Comments on: The Real Price in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/ Firedoglake weblog Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:25:44 -0600 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: libbyliberal http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016575 libbyliberal Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:09:38 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016575 Siun, thanks once again. You always raise the consciousness with your shares and open the heart. You and your brother are such role models. Thank you. Siun, thanks once again. You always raise the consciousness with your shares and open the heart. You and your brother are such role models. Thank you.

]]> By: pastfedup http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016498 pastfedup Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:54:48 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016498 Agreed. So callous, so dismissive of the lives of thousands of innocents. I hold Medeleine Albright in the same regard as I do Barbara Bush. Agreed. So callous, so dismissive of the lives of thousands of innocents. I hold Medeleine Albright in the same regard as I do Barbara Bush.

]]> By: Siun http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016497 Siun Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:34:35 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016497 The Albright quote is one we should never forget. The Albright quote is one we should never forget.

]]> By: pastfedup http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016496 pastfedup Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:28:40 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016496 I meant, the answer (to your question), literally, is blowin' in the wind. I meant, the answer (to your question), literally, is blowin’ in the wind.

]]> By: georgewalton http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016495 georgewalton Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:26:53 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016495 From the FAIR website: We Think the Price Is Worth It Media uncurious about Iraq policy effects---there or here By Rahul Mahajan Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it? Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it. --60 Minutes (5/12/96) Then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's quote, calmly asserting that U.S. policy objectives were worth the sacrifice of half a million Arab children, has been much quoted in the Arabic press. It's also been cited in the United States in alternative commentary on the September 11 attacks (e.g., Alexander Cockburn, New York Press, 9/26/01). But a Dow Jones search of mainstream news sources since September 11 turns up only one reference to the quote--in an op-ed in the Orange Country Register (9/16/01). This omission is striking, given the major role that Iraq sanctions play in the ideology of archenemy Osama bin Laden; his recruitment video features pictures of Iraqi babies wasting away from malnutrition and lack of medicine (New York Daily News, 9/28/01). The inference that Albright and the terrorists may have shared a common rationale--a belief that the deaths of thousands of innocents are a price worth paying to achieve one's political ends--does not seem to be one that can be made in U.S. mass media. george: The gap between how most Americans view our nation's foreign policy and how it really functions instead makes the Grand Canyon look like a crack in the sidewalk. Even worse, only a tiny percentage of us give a damn at all. We live in a pop culture, celebrity saturated world. The deformed children in Fallujah next to Sarah Palin and Balloon Boy? Right. Hell, every single day more than 18,000 children aged 5 years and younger die from starvation. <strong>Every single day</strong>. That's 6,800,000 dead children every year. When's the last time you came across that in the mainstream media? From the FAIR website:

We Think the Price Is Worth It

Media uncurious about Iraq policy effects—there or here

By Rahul Mahajan

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.

–60 Minutes (5/12/96)

Then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s quote, calmly asserting that U.S. policy objectives were worth the sacrifice of half a million Arab children, has been much quoted in the Arabic press. It’s also been cited in the United States in alternative commentary on the September 11 attacks (e.g., Alexander Cockburn, New York Press, 9/26/01).

But a Dow Jones search of mainstream news sources since September 11 turns up only one reference to the quote–in an op-ed in the Orange Country Register (9/16/01). This omission is striking, given the major role that Iraq sanctions play in the ideology of archenemy Osama bin Laden; his recruitment video features pictures of Iraqi babies wasting away from malnutrition and lack of medicine (New York Daily News, 9/28/01). The inference that Albright and the terrorists may have shared a common rationale–a belief that the deaths of thousands of innocents are a price worth paying to achieve one’s political ends–does not seem to be one that can be made in U.S. mass media.

george:

The gap between how most Americans view our nation’s foreign policy and how it really functions instead makes the Grand Canyon look like a crack in the sidewalk. Even worse, only a tiny percentage of us give a damn at all. We live in a pop culture, celebrity saturated world. The deformed children in Fallujah next to Sarah Palin and Balloon Boy? Right. Hell, every single day more than 18,000 children aged 5 years and younger die from starvation. Every single day.

That’s 6,800,000 dead children every year. When’s the last time you came across that in the mainstream media?

]]> By: pastfedup http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016494 pastfedup Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:24:46 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016494 "The answer is blowin' in the wind." Yes, in general DU has been used all over Iraq. I read somewhere it is in virtually all artillery munitions, even for rifle bullets. Got to get rid of that stuff somehow, ya know? If not, we'd have to bury it somewhere, like Utah/s. We've used hundreds if not thousands of tone of it since the first Gulf War. “The answer is blowin’ in the wind.” Yes, in general DU has been used all over Iraq. I read somewhere it is in virtually all artillery munitions, even for rifle bullets. Got to get rid of that stuff somehow, ya know? If not, we’d have to bury it somewhere, like Utah/s. We’ve used hundreds if not thousands of tone of it since the first Gulf War.

]]> By: Siun http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016493 Siun Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:08:28 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016493 Jane's up with more of the amazing Pharma talking points story <a href="http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/heath-shuler-given-gop-talking-points-by-phrma/" rel="nofollow">upstairs</a>. And I'm off to watch The Prisoner! Jane’s up with more of the amazing Pharma talking points story upstairs.

And I’m off to watch The Prisoner!

]]> By: Loo Hoo. http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016492 Loo Hoo. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:07:29 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016492 No, no Teddy. Marines do other things than war. They volunteer in schools, they help with wildfires, they really do what is needed. When they are assigned to war, that is what they must do, but don't sell these guys and gals short. They contribute immensely in proportion to their incomes. (Which is another point that makes me cringe.) No, no Teddy. Marines do other things than war. They volunteer in schools, they help with wildfires, they really do what is needed. When they are assigned to war, that is what they must do, but don’t sell these guys and gals short. They contribute immensely in proportion to their incomes.

(Which is another point that makes me cringe.)

]]> By: Loo Hoo. http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016491 Loo Hoo. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:04:12 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016491 Admirable parents to be sure. You've both made them proud. Admirable parents to be sure. You’ve both made them proud.

]]> By: eCAHNomics http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/15/the-real-price-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-gaza/#comment-2016489 eCAHNomics Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:55:30 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/?p=50706#comment-2016489 The Soviets "won" in Afghanistan by total war, i.e. every man, woman & child was a target in some regions. It was only the U.S. stingers that defeated the Soviets. As long as they had air superiority, they had control. Which raises the issue of why the U.S. military is not as competent as the Soviets. U.S. shows no aversion to bombing innocents. The Soviets “won” in Afghanistan by total war, i.e. every man, woman & child was a target in some regions. It was only the U.S. stingers that defeated the Soviets. As long as they had air superiority, they had control.

Which raises the issue of why the U.S. military is not as competent as the Soviets. U.S. shows no aversion to bombing innocents.

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