This recent "Iraq War" has me wondering. Honestly, especially now when "the great villain Saddam Hussein" is being tried. Among other mysteries, why does he deserve a trial? Remember that war, that America waged so enthusiastically? Remember how many innocent Iraqis were killed by the American armed forces? It was at least a couple of thousand.
Yes, I used the word innocent. They certainly are much more innocent than the Arabs, whom the world calls innocent, in my neck of the woods. The US, UN, Europe and world media beat their chests and drums war-dancing around Israel when Arabs protecting terrorists are even injured. And they enthusiastically condemn us even when we practice "targeted killings" to carefully only kill the terrorist, even if it endangers our own soldiers.
So what about the poor Iraqis, who were probably the most endangered by Saddam Hussein, killed by American bombs, as the Americans were trying to scare him out of his rat hole? Did they have a trial first to see if they deserved to die?
The big mean dictator gets a chance to defend himself, and as all dictators/megalomaniacs he loves the spotlight, and now he has his chance. What chance did the little people have?
None of this makes any sense to me.
The United States has lost 2,000, and Iraqi civilian casualties are 26,690 as of 26-10-05. And Saddam Hussein is being honored with a proper "western" trial. Is it fair?
And the United States is dictating what's an acceptable government to a people with a very different culture and value system. I thought that a democracy is supposed to come from the will of the people, and I don't see that in Iraq.
I don't understand.
And one should never forget that Hitler was brought to power by democratic means.
3 comments:
bs"d
Batya's position is right. Those journalists in PR, even the tzadikim will hesitate to publicize this position because it might be interpreted as the position of a "religious fanatic extremist" which Batya obviously isn't.
Our Torah does not read pretty. Sometimes it even sounds downright racist. Like the part that commands the Jews to kill all the men women and children in Yericho on the Shabbat. Apparently the idol worship in Yericho was very bad.
In Mishpacha magazine there is an article about embarassment. The article states that when we are embarrassed we should accept it and probably we somehow deserve it. It gave an example of a Melamed that was teaching a student. The students father, a wealthy man was a Kohen and wished to marry a Divorcee. The Melamed threatened he would go through the town announcing what the man was intending to do this Aveira. The wealthy man threatened to withhold his salary. The Melamed went anyway to publicize this man's intent but on his way he was stopped and convinced not publicize this Aveira and lose his salary because of this. Apparently this negligence of not speaking up on the part of the Melamed tilted the deeds of the city to the negative. At a future date this Melamed was publically insulted by a deranged individual.
All the nice people will hear this story and say "It's not nice to publicize that someone is doing an Aveira". On the other hand the politically incorrect people who speak Lashon Hara and succeed to stop the man in his tracks will prevent major tragedies in the future.
We are obligated to defend Hashem's commandments. We are obligated to destroy Amalek and evil and Avodah Zara even when we don't look like nice guys. It goes against our very nature and sensitivity. But if something is a Mitzvah, it's a Mitzvah. We must be like Shevet Leivi after the crime of the Eigel and Pinchus after the incident of Cuzbi and Zimri and do what we must do.
My take on the issue is a little different. As one who was "bullied" all my childhood, I have developed a strong aversion to "bullying".
Somewhere in my mind it is a far superior "punishment" to apply the rules of open justice (found primarily in democratic countries) to despots like Saadam ... there is a kind of "poetic justice". The very values and mores he despised and maligned are those that bring him "to justice".
To do anything else is to simply "go down to his level" and only teaches other "bullies" that the bigger and stronger win, and "justice and truth" have nothing to do with it!
YBA, I don't understand. It seems to me that America is the bully.
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