Asking the wrong questions...

[LeahMira]

Half a million Iraqi children were starved to death or forced to die for lack of basic sanitation and medical treatment during the decade of the 1990s because the U.S. first bombed their country's water purification, sewage treatment and pharmaceutical plants and then imposed an embargo so that Iraq would be unable to repair or replace what was destroyed. The first Bush explained these actions as a way of impressing on Iraq and the rest of the world that "what we say, goes."

Back in 1996, when Madeleine Albright was asked if the U.S. estimate of child deaths in Iraq was accurate, she agreed that it was and said, "We've decided that it's worth the cost" to "set an example" to the world.

I understand the concern of the 9/11 families who want to know if the deaths of their loved ones could have been prevented. But right now, the focus in on "what did Bush know," and "what did Rice know," and so on. For them, the question is appropriate, and I support them totally.

But I think that the rest of us are focused on the wrong questions.

Whatever Bush knew or Rice knew or anyone knew, that focus is on the short-term questions. I think the bigger picture is far more sinister. The U.S. has been in the business of trying to impress the world with the idea that "what we say, goes" for decades. I think that is the issue that needs to be addressed.

We really can't say that we didn't know because Madeleine Albright's comment was on 60 Minutes, and Bush's comment was broadcast on the news and in the papers. I guess we just agreed... life's rough that way, but we have to take care of our families, eh?

Sure, we all want peace, prosperity, and a comfortable life, and that's normal and good. But at what price do we get these things and isn't there another way? Isn't it possible for the U.S. to provide all the good things for its citizens without demanding that the rest of the world pay the price?

I think we in the U.S. need to look at how it got to be so bad, and what WE knew but ignored.