The Crisis in Iraq
(and the never-ending double standards)
 ______________________________________________________

Whenever the white people won it was a victory. Whenever we won it was a massacre. What was the difference? There were bodies on the ground and children lost their parents, whether the bodies were Indian or white. But the whites used their language to make their killing good and our killing bad. They 'won'; we 'massacred'.

—"Dan" ("Neither Wolf nor Dog. On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder")



Mitakuye Oyasin. We are all related.
This war touches us all.

 

  1. What do you call it when a group of people take the law into their own hands and kill people without a fair trial?
    A lynching.
    What do you call it when the US takes the law into its own hands and kills people without a fair trial?
    Operation Enduring Freedom.

  2. What do you call a weapon that can kill thousands of people?
    A weapon of mass destruction.
    What do you call a weapon that has killed 1.5 million Iraqis, including more than 500,000 children?
    Sanctions.

  3. What do you call someone who explodes a bomb and kills innocent people?
    A terrorist.
    What do you call someone who drops a bomb from a plane and kills innocent people?
    A brave American pilot.
  4. What do you call it when just over 3 thousand people were killed in the September 11 attack on the US?
    An atrocity.
    What do you call it when nearly 5 million people were killed in the Vietnam war?
    A mistake.

  5. What do you call it when people are slaughtered?
    A massacre.
    What do you call it when 100.000 to 200.000 Iraqi's are slaughtered by the US at a loss to American forces of 148 (46 of which were killed by friendly fire)?
    The Gulf War.

  6. What do you call the form of government where a small elite exploits and intimidates the citizens?
    A dictatorship.
    What do you call the form of government where a small elite exploits and intimidates the citizens, and the citizens can choose every few years which part of the elite should occupy the government buildings?
    A democracy.
  7. What do you call it when a Palestinian uses violence against the Jews who have illegally occupied his land?
    A     terrorist attack.
    What do you call it when an Israeli helicopter fires rockets at Palestinian youths armed with stones?
    Self-defense.

  8. What do you call an army that will fight for whoever pays the most money?
    Mercenaries.
    What do you call an army in Afghanistan that will fight for whoever pays the most money?
    The Northern Alliance (or United Front).

  9. What do you call an attack on the Pentagon, a command and control center in the US?
    A cowardly attack on American freedom and democracy.
    What do you call the destruction of an Afghan village by US bombs?
    An attack on a Taliban command and control center.

  10. What do you call a television station that broadcasts only the government's views?
    A propaganda station.
    What do you call the BBC when the World News consists solely of half an hour of a Pentagon briefing?
    Fair and impartial.

  11. What do you call it when American Whites advocate an exclusively White state and the expulsion of all non-Whites?
    Racism.
    What do you call it when Israeli Jews advocate an exclusively Jewish state and the expulsion of all non-Jews?
    Zionism.

  12. What do you call the extermination of a people?
    Genocide.
    What do you call the extermination of Native Americans in the US?
    A glorious episode in American history.

  13. What do you call someone who steals from the rich and gives to the poor?
    Robin Hood.
    What do you call someone who steals from the poor and gives to the rich?
    The US government.

  14. What do you call it when very rich people exploit poor people?
    Greed and selfishness.
    What do you call it when very rich countries exploit poor countries?
    Globalization.

  15. What do you call a foreign oppressor in the last century that controlled the economical and social life of a country?
    A colonialist power.
    What do you call a foreign oppressor in this century that controls the economical and social life of a country?
    The International Monetary Fund.

  16. What do you call it when someone gives money to a government official in return for favors?
    Bribery.
    What do you call it when a large corporation gives money to a government official in return for favors?
    A campaign contribution.

  17. What do you call the 2002 presidential election in Zimbabwe where there are serious irregularities?
    A flawed election.
    What do you call the 2000 presidential election in the US where there are serious irregularities?
    A victory for democracy.

  18. What do you call someone who stands up in front of a crowd and tells stories?
    An entertainer.
    What do you call someone who stands up in front of a crowd at the Pentagon and tells stories?
    Donald Rumsfeld.

  19. What do you call a US president who says, "Read my lips - no new taxes", and later breaks his promise?
    George Bush.
    What do you call a US president who says, "No new taxes- over my dead body", and later ...?
    George W. Bush.

 

From Coyote's Corner,
Received March 27, 2003

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