Instability, Chaos, Violence Born of Unstable, Irresponsible, and Dangerous Leaders
Instability, Chaos, Violence Born of Unstable, Irresponsible, and Dangerous Leaders
-The Proverbs
In his April 21 radio address to the nation (inspired by the violence at Virginia Tech earlier in the week) George Bush announced that he has directed federal officials to conduct a national inquiry into how to prevent violence by dangerously unstable people. It is a worthy endeavor.
The news from Darfur (as well as in this country from Virginia Tech) demonstrates how much damage can be inflicted on a country by dangerously unstable people. Sudan's president, Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, has permitted a situation to flourish in Darfur that, according to United Nations reports, has resulted in the deaths of more than 200,000 people and the displacement of more than 2,000,000 since the conflict began in 2003. President Bashir has repeatedly assured the international community that he will permit U.N. peacekeepers into the country only to change his mind and permit the suffering to continue. On April 16 he let it be known that he would immediately allow U.N. attack helicopters and 3,000 international peacekeepers into Darfur to protect civilians. The final stage of the U.N. plan if permitted to be fully implemented will result in the creation of a 21,000 person joint African Union-United Nations force that would replace the extant African Union force now in place.
The deaths of more than 200,000 people in the 4 years since the war began means that more than 100 people a day have been killed. That is a very large number of people killed. Two million refugees created since the war began is a large number of new refugees. Darfur is not, however, the only country in the world that can boast such statistics. Iraq is another.
Since the terrible trio, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, decided to invade Iraq in 2003 (at about the same time the Darfur conflict began), that country has found it can point to similar and in some cases even more distressing statistics. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) up to 50,000 Iraqis leave their homes monthly and one-fifth of those leave the country. According to Refugees International, 4,000,000 Iraqis (more than twice the number in Darfur) are now displaced and 1.9 million of these have gone to neighboring countries. According to Syrian officials, approximately 1.5 million Iraqi refugees have settled in that country. The United Nations estimates that Jordan has received 750,000. Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, the Gulf States and Iran have all accepted Iraqis fleeing their homeland. It is not only in the number of refugees that Iraq resembles Darfur. The number of daily deaths offers a similar comparison.
According to new health statistics released on April 17 by the World Health Organization's Health Action in Crises group, car bombs and other types of violence are killing an average of 100 Iraqis a day, a figure some say is greatly understated. Although that is somewhat lower than the average number killed in Darfur, it is more than made up for by the fact that the number of refugees from Iraq is double the number created by the Darfur conflict. And it is not only in refugees and deaths that Iraq holds its own when compared with Darfur.
According to reports from the United Nations Iraq now has more than 40,000 orphans who were created by the conflict. Although the total number of orphans that have been created by the war in Darfur are hard to come by, in the refugee camp in Goz Baida there are 14,000. There are certainly many more in other camps but their number is not readily ascertainable so it's not possible to make an accurate comparison. The Iraqi numbers stand on their own without any comparison being needed.
According to the W.H.O. 70 percent of Iraqis lack regular access to clean water and 80 percent lack toilets that do not contaminate water sources. According to the World Health Organization those living in Darfur have only 12% of the potable water a population its size would need.
A 2006 national survey conducted by Unicef says 21 percent of Iraqi children are chronically malnourished. Figures for Darfur alone are not available. For all of Africa, however, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) says child malnutrition in Africa has increased from 27% of the child population in the 1970s to over 33 percent in recent years. According to IFPRI "Child malnutrition is on the rise in Africa. By 2025, hunger could be a daily reality for nearly 42 million children. No estimate is available as to how many children in Iraq will be chronically malnourished by 2025. By then the war may be over. )
Iraq got to be the way it is because of the invasion that took place in 2003. Darfur got to be the way it is because of the civil strife that began in 2003. Both countries prove that Mr. Bush is right to create a commission to find out how to prevent dangerously unstable people from engaging in acts of violence. Had the study been completed in early 2003 Iraq and its people might have been spared.
Christopher Brauchli brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu For political commentary see my web page http://humanraceandothersports.com
9 Comments so far
Show AllThis is a GREAT string, it's got me laughing.
If laughter is good medicine, your all OK!
I've a great new policy launch to revive Bush's failed presidency.....
Bush could announce in conjunction with Homeland Security and the Pentagon,
"In the interests of National Security and preservation of the Land of the Freedom and Liberty.....Tomorrow the American Forces have been ordered to launch a......
WAR AGAINST THE MENTALLY ILL".......
