I posted this yesterday, but was asked to repost today.
On reaching the recent Sept 11 anniversary, my memories, as one who witnessed the horrific events of that day, were not of my fears and anxieties at that time, but of the reaction of the rest of the world to the attacks. The outpouring of grief and sympathy from the rest of the world offered a unique opportunity to forge stronger ties with our allies and to mend frayed relationships or ease tensions with nations with which we had disagreements.
This opportunity, as we all know, was squandered by a belligerent and arrogant administration which had already decided what their foreign policy direction would be well before the attacks, or even their ascent to the White House. This policy, formulated by the neo-cons and their "Project For a New American Century" (PNAC), is still being pushed by our potential President McCain and Vice-President Palin. It gives me yet another reason to make sure these people don't get the chance to put their plans into action.
When John McCain was asked to respond to a question about how to deal with the potential Iranian acquisition of nuclear-weapon technology, he did so by doing a parody of a Beach Boys song. "Bomb, bomb, bomb ... bomb, bomb Iran", he sang.
He meant it as a joke.
But far from laughing, all I felt was sick. The image that came into my mind, as McCain giggled childishly about his little gag, was Iranian children blown to bits - those pictures of mothers and elderly people in hospital with horrific injuries. Houses leveled. Quiet neighborhoods destroyed. Yes, I know he meant bomb the strategic targets - but everyone knows, there's going to be "collateral damage" - so we just have to put up with those blown up kids. It's the price we have to pay for our freedom.
He made another joke, too, regarding the import of American cigarettes into Iran - apparently export levels are at an all time high. "Maybe that's a way of killing them.", was McCain's comment. Yeah, Yeah - another joke. But who is the "them"?, I thought. Innocent civilians with nothing to do with the radical philosophies of the leadership of that country? Perhaps he meant some of those young people or students, who, up until the Iraq War (and perhaps even now), were huge fans of American culture - perhaps the most pro-US demographic in the Middle-East. Wow. How could it come to this? How could McCain be so callous about the human race to think that these "jokes" were funny?
Remember the days after Sept. 11, 2001? The Iranians had a spontaneous candle-lit vigil in Tehran's main square. 60,000 football fans sat silent in a Tehran stadium for a 3 minute commemoration of the victims at the World Trade Center, PA and Washington. Here's something I found on an Iranian travel agency's site. It may remind you of those events.
http://www.bestirantravel.com/...
It wasn't just Iran who held heartfelt vigils or tributes, as we know.
Remember the French newspaper, Le Monde's headline - "We Are All Americans"?. (In another commentary on McCain's cynicism and opportunism, ho co-opted this noble sentiment and phrase when imprudent Georgian military action in breakaway provinces provoked a response - disproportionate as it was - from the Russians. "Today, we are all Georgians", John McCain proclaimed - what a joke!)
On Sept. 12, 2001, I had tears in my eyes as I watched the "Changing of the Guard" in London, while the band played "The Star Spangled Banner" - the first time in their long history they had played something other than "God Bless the Queen". This, while, out of the the corner of my eye, I glimpsed the smoldering remains of the World Trade Center through my living room window. I'm still feeling a lump in my throat as I write this.
There were many other tributes, from Canada to Japan, from Australia to Hungary. All calling for unity and solidarity with the United States in it's time of need. So much could have been forgiven. Unpopular U.S. Foreign Policy, CIA actions in South America, American military mis-steps, .... sure, some in the world had problems with these issues and more, but the U.S. didn't deserve this - the horrific attacks of Sept.11. Killing innocent people because of some gripe with the policies of a nation's government? That was not deserved. The U.S. was to be supported.
Well - it didn't take long to alienate those who threw their whole-hearted support behind the government and people of the U.S. at that time. The decision to invade Iraq took care of that. The whole world did a double take ... and eventually shook it's collective head.
As our response to those nearly 4,000 innocent deaths unfolded, our administration decided that more innocent deaths - a hundred or perhaps thousand fold - were OK, as long as they weren't American. The neo-cons had a plan to remake the Middle-East in their own vision, and military force was the only way. Who cares about the involvement of the rest of the world? - our European allies and U.N. were shunned. Who cares about our reputation in the world? - rendition, torture and discarding both the Geneva Convention and our own Constitution was OK. Our troops didn't need body amour nor their Humvees up-armored. They should guard the oil wells and the "Iraqi Oil Ministry" building, not the ammunition storage sites, ripe for the picking for potential insurgents, nor the museums containing priceless Iraqi treasures. What a way to win friends and quell conspiracy theories.
So now, McCain, who seems to always see the military option first, has his sights set on Iran - another favorite neo-con target. "Bomb, bomb Iran" was meant as a joke. But that fact that McCain sees it as a joke should give everyone pause. The Iranian people's response to the attacks of Sept. 11, and that of others, showed us all that a nation's citizens are not it's government - a fact that I hope the rest of the world takes into account when viewing us in the United States. Bombs, dismembered children's bodies and the destruction of innocent lives are not the material of jokes. These are real people - the very people who felt our pain and responded like human beings.
McCain's jokes show just how strikingly IN-humane he is. Innocent lives are expendable. Write off a whole nation's citizens because of the policies of their government. Draw stark differences and talk in absolutes - black, white - evil, good - them, us. He doesn't seem to have learned the lessons of Sept. 11. We all share the one world. We are all in this together. There is more we have in common than not.
This doesn't fit into McCain's militaristic, PNAC-centric views. The bottom line is we should be terrified of McCain's policies on this front, should he be elected president. We should be disgusted by his callous jokes about the loss of innocent lives. We should do our best to make sure that the radical agenda of the last 8 years is rejected. Because, as the events of 7 years ago remind us ....
Killing innocent people because of some gripe with the policies of a nation's government?
That's no joke.