-George H.W. Bush
The former President of United States, now famous as the father of the equally genocidal George W. Bush said these words in 1988. Why did he say so? Did the United States try to "liberate" some country then and failed miserably at it after which the "liberated" country demanded an apology?
On 3rd July, 1988, a US missile shot down civilian aircraft Iran Air Flight 655 killing all 290 passengers and crew abroad. It ranks seventh among the deadliest airliner fatalities. The US Government claimed that it had "mistaken" the plane for an attacking F-14 Tomcat fighter. The Iranian Government claims that the US intentionally shot down the aircraft. Either way, the US is culpable and an apology is the least the US Government could have done. Instead Bush came up with the above statement as is expected of an arrogant imperialist power. Worse, this incident didn't shock public opinion and is more or less forgotten.
Lets reverse the situation a bit. Suppose an Iranian aircraft carrier stationed in the Bay of Pigs had shot down an American Airlines plane as soon as it took off from Miami while it was still in US territory mistaking it for an attacking plane. What would have been the reaction? Unsurprised silence? The US would have launched a "war against terror" against Iran and would have the international comunity on its side. There would be sanctions on Iran, major cities would be bombarded(precision bombing?), civilians would be killed(collateral damage!), the President would be made to apologize and all this while, all countries would support the US and send condolence messages which would be printed in papers until the next anniversary of the bombing. Meanwhile the US would insist on calling itself a peaceful country which values freedom, democray, free speech and other such stuff which it regularly undermines.
All the crimes of a powerful, rich country are ignored while smaller(and oil-rich) ones are given fancy names like "Axis of terror". Saddam Hussein has been given the worst of ephithets, while George Bush, who systematically destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan and killed thousands is prefixed with "stupid". So a genocidal, tyrannical, terrorist is reduced to just stupid.
In a similar vein, Obama, after getting elected said that he would do everything possible to mantain peace with the Arab world but he would "never apologize for the American way of life". Now what does that exactly mean? Does it mean he won't apologize for the fact that America consumes 30% of the world's resources or that they are the second largest emittors of carbon dioxide? Or should we interpret it as his refusal to apologize for the mass destruction in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Guatemala, San Salvador, Chile(the list is too large to be enumerated here).
It is time we realize the hypocrisy and double standards of belligerent nations like the US. It has seeped into our language and minds and has so skilfully become a part of public consciousness that the death of one American soldier occupies far more newsprint than the massacre of 30 Iraqi civilians.
By Saad Ahmed
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