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they fumbled and ran over words about america being the best
god-darn country on earth, about being hit below the belt after
fighting a good fight, and about no terrorist being able to
stop the american spirit. their speeches were touching and their
eyes were puffy and glazed, teasing us with tears.
when the war started in iraq on 19th march, news coverage bumped
these t.v. shows off the air. when it was decided recently that
the t.v. shows should return, the hosts were again faced with
doing a show in tragic times.
one would have expected sombre, earnest openings to these shows,
but this was not the case. the war was treated as just another
news point, where jokes would be made at the expense of those
who were supposed to be the enemies in this war. war, to these
comedians, was not a terrible and horrible mass murder, but
it was just a word--one word that implied adventurism and exoticism.
as i've read on the net, war is fun when you know you won't
die.
jokes about war and the iraqis could be made because iraqis
weren't real people after all, and whatever they were, brave
american soldiers weren't hurting them, saddam was hurting them.
all was well because iraqis were being liberated and if they
should feel anything, it should be immense gratitude to the
americans.
this war was american-launched and so, by all means, had to
be a good, righteous war. there was no need for reflection on
the unearthliness of the undertaking because it wasn't a war
anyway, it was the "operation iraqi freedom."
this attitude towards the war in iraq is prevalent across america.
apart from people who support the war, there are people who
just don't care what happens because they have concluded that
it does not interfere with their lives. because they're not
being terrorised, the war is inapplicable to their lives.
americans were terrorised, murdered, and shocked beyond words
on 11th september. however, this unprovoked war in iraq earns
a few cheap laughs on the t.v. shows. many americans do not
associate the war with the horror of 11th september, as it should
be, but they associate it with an action movie in which the
safety of the audience--the majority of the american public--is
guaranteed.
this war, any war, is the business of every occupant of this
earth. we must come together and fight against evil. saddam
hussein has to go, no doubt, but the 1000 iraqis (just so far)
didn't have to die.
after 11th september, americans were asked by their president
to try and go on with their lives, to try and return to a daily
cycle resembling that of pre-11th september. doing that showed
their strength and resilience as a people. but to go on with
life in this time of global war doesn't show a people's strength,
but rather, their ignorance and indifference to those suffering.
we must fight war.
here's
a very valuable resource about the truth of this war.
13
april 2003
today (sunday, 13 april 2003) the guyana chronicle
reports of the kidnapping of a united states diplomat. steve
lesniak, an official of the united states agency for international
development (usaid), was kidnapped early yesterday morning
while playing golf at the lusignan golf club. according to
the chronicle he was released.
the australian news source news.com.au
however reports a slightly different and more detailed story.
according to them, the diplomat (responsible for security
at the us embassy) "was snatched from his vehicle at
gunpoint by two men and taken away into sugar-cane fields
near a golf course." they also report that the kidnappers
demanded us$300,000 from lesniak's mother. finally, they report
that the police have no leads, but are checking out buxton.
i don't care too much for the discrepancies in the two stories
because, well, that's the media, and because i'm concerned
with two other things.
the first thing is the international response. i would imagine
international newspaper headings: "us diplomat kidnapped
in guyana, ransom demanded." so far there has been no
such response. maybe it's too early; the story is apparently
brand new. maybe the kidnapping will be linked to terrorism
and, like iraq, guyana will be noted as an international threat
and attacked, bombed for forty days and forty nights, it'll
be called "operation guyanese freedom", and whoever
lives through it will enjoy our new american moulded government.
but on the other hand, maybe the perpetrators will just be
seen as what they are: petty thieves. i'll continue to monitor
the online news sources to see if they catch up with the story--i'll
post updates to the story as more news becomes available (at
the time of print, the two news sources above were the only
ones i could find that reported on the kidnapping).
the second, more important thing that concerns and angers
me is the response to the situation by the policing forces
in guyana. since the army was involved (according to the chronicle),
i should say that i'm angered by the response to the situation
by the government.
the chronicle reports that officers of the gdf arrived
five minutes after the authorities were informed. an army
helicopter was also dispatched over lusignan and nearby areas
in search of the diplomat and his kidnappers. the gdf should
be highly commended for their response time, which must certainly
be unprecedented in the force's history.
the sad question is: where was this fast-acting side of the
force all the time?
there are things we think and don't say, things that we'd
only talk about in conversations with friends. a lot of these
things, we should be screaming them to our government that
has repeatedly turned its head the other way when the guyanese
people have been faced with horrible tribulations.
why is it that the mighty force of the gdf is unleashed only
when a us diplomat is kidnapped? what does this mean? what
does the actions of this government tell us? are we to think
that only diplomats get devoted service from the gdf? should
we assume that we have to convert ourselves to american diplomats
in order to be helped by guyana's defence force? does it mean
we have to be white to get protection from kidnappers or murderers
or thieves? what does it mean?
where was this efficient, organised force when my fellow
guyanese were being murdered, kidnapped, beaten, and put through
unspeakable emotional torture in the past year.
guyanese are past the point of pleading with the government.
it is time that we choose a government based on its merits
and desires for guyana--for all guyanese, every single one,
without regard to race. it's time we stop the politicians
from dividing and conquering us by using our skin colour against
us.
guyanatruth is not here to tell what the chronicle
or cnn said. guyanatruth is here to scream the truth.
i call on every guyanese and world citizen: liberate yourself
from any government that uses the colour of your skin to gain
power while keeping you separated from your fellow countryman,
while keeping you voiceless, while keeping you weak, and while
keeping you ignorant.
april 2003 -- page 1 | page
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