Stop the Genocide . . . in Iraq
posted by Susan Stark
Have you ever heard of the phrase, “selective compassion”?
This would characterize anyone, particularly Westerners, who zealously champion the cause of the Darfurians.
The actess Mia Farrow, and journalists like Nat Hentoff of the Village Voice and Nick Kristof of the New York Times shout at the top of their computer software and shed hot tears for Darfur. They regularly use their columns and celebrity status to guilt-trip us that we are not doing enough to “save” the hundreds of thousands who have died, and the millions who’ve become refugees in the Sudan.
And, I would have to agree with them. We aren’t doing enough. But . . . is it really “our” job to do anything for the Darfurians? I am about to argue, heresy of heresies, that it’s not.
It may be the job of the Europeans, the Africans, the Asians, or even the South Americans to save Darfur. Maybe it’s the job of Canadians to save Darfur.
But for Americans, our task is to save Iraqis, not Darfurians. There are now around 700, 000 Iraqis dead as a result of the Iraq War, and there are 3 million refugees, either exiled or internally displaced. And we Americans are either directly or indirectly responsible for this condition, whether we’ve supported the War or not, because we pay for it with our tax dollars. And if such a condition in Darfur is called a “genocide”, then the same label also applies for Iraq.
Yet, you don’t see Ms. Farrow or Mr. Hentoff or Mr. Kristof crying and guilt-tripping Americans over these pour souls. I guess it’s easier see genocide when some else is doing it, like the Arab Sudanese, then when you are doing it. Yes, all this constant concern for Darfurians provides a wonderful distraction away from the many more Iraqis suffering under the same conditions.
To all of these “selectively compassionate” celebrities and journalists shedding crocodile tears for Darfur, I say this: You can stop the waterworks right now, and you can start doing something for the Iraqis suffering because of you.
Stop the Genocide in Iraq.
http://www.lifeusa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=a_iraqidps
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/iraq.cfm
http://www.uuiraq.org/english/175.htm
http://ga3.org/campaign/Iraqi_refugees
Oh, and let’s not forget Afghanistan:
