|
CounterPunch
February
1, 2003
An Immodest
Proposal
Iraqi Children
as British Child Labor
by BRIAN J. FOLEY
It is a melancholy object to those who wage wars
that many children are burned, maimed and killed; that many children
get in the way of bullets and bombs; that after the cessation
of hostilities, many children die from pestilence, or are grievously
injured by landmines.
These dangers have long troubled politicians.
None more, I suppose, than the English, who truly love children.
This love has never been more evident than recently, when it
became well known that British leaders maintain strict laws punishing
anyone who merely visits a website containing child pornography,
because children are harmed in making this sordid material.
Many dreamers have offered solutions
to the injustices visited upon children in war, but these proposals
have proved impracticable. The principled refusal to bomb schools
merely turns those buildings into sanctuaries for enemy soldiers.
Precision guided missiles are expensive, and they just as often
miss their intended targets.
Under my proposal, it will be possible
to remove children from Iraq before the war commences. They will
be provided safe passage to Britain, and, once there, gainful
employment. There will be a demand for these workers. I have
been told by many people that Iraqi children -- the strong ones
who have so far survived the UN sanctions -- are considered quite
beautiful. Perhaps a little thin, from hunger, but nevertheless
pleasing to the eye.
I do therefore humbly offer it to public
consideration that Iraqi children, instead of being placed at
risk of death or mutilation from British and American armaments,
be given the option to appear in pornography. Of course, an exception
to the English laws will have to be made. But the government
can remain assured that English children will be protected from
this scourge, if the law excepts only Iraqi children.
Strenuous efforts will warrant that no
child is coerced. The government will dispatch inspectors to
Iraq -- often called "the cradle of civilization" --
to locate healthy children, and ask them to choose freely: "Do
you want to be in pictures -- or would you rather be killed in
the war? Do you want to be just another pretty face -- or prefer
yours disfigured?"
No child will engage in this enterprise
for an unreasonable duration. I have been assured by child pornographers,
and lawmakers, that a boy or girl older than 16 years is no salable
commodity. Teenagers who save their earnings may pay for education,
or train for respectable professions.
The advantages of my proposal are many.
For first, moneys will once again flow unabated to credit card
companies. Because of Britain's strict laws, and recent arrests,
sensible Englishmen are, at present, terrified to use a credit
card to access a child pornography site. Without swift government
action, there will be a decrease in profits, and a resulting
loss of tax revenue.
Secondly, tax revenue from this business
can fund schools and children's hospitals, which may suffer in
wartime. Some revenues can buy therapy for children who might
be emotionally scarred by their employment. What is left might
be used to purchase prosthetic limbs for children who choose
to remain in Iraq for the invasion.
Thirdly, British leaders will be able
to wage this war in good conscience. They will know that all
child casualties freely assumed the risk of their injuries. They
will know that those children who contract disease, or languish
in unsanitary refugee camps, stubbornly refused a helping hand.
Fourthly, publics in the civilized world
will need tolerate few, if any, indecent photographs in newspapers,
TV or on the Internet, of bloody children who are dead, mangled,
or twisted into grotesque shapes.
One might object that child pornography
is immoral, harms children, and devalues human life; I agree.
But let no one suggest other expedients: asking governments to
avoid war by practicing diplomacy and applying creativity; asking
governments to shift money from military budgets to humanitarian
goals; asking British and American leaders to continue the strict
UN weapons inspections in Iraq agreed to by many nations. I repeat,
let no one suggest such expedients, until there is at least some
glimpse of hope that there will ever be some sincere attempt
to try them. At present, both the British and American governments
appear too busy protecting children, born and unborn, to listen.
Lastly, I profess that I have no personal
interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having
no motive other than the public good, assuaging the guilt of
politicians, and providing for children. I have no children of
my own in Iraq, and I would prefer pictures of adults only.
Brian J. Foley
can be reached at bjf@brianjfoley.com.
Yesterday's
Features
Muqtedar Khan
Heavy
Rhetoric, Wistful Thinking and Hydrogen Cars: a response to Bush's
State of the Union
William Hughes
An
Open Letter to France:
Justice is On Your Side
David Wilson
Meet
the Gloucester Weapons Inspectors: the Protest at the Fairford
Stealth Bomber Base
Anthony Gancarski
Free
Press? "There's No Damn Thing"
Josh Frank
Who Would Jesus Bomb?: 10 Reasons to Oppose War on Iraq
Abu Spinoza
Iraq: Web Resources
Dr. Gerry Lower
Class Warfare Against the Poor
Natalie Johnson Lee
Green
Party Response to Bush's State of the Union
Russell Mokhiber and
Robert Weissman
Stealing Money from Kids
Maria Tomchick
Bush's Smallpox Boondoggle
Paul di Rooij
War: It's Already Started
Website of the Day
Tie
Yourself to the Mast Brave Odysseus: Ashcroft Sings!
Keep CounterPunch Alive:
Make
a Tax--Deductible Donation Today Online!
CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
- CounterPunch Special:
The Persecution of Gershon Legman by Susan Davis: Smut, the Post Office, Commies
and the FBI;
- Reeling Democrats: Is Pelosi the Answer?
- Gandhi v. Hitler: the Secret Race for the Nobel
Prize;
- Sullying Mario Savio's
Memory;
- Lynching Then and Now;
- Earn While You Learn: Chris Whittle and Child Labor;
The Case of the Pompous
Professor;
- The Class Struggle in
Boston: All that
Effort, But What Did They Get?
Remember, the CounterPunch website is
supported exclusively by subscribers to our newsletter. Our worldwide
web audience is soaring , with about seven million hits a month
now. This is inspiring, but the work involved also compels us
to remind you more urgently than ever to subscribe and/or make
a (tax deductible) donation if you can afford it. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe
Now!
Or Call Toll Free 1 800 840 3683
home / subscribe
/ about us
/ books
/ archives
/ search
/ links
/
|