Tsunami Musings and the War on Iraq.
So I'm watching some of the ongoing Tsunami coverage, and some of the video footage and photos that keep rolling in illustrating the full extent of the tragedy. The pics of crying mothers who have lost their children, the video footage of a fathers who saw his child and wife swept away, etc....and it tears at my heart. If you have any compassion in your being, this stuff sticks with you.
And then I had a thought: I wonder if we'd all be reacting so strongly - contributing money and supplies, praying for the lost and the orphaned, etc - if we didn't have the benefit of the pics and videos. Seeing footage of the tragedy makes even the most hardened souls among us flinch and mumble prayers. To a man, we know that if we could have done something to avert such a tragedy, we would have.
And then I wondered: If we'd all seen vivid pictures and footage of Hitler's Nazis killing Jews, Poles, Russians, etc. by the millions, would we feel the same sickening sense of heartache and loss, likely amplified by the fact that human hands perpetuated such horror, not an Act of God? Of course we would. By the same token, if we had film of Saddam's regime mutilating prisoners, sodomizing and dismembering women and children, running bodies through woodchippers, slaughtering Kurds by the hundreds and dumping them into pits, etc., would we all feel different about our president (and his cabinet's) decision to overthrow a sadistic regime? I mean, it's one thing to hear about the hundreds of thousands of innocent people Saddam had murdered (far more than were lost by this latest natural disaster), but quite another to witness it.
My point: Our military - and our president - liberated a country, freed an oppressed people and saved hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives by making a tough decision. Belittle him if you will, but if you do, don't pretend to feel compassion for the suffering of the hapless souls in Thailand, Sri Lanka, etc. All life is valuable, and taking bold steps that free a people and save lives is noble and worthwhile, no matter how you spin it. :2 cents:
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