17 October 2003
opinion
Who cares if Washington is getting worried over the number of body bags coming out of Iraq since the end of hostilities last May? Sincerely, I don't. And why should I care? I am neither an Iraqi nor an American. I am a Nigerian, yes a Muslim. Ahaa I can almost hear you say my position is informed by my religious beliefs. It might interest us that many Iraqis killed during the two wars prosecuted by President Bush, the father and President Bush, the son, were Christians. And I mean Iraqi Christians.
The other time, I spoilt the day for a professional colleague who prides himself as a born again when I told him that many Palestinians, including some suicide bombers, are Christians. Of course, he did not believe that there are more Muslims than Christians in Israel. And from the way he looked at me when I told him that the former very influential Tariq Aziz of Iraq is a Christian, I knew our friend thought I was a ripe candidate for a sanatorium. That says one or two things about journalists and extensive/intensive reading.
Back to American body bags. I hear that more than 200 American soldiers (Al-Jazeera TV quotes a higher figure) has either been shot dead or slaughtered since President Bush, the son, told the world last May that his troops had finally liberated Iraq. I am not laughing at the misfortune of the dead Americans, and I am not crying either. Why should I? Who cried for the innocent Iraqi children and their harmless parents when the Americans rained bombs on them? Did the Americans think they were just shooting another of their Hollywood films? No! People were being killed. And some of those killed probably did not agree with Saddam Hussein and would have willingly sided with the Americans if somebody in Washington was not doctoring reports to justify a needless war.
Now, come to think of it, what makes war so appealing when there is a peaceful alternative? Why must thousands die simply because somebody in Washington does not like the face of a man in Baghdad? Is there any justification for the thousands who were killed between Afghanistan and Iraq since President Bush, took over? Why is it that American leaders are such poor students of history? For ten years, the Soviets had a toe hold on Afghanistan and made futile efforts to put up the semblance of governments there. It did not work out and after the decimation of human lives on both sides, the Soviets scampered out of Afghanistan. I do not see how the Americans hope to improve on the record of the Soviets as far as Afghanistan, and now Iraq, is concerned.
Now Iraq is the big apple. After faulty and disgraceful steps in Africa and elsewhere, Iraq is considered by Washington as the next killing field of the world. In getting only one man, Saddam Hussein out of the way, President Bush, the father and President Bush, the son must have killed close to one million Iraqis and permanently deformed many others. For others yet, the sorrow and agony of living with the tragic memories of loved ones are enough to melt a heart made of steel. Who cares for these innocent people? Certainly, not the murderers in Washington and not the misguided American troops bombing and shooting in the name of defending some foolish American interests. So why should I care for American lives if nobody cares for the lives of their victims? At the risk of sounding fatalistic, I silently pray for more American casualties each day I hear that American soldiers have been shot and killed in Iraq.
Please don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the average American. Some of my long-standing friends are white Americans. I have benefited from the large-heartedness of Americans and the American society. But there is something odious about a policy which encourages killing innocent people in order to control their national wealth. It will shock me greatly if because of the friends they have in Africa, Americans turn the blind eye to the official corruption that has continued to worsen the plight of Africans.
Abdulrazaq Magaji, P.O. Box 6217, Garki, Abuja.
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