How 'bout that US society is itself bi-polar? The media pumps up the WORST aspects of human nature (but then the Roman Arena has always been a good diversionary tactic when the rulers prefer to seek empire expansion through any and all means) and then with beer as PROP to most sporting events, we see alcohol configured in hate crimes, domestic abuse, highway fatalities. What movie star does NOT smoke to look "sexy" in the latest film? What male star does not wield a weapon to sexualize violence? Raw power shown in various expressive styles of machismo is what media mostly promotes, that is when humor is not directed at putting someone down for their being different (from the standard of the clone-majority). The more these behaviors are inculcated into culture, the more people act them out... which in turn requires an impressive array of policing forces to keep these impulses in check. Just as PREVENTIVE medicine is far less expensive than coping with "cures," on a psychological level, if our society showed (via the powerful tool of mass media, ultimately functioning as a mirror to our inner selves) those behaviors and actions that would LIFT a society, we'd see people emulate the better model. Many people go along with the cues of culture, some call that response the "sheep" mechanism. This is why advertising is so powerful a shaping force. Many people can be convinced to do anything, including things not especially healthy or good for them. Years ago Candid Camera did a spoof on people protesting with BLANK signs. I never saw my father laugh so hard. These stooges were convinced to take up "the cause" which in this case, was defined by a blank sign. Edgar Cayce, one of America's spiritual teachers said that it all comes down to IDEALS. In USA today, kids want to be rich, money is their god, there is not enough emphasis on the ideal of becoming a better, more humane person or making a contribution that in turn would better society. It's a dark cool-aid drink at a time when the world needs its visionaries to light the way to more humane policies, ecologically compatible energy systems, and basic decency.
freeheeler, you make excellent points, but I think the mentally ill had better look out because the valuable services they provide to society which you describe are being rapidly taken over by "illegal aliens," who are performing these same services much cheaper. For example, their value as shooting targets is enhanced because they can be shot at in isolated areas of the desert that pose little threat to property, such as nearby windows; the ones that get past border target shooters often get jobs and pay taxes, so they are, in effect, paying for their own victimization at the hands of agencies such as ICE; they make endless copy for Rupert Murdoch press, since their dark skin and foreign language make them much easier to spot, unlike the mentally ill, many of whom can pass for sane, and may even attain high political office.
freeheeler April 29th, 2007 4:27 am
"Also, Alberto Gonzolez, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and other well known mental health researchers will argue that therapeutic waterboarding and joint dislocation therapy are much better for treating mental illness than drugs or psychotherapy."
You are too funny! I love your sense of humor and wish you well.
continued:
Also like many mentally ill people, I don't have health insurance. Even when I do have insurance, mental health isn't covered very well.
I believe the following to be true:
I think that this lack of access to health care for the mentally ill is part of the Republican plan. See, health care, like education is whimpy, and is advocated by left wing pinko commie New Yorkers and Californians. Also, creating sound public policy it isn't as fun as watching bombs going off and seeing police using stun guns on nut jobs. I mean, if we remove the wack jobs from the streets, what'll Rupert Murdoch have to report on? The religeous right will object on the grounds that it is God's will that they should stay crazy. Also the wackos probably brought it on themselves by thinking evil thoughts about the twins. The NRA will object because without crazy people to shoot at, they'd have to the store to buy targets.
Bush'll probably commit billions of dollars for a program that will use the FBI, homeland security, NSA, CIA and other well known mental health advocacy groups will immediately to hunt down all mentally ill and thus dangerous people. Beginning immediately, they will all be shipped down to Guantanamo in open cattle cars to be treated. Also, Alberto Gonzolez, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and other well known mental health researchers will argue that therapudic waterboarding and joint dislocation therapy are much better for treating mental illness than drugs or psychotherapy.
Some unpatriotic traitors will have the temerity to point out that it would be more cost effective and compassionate initiate a national healcare program so that these people may be made whole, and may thus contribute to society, pay taxes, and make bunt cakes for bake sales. Bush will respond that the prison industrial complex gave more money to his campaign than big pharma. Also, the Republican Party would rather incarcerate the screwball evil doers than do anything that could possibly be construed as preventative. Besides, it would be unpatriotic and communist to do anything but incarcerate these people.
Bush will end his policy speach with "It is more patriotic to incarcerate than to educate or medicate! As for those who don't comply, we start bombing at midnight."
Great post, right on the mark, Christopher. Zeitgeist, also like your comment; the irony of it made me laugh out loud. Bush's comment about how we need to conduct an national inquiry into how to prevent violence by dangerously unstable people hits home for me.
You see, I am bipolar. I have a major, debilitating disease that will probably kill me. . Yet I, like most mentally ill people have never and will never hurt anybody.
jp-
I too ponder the self exposing words that fall from these mouths on the seat of power. Everything statement/comment seems agonizingly and disturbingly reflective.
Maat, Best Wishes and Hope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk1vEuhBuEU
"In his April 21 radio address to the nation (inspired by the violence at Virginia Tech earlier in the week) George Bush announced that he has directed federal officials to conduct a national inquiry into how to prevent violence by dangerously unstable people."
This is a joke, right?