As news from Iraq is slowly reduced to a trickle and as the conflict in the Middle East in general takes a back seat to all the discussion about civil rights and patriotic duties, we have to ask what this is really all about.
Many are asking us to rejoice now that Saddam Hussein is out of Iraq. In the words of one individual �you should be happy for them now. They are free.�
We have learned to attach ourselves to concepts that are meaningless in day to day activities. Are any of us really free and, are our children and the children of the world really free to live in a safe world, a world that looks out for their well-being since they are incapable of doing that on their own?
As the recent Bush budget plan passes, where the poorest of the poor will be robbed of their child tax credit while the middle and upper middle class will see an increase in theirs, we have to wonder about that �freedom.�
Half the civilians killed in Iraq were children and, over the last decade, many thousands more have died due to malnutrition and lack of life-saving medication because of the sanctions imposed on a nation for political, economic and strategic reason.
The political game is all about economics and power. Our children, whether civilians in other lands or our own soldiers, are immorally used to defend concepts that we created and that mean nothing in the absence of the fulfillment of the most basic of human needs.
People cannot feel part of the political process or feel included if they are denied basic rights, such as affordable housing, jobs, cheap access to health care, and proper education.
People are not free just because the law says they are free. People are free if they are able to and willing to exercise those freedoms. Every time an individual or organization is faced with pressure to stop voicing their opinion in this country, our practice of freedom has failed. Many times we hear �if you were living in Iraq, you would not be able to say what you are saying now.� Such statements are thrown around to intimidate and to pay lip service to freedom. The basic premise is that we should not voice a different opinion from those who are in power. Many fail to understand that democracy is really all about checks and balances. We have to keep check on those in power and keep the balance of power from turning too much in one direction.
There is a very practical reason for this and that is the preservation of the rights of all individuals regardless of background, belief system, or political affiliation. It also encourages more human and moral approaches to governing our country by ensuring that the rights of the weak are not trampled on by those in power.
Children are one segment of our society and the world that need protection. We have to be ever vigilant for their well-being and safety. When we contemplate any kind of intervention in a country to depose a tyrant or to control oil or to support a favorable regime, we have to put human life before political consideration.
The notion that people have to pay for freedom with their lives is a myth that is instilled in all of us as we are growing up. Most wars are not fought for freedom. Most wars are business ventures that arrogantly usurp the lives of our young men and women and break the hearts of their families forever. Most people who make decisions to go to war are hypocrites in their religious and moral values because no religion on earth accepts the notion of �collateral� damage, even in self-defense. Collateral damage is an excuse to exercise arrogant power for domination.
We need to protect the children of the world from such arrogance. It is our responsibility. Our children do not belong to us. We are only their caregivers until they can stand up on their own and work for their rights. Until then, we have to act responsibly and speak out on their behalf whenever their rights are violated in peacetime and in war. War is not a free for all season on the children of the world. We have to speak out against war. It is the least we can do for the most helpless in our world, our progeny, and our future.
Marilyn Farhat
San Luis Obispo.