Beyond Bush: Searching for Our Humanity

The American public’s outrage over Emperor Bush II’s unjust war on Iraq mostly stems from the number of American troops and government contractors that have died since the war began in March of 2003. Some four and a half years later, 3776 Americans have died (icasualties.org). Since Bush and his latest administration and military puppets have been on their new propaganda campaign, touting the success of the war, his approval has actually risen, despite the fact that more Americans have died in the past 6 months than in any other period in the war. That said, by comparison, the number of Iraqi lives lost since this shit-storm began is astronomical.

I often wonder how many Americans know or even care how many human beings from Iraq have been killed as a result of the U.S. invasion. Seriously, how many Americans are aware that in the most in-depth peer-reviewed study of Iraqi deaths caused by the war, researchers (from the United States!) from Johns Hopkins University estimated that from 2003-2006, 650,000 Iraqis had been killed as a result of the U.S. invasion. At that rate (and since so few studies have been done), the number of Iraqi deaths as of today is in the 800,000 – 900,000 range. To put it in terms that only Americans can relate to 99.6% of deaths that have occurred since the U.S. began blowing apart Iraq’s ancient civilization have been that of Iraqis. Or for every 1 U.S. life lost, 239 Iraqi lives have been lost.

Given American complacency during genocides in Rwanda and Darfur, one can’t help but draw the conclusion that the majority of Americans are not concerned about the lives of human beings from other countries. And why should that surprise anyone, given that Americans don’t seem to care about the lives of other Americans if they should happen to be Black, Latino, or poor. In the past week, how much genuine widespread outrage has been given since the American public learned of the kidnapping, rape, and torture of a Black woman in West Virginia at the hands of 6 inbred whites? Outside of Black America, how many white, Asian and Latino Americans have expressed outrage at the plight of the Jena 6? Besides a handful of college students, where has the outrage been as a noose was hung in front of a Black cultural center at the University of Maryland?
All that said we need to start talking in humanistic terms about what our nation has done to the people of Iraq. And since I could care less about being politically correct, I will put it bluntly: I do not want to hear about another dead U.S. soldier until the media, government, and American public begins to validate the lives of those Iraqi children, women and men killed by our hands.

Until we as human beings place equal value on all human lives, we only devalue our own lives. 900,000 lives lost - 900,000. Nearly 1/6 of the Holocaust. Where is the outrage? Where is the humanity? What have we become? Are we that nationalistic, or just individualistic? America was built on two ideals: white supremacy and manifest destiny. Surely we don't all buy into the same extreme xenophobic mentality that wiped the Native American off the map and committed the inhumane atrocity of slavery against the African. Surely we care more about human beings than we do about attaining shit like cars and clothes. Surely we care more about 900,000 dead human beings from Iraq than Michael Vick's 4-8 dead pitbulls. Surely we do - right?