Four thousand soldiers now dead in this stupid, evil, did I mention stupid? war. And that doesn't count all the civilians in Iraq.
Feh.
War & Peace: March 2008 Archives
Remember how excited I was that Samantha Power was Obama's foreign policy advisor? No more. She had to resign because she called Hilary Clinton "a monster" during an interview with a reporter.
While my post heading may seem like a dramatic overstatement, bear in mind that the 20th century has seen one genocide after another, with the United States rarely stepping in until it was too late. Sure, we won WWII, but six million Jews were dead by then. The Rwandan genocide happened in a matter of weeks; we did nothing. Darfur? Still happening. And there are others that don't get the same attention, whose locations I'm ashamed to say I can't even recall at the moment.
When Bush got elected, he was briefed on this sad history of inaction. Supposedly he scribbled "Not on my watch" on a piece of paper. But really, it's been the same old, same old. And he's squandered our remaining moral authority and influence, not that we were using them well to begin with.
The selection of Samantha Power sent a signal that Obama was serious about 1) educating himself on foreign policy and 2) really doing something to halt current genocides and prevent future ones. It would be impossible to have such a person in your campaign, or administration, and not do something about these issues. She just wouldn't let you!
And then with one intemperate remark, she blew it all.
I'm sure she's kicking herself really hard today for what happened. But in the meantime, an invaluable opportunity has been lost. What are the chances that whoever wins the race for the White House is going to let her back in? And how many people are going to continue to die for their ethnicity as a result?
While my post heading may seem like a dramatic overstatement, bear in mind that the 20th century has seen one genocide after another, with the United States rarely stepping in until it was too late. Sure, we won WWII, but six million Jews were dead by then. The Rwandan genocide happened in a matter of weeks; we did nothing. Darfur? Still happening. And there are others that don't get the same attention, whose locations I'm ashamed to say I can't even recall at the moment.
When Bush got elected, he was briefed on this sad history of inaction. Supposedly he scribbled "Not on my watch" on a piece of paper. But really, it's been the same old, same old. And he's squandered our remaining moral authority and influence, not that we were using them well to begin with.
The selection of Samantha Power sent a signal that Obama was serious about 1) educating himself on foreign policy and 2) really doing something to halt current genocides and prevent future ones. It would be impossible to have such a person in your campaign, or administration, and not do something about these issues. She just wouldn't let you!
And then with one intemperate remark, she blew it all.
I'm sure she's kicking herself really hard today for what happened. But in the meantime, an invaluable opportunity has been lost. What are the chances that whoever wins the race for the White House is going to let her back in? And how many people are going to continue to die for their ethnicity as a result?
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