Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Does anyone else see the hypocrisy here?
Disclaimer: I am a loyal, patriotic American, and have risked my life countless times in the service of our country in places like the Korean DMZ and Vietnam. I would gladly do so again if needed but, after Vietnam, only if we were truly under attack and in self defense. I read this short essay to my wife who had reservations about my posting it. That, as they say, "speaks volumes" about the climate of suspicion, mistrust, distrust and anxiety that pervades our land these days and that, my friends, is very unfortunate.
When some countries are attacked by terrorists, the horrors and crimes committed by them are reported dramatically and frequently but never the incalculable terrorism that may have been done to the "terrorists" or their collective families over long periods. Something very important is usually missing in medias' incomplete and biased coverage, reporting and analyses of terrorism and here it is: When sophisticated bombs, rockets and artillery were used to attack places and people in Vietnam, Panama, Afghanistan Iraq and other countries, innocent children, women, men - young and old - were inevitably wounded and killed. After Vietnam, media familiar to us did not have free access to our combat operations, and never contemporaneously reported the casualties and damage inflicted on both sides. Foreign media, however, often covered and reported on all the civilian casualties that occurred, but their reports were not widely disseminated.
Family members and friends of most people who are wounded or killed by anyone often hate those who do it. Some nations grant themselves absolution for the wrongs they commit by calling them "mistakes" and by terming those they wound and kill, "collateral damage". In fact, wounded is wounded and dead is dead, and to the victims and their families there's no difference at all. Two wrongs do not make anything right, and that's a critical problem for all of us. The Russians must be careful about retaliating against innocent people in Chechnya, and we must do the same where ever we go. Or, we can do as other peoples have done and slowly, but surely, destroy ourselves.
Conclusion: What difference do you think it makes to innocent victims if they are wounded or killed by high tech weapons or by low tech (face to face) weapons and method(s)? Does anyone see the hypocrisy here?
¶ 10:00 AM
When some countries are attacked by terrorists, the horrors and crimes committed by them are reported dramatically and frequently but never the incalculable terrorism that may have been done to the "terrorists" or their collective families over long periods. Something very important is usually missing in medias' incomplete and biased coverage, reporting and analyses of terrorism and here it is: When sophisticated bombs, rockets and artillery were used to attack places and people in Vietnam, Panama, Afghanistan Iraq and other countries, innocent children, women, men - young and old - were inevitably wounded and killed. After Vietnam, media familiar to us did not have free access to our combat operations, and never contemporaneously reported the casualties and damage inflicted on both sides. Foreign media, however, often covered and reported on all the civilian casualties that occurred, but their reports were not widely disseminated.
Family members and friends of most people who are wounded or killed by anyone often hate those who do it. Some nations grant themselves absolution for the wrongs they commit by calling them "mistakes" and by terming those they wound and kill, "collateral damage". In fact, wounded is wounded and dead is dead, and to the victims and their families there's no difference at all. Two wrongs do not make anything right, and that's a critical problem for all of us. The Russians must be careful about retaliating against innocent people in Chechnya, and we must do the same where ever we go. Or, we can do as other peoples have done and slowly, but surely, destroy ourselves.
Conclusion: What difference do you think it makes to innocent victims if they are wounded or killed by high tech weapons or by low tech (face to face) weapons and method(s)? Does anyone see the hypocrisy here?
¶ 10:00 AM
