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CounterPunch
December
28, 2002
War Crimes:
Us and Them
by ABU SPINOZA
"If you do not like the image in
the mirror do not break the mirror, break your face."
---Persian proverb
Although the deceits and the corruption of the
mainstream media is no secret, the ironies of the New York Times
can never cease to amaze. Take the Times' story, "Crossing
Paths: Albright Testifies in War Crimes Case," by Marlise
Simons [December 18, 2002]
Simons is reporting on former Secretary
of State Madeleine K. Albright's testimony at the trial of former
Bosnian Serb leader Mrs. Biljana Plavsic at International Criminal
Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY). Simons quotes Albright as saying:
"I found it repugnant and I didn't understand why she would
be involved in things like that to eradicate various groups of
people."
Simons, of course, does not say a word
about Mrs. Albright's own endorsement of sanctions against Iraq
and periodic bombings of that country. The price that the people
of Iraq are paying for the sanctions is colossal. At least half
a million children have died as a result of the increase in child
mortality due to sanctions. Child mortality in Iraq has risen
from a level that was comparable to advanced industrialized countries
to that of least developed countries with chronic shortages of
food or being devastated by civil war, such as Sudan or Somalia.
Approximately one million people have died due to the sanctions.
Iraq's water supply facilities and waste disposal systems are
in ruins because the sanctions prevent Iraq from importing spare
parts required to operate them. The country's environment and
agriculture are in shambles. Sanctions have strengthened the
Iraqi ruling elite. Iraqi regime had long denied civil and political
rights to its population, but economic and social quality of
life for the majority was high before the Gulf War. With the
imposition of the sanctions, the economic opportunities and social
capabilities of Iraqis are being systematically downgraded and
destroyed.
The following exchange between Lesley
Stahl and Mrs. Albright is worth recalling: Lesley Stahl: "We
have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's
more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price
worth it?" Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: "I
think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the
price is worth it." [60 Minutes (5/12/96)]
Perhaps Mrs. Albright's role in extending
sanctions on Iraq whose effective targets have been the people
of Iraq makes her a worthy expert witness for an international
war crimes tribunal because of her direct experience in taking
measures that were bound to cause poverty, pain and panic on
an anguished people living under a dictatorship. It is not as
if the consequences of sanctions and bombing are unknown. The
horrific effects on the bombing and the sanctions are widely
known and have been carefully documented by UN studies and independent
researchers. Anthony Arnove's edited book Iraq under Siege provides
an accurate picture of the deadly effects of decade of sanctions
and war on Iraq.
A decent person would find it repugnant
and fail to understand why Mrs. Albright would be involved in
things like imposing a deadly sanction of mass destruction and
destitution on the Iraqi people. Surely no one forced Mrs. Albright
to join the War Party. She did so on her own free will. Mrs.
Albright may remind herself that it is always easy to condemn
the crimes of others, while forgetting one's own crimes. It is
easy to place all the blame on Iraq's dictator for the plight
of the Iraqi people because it avoids the question of the responsibility
of imperial powers, particularly the United States and the United
Kingdom.
Getting back to Simons' story: Nobel
Laureate Mr. Elie Wiesel reported to have told the court, "How
could she [Mrs. Plavsic] remain silent in the face of so much
spilt blood?" However, Mr. Wiesel himself has been the master
of "silence." In fact, he has been a consistent supporter
of violence when it comes to Israeli oppression of the Palestinians
and the illegitimate and immoral Israeli occupation of the Palestinian
territories of West Bank and Gaza and Syrian territory of Golan
Heights.
As can be expected of a New York Times
reporter, Simons reports without any mention of the utter hypocrisies
of Mrs. Albright and Mr. Wiesel. That these men and women can
be witnesses in war crimes tribunal is quite amazing. There is
no question that those responsible for war crimes in former Yugoslavia,
such as Mrs. Plavsic, should be brought to justice. However,
it is indecent and grotesque to ignore and erase out of public
deliberations the crimes and the "silence" of our own
political and "moral" leaders.
Abu Spinoza
is a pseudonym for an economist. This article appeared first
in pressaction.
He can be reached at: spinoza@counterpunch.org
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