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Saturday, May 09, 2009
Same Story, Different President?
Once again, I can hardly stand to think about the actions of my country. It's beyond painful to know about the horrors that we are causing in Afghanistan (and Iraq - still).
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
BAGRAM, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Life as 8-year-old Razia knew it ended one March morning when a shell her father says was fired by Western troops exploded into their house, enveloping her head and neck in a blazing chemical.And I wonder...
Now she spends her days in a U.S. hospital bed at the Bagram airbase, her small fingernails still covered with flaking red polish but her face an almost unrecognisable mess of burned tissue and half her scalp a bald scar.
"The kids called out to me that I was burning but the explosion was so strong that for a moment I was deaf and couldn't hear anything," her father, Aziz Rahman, told Reuters.
"And then my wife screamed 'the kids are burning' and she was also burning," he added, his face clouding over at the memory.
The flames that consumed his family were fed by a chemical called white phosphorous, which U.S. medical staff at Bagram said they found on Razia's face and neck.
It bursts into fierce fire on contact with the air and can stick to and even penetrate flesh as it burns.
White phosphorus can be used legally in war to provide light, create smokescreens or burn buildings, so it is not banned under international treaties that forbid using chemicals as weapons.
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
Labels: Afghanistan, War
posted by Carol at 10:27 AM
10 Comments:
Indigo Incarnates
So... am I imagining things, or does the Middle East get more unstable the more we mess with it?
Indigo,
Yeah, really. We aren't helping!!!
I don't consider this "my" country anymore. It's just "a" country.
And not a very nice one.
Thomas,
I can understand that. It certainly does not represent me or my ideals.
White phosphorous (when I was an armor officer we called the shells that contained it "Willie Pete") is a horrible weapon.
Nick,
It IS a horrible weapon. But then, I can't think of a war weapon that's not horrible.
Painful reading Carol.
You're right, Daffy.
And our actions are even more painful for the families living in Iran and Afghanistan...
We kill each other and then we dream of a world where peace exists..how can the two coexist.
It was great to know your views Carol...great to kw that there are people who oppose such inhuman torture.
Beginning,
I think there are many who wish for only kindness. And then there are those who are confused...
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