This thing about children being killed by biological weapons is terrible, isn’t it? Now our political leaders (once viewed as our public servants) are contemplating retaliation against the government of Syria, who we suspect did it. I certainly hope this isn’t like the last time we killed a lot of people and destroyed cities because someone said, “We have reliable information that they have weapons of mass destruction.”
I am just curious to know if attacking Syria would be revenge for the dead people, or world justice being dealt out by the United States (world cop), or does our Nobel Peace Prize President believe a military attack will stop Syria from any future use of chemical weapons? I think we all really know that military action will only lead to more violence and bloodshed for the people of the Middle East.
An NGO (that’s a non-government organization) first stated that 322 people died during a toxic gas attack. Syrian opposition rights groups had accused President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of launching massive chemical attacks on Wednesday, killing as many as 1,300 people. A Britain-based observatory gave a count of 322 dead, including 54 children, 82 women and dozens of rebels, as well as 16 unidentified bodies.
I don’t know where the count is today, and by the time you read this we may have already stormed into Syria with guns blazing, or our ships may have fired many missiles into Syria.
I am really not sure how many people (government, army or civilian) we have to kill to “make it even” for the toxic gas someone used to kill all those people in Syria.
Who the children are seems to make a difference to how our government reacts, doesn’t it? We see dying, little starving skinny African children with flies all over their faces on TV, and our government isn’t up in arms about it. Hundreds of kids are killed by gunfire every year in Chicago and other big cities, and we don’t declare war on drugs and violence. There’s no money in it – and that’s what it is all about!
Global sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest defense contractors increased in 2010 to $411.1 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The increase reflects a decade-long trend of growing military spending. Since 2002, total arms sales among the 100 largest arms manufacturers have increased 60%. Ask yourself how many politicians own stock in contracting companies.
It’s horrible what some children of the world are suffering – sexual abuse, starvation, slavery, exploitation and who know what else – but military action against another country is not going to stop it.
Tom “Road” Blair
Website: www.tomroadblair.com