated by the US administration's new justice system, the enforcers hail the creation and maintenance of Guantanamo, in red-neck terms referred to as Gitmo. The captives, often picked up by bounty-hunting Pakistanis looking for payoffs without regard to any activity related to Bin-Laden, have languished in Gitmo for five years without trial, simply because they were conveniently dubbed "unlawful enemy combatants". That label has only recently been seriously challenged. Meanwhile, the hawks in the White House and the Justice Department carry on raping the constitution, taking away more rights and freedoms daily in the bogus attempts to spread freedom and democracy elsewhere. Which brings us to Iraq, where the carnage of the invasion goes on and on and on despite the efforts of the American public to bring the devastating lives-for-oil grab to an end. Why the disregard for the voting public's wishes? In short, America's voters generally have none of the clout of the ruling interests of America's power lobbies like American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). When Abe Foxman speaks, everyone in government jumps. When the American public votes, most of the government yawns. Thus, even though the bombing and the invasion of Iraq were motivated by a group of dual-loyalists in Washington in order to protect Israel from non-existent weapons of mass destruction, the occupation and the carnage continues in the service of corporate mercenaries and big oil. The dead and the maimed in thousands among Americans and British and millions of Iraqis be damned. The dead are nothing more than puppets of the puppets. When Israel says "jump", America jumps. When America says "jump", the troops jump. When the troops say "jump", the Iraqis dig mass graves and learn what a holocaust is first hand. *Paul Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for 38 years. For more information, see http://www.pballes.com. Copyright © Redress Information & Analysis. All rights reserved. |
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