U.S. needs to investigate human rights claims

By Oday Shahin November 21, 2010 at 7:10 pm

United Nations asked President Barack Obama in late October to investigate the alleged human rights abuses unveiled in one of the largest leaks in American military history.

Allegations of torture are only some of the least serious accusations put forth against the U.S. security establishment in Iraq, whether through the U.S. Army or through semi-autonomous Iraqi forces or private contractors like Xe, formerly known as Blackwater.

In 2005, an investigation by RAI News 24, an Italian satellite television channel, reported that white phosphorous and new napalm formula was used on the civilian population and that its use was how the US “took” Fallujah, Iraq.

A U.S. veteran told RAI correspondent Sigfrido Ranucci that “In military slag it is called ‘Willy Pete.’ Phosphorus burns the human body on contact — it even melts it right down to the bone.”

We cannot let our guilt stifle the cries of victims.

The victims only want government officials to admit the crimes. By stating the war in Iraq was a “bad idea” or simply blaming Bush for everything is a slap on the face to the Iraqi people.

U.S. military commanders should be put on trial like Saddam Hussein, who was accused of using the very same weapons against the Kurds.

Americans like to believe our soldiers died in Iraq for our freedom, and not in vain. The harsh reality is what we want to believe and what is true are two very different things.

We are extremely quick to point fingers at “human right abusers” in North Korea, Burma, Iran, or any “Axis of Evil” nations. But we have repeatedly failed to look at ourselves or admit by proxy of the government that we are responsible for what happened in Iraq.

In newscasts, it seems that people are always quick to listen to Veterans’ stories of the war in Iraq, but the narrative changes when it comes to Iraqi victims.

The Iraq war victims are only mentioned as numbers or in ways that deprive the story of humanity. An orphan can develop into a headline read by the free world and considered for two seconds before being passed over simply because that child is not American.

Or a man resisting a foreign military occupation in his country is called a militant, and the label “terrorist” is too quick to be thrown around when describing anyone who questions the U.S. military or the Iraqi puppet regime.

The Iraq war is only a mere, yet more recent, representation of Western imperialism in the region since WWII. The foreign policy that our leaders impose on third world citizens is crippling to the democracy and morals we believe in.

America is not a country that tortures its citizens, so we should uphold those same moral codes abroad — even in wartime.

What make matters worse are not the politicians that call for more war and bloodshed in the Middle East, but the silent majority that let them bring forth such an idea. When the Republicans gained control of the House just recently, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham has urged Washington to “destroy” Iran through military action.

Foreign relations will only improve if we learn to value all blood equally.
But first, we must live in a world that responds to justice.
Oday is the co-president and founder of the ASU Human Rights Coalition. Reach him at Oshadin@asu.edu
http://www.statepress.com/2010/11/21/u-s-needs-to-investigate-human-rights-claims/