Violence... The story so far

Editorial

14 May 2005

Women are worse off now than when they were at the mercy of Saddam's mad offspring. Unbelievable to many, denied by even more, it is high time to withdraw when all we are doing is making a bad situation even worse. For those of you who would stay the course, please explain why there were 300,000 widows in Baghdad alone in 2005? Explain why one in six children in America lives in poverty while one in six in Iraq died in 2005! Coincidence? Hardly. Iraq, along with our response to Hurricane Katrina were products of compassionate conservatism, Neocon style. A deteriorating national ethic that both hides and excuses such behavior, both public and private, is a hallmark of a failing empire. Read corruption there, because that is exactly what it is.

If Pollit moves you, visit Katha Pollit - The Nation and Equality in Iraq for more.

The buzz words in 2003 were great. Schools, health programs, microenterprises for women, the idea that women's rights go hand in hand with democracy.

None of that came to be. NONE. In view of the history of the Iraq war and the corruption rampant in the Neocon lairs, the failure to approve Women's Rights Treaty, war against condoms in preventing AIDS, one has to question the sincerity of the current administration. The 2006 election came none too soon.

It is also hard to find words to excuse the US policy prohibiting the Iraqi health ministry from publishing data on civilian deaths. At the same time, the US immunizes the likes of Blackwater from Iraqi law as long as they pursue the terms of their contract. It is more than outrageous, it is criminal. It is, however, typical of the deceit this administration is based upon.

Of one thing we can be thankful: Our electoral system, though wounded, has not been fatally destroyed -- yet.