An Elegy For The News

An Elegy For The News

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The murder of 1.7 million Iraqi children through sanctions between 1991 and 2001 has been quietly overlooked by the media. This shows in the glorifying of its author, Bill Clinton. Other examples of media silence are also given.

Excerpt:

As far as I know, only one man has pointed out the holocaust—for that is what it surely is—and he is Norman Finkelstein. “As in the Nazi holocaust, a million children have likely perished,” he observes in his book ‘The Holocaust Industry, (London : Verso, 2000, p 148): “ . . . the United States and Britain forced murderous UN sanction on that hapless country [Iraq] in an attempt to depose him [Saddam Hussein]. As in the Holocaust, a million children have likely perished. [more than a million, as The Economist tells us].” Madeleine Albright, Clinton’s lackey, went on television to say that the ‘price is worth it.’ And his partner in murder, Al Gore, has been rewarded with a Nobel Peace Prize, a rapidly devaluing currency. Mass killers are anointed and beatified.

nine-eleven versus nine-one-o-one

"Health Ministry Statistics say that the incidence of abnormal births has increased 400-fold since 1991. The Iraqis also say that, all told, 1.7m children have died because of the various effects of UN sanctions."
- The Economist, September 14th 2002, p 39

Notice the date: a year after 9/11, the Economist decides to publish a piece of the utmost interest in a casual and disinterested manner. What has been brewing under Bill Clinton, John Major and Tony Blair between 1991 and 2001 appears as though it had been the work of the previous year. Furthermore, the article occupies only three-quarters of the page, whereas the Economist constantly prints surveys of a dozen pages and briefings of three to four pages. Why this extreme economy? The Economist was a rabid supporter of the 'war' against Iraq: its willful neglect of the subject wears the aspect of a fig-leaf. Moreover, by placing the article in an issue before 9/11 in a style suitable to the gravity of the subject, the newspaper would have thrown light on why 9/11 occurred: 2,700 Americans died because nearly 2 million Iraqi children were killed. While we hear constantly about 9/11, we never hear about '91/'01 – nine-eleven versus nine-one-o-one.

mass murderer awards prize to local flunky

Remember the guy above? That's right: he killed nearly 2 million Iraqi children in cold blood, and let his lieutenant defend the mass slaughter ("the price is worth it").

Recognise the flunky below? That's right: that's Fazle Abed, founder of BRAC, receiving an award from a mass murderer, and we are all proud of flunky and master.

"Fazle Abed receives first Clinton Global Citizen Award 29 September 2007, Former US President Bill Clinton presented the Inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Awards to BRAC Founder and Chairperson Fazle Hasan Abed..."

http://www.brac.net/index.php?nid=245"

"After the United States-led coalition devastated Iraq in 1991 to punish 'Saddam-Hitler', the United States and Britain forced murderous sanctions on that hapless country in an attempt to depose him. As in the Nazi holocaust, a million children have likely perished. Questioned on national television about the grisly death toll in Iraq, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright replied that 'the price is worth it'." - Norman Finkelstein, The Holocaust Industry (Verso: 2001), pp 147 - 148

"Health Ministry Statistics say that the incidence of abnormal births has increased 400-fold since 1991. The Iraqis also say that, all told, 1.7m children have died because of the various effects of UN sanctions."
- The Economist, September 14th 2002, p 39


Join the group "The Little Funerals" at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=275658750493

nothing extraordinary about renditions: they started with Bill Clinton

"In 1993, Bill Clinton was pondering whether to authorise what is now called 'extraordinary rendition', when American agents snatch a suspected terrorist abroad and deliver him to interrogators in a third country. The White House counsel warned that this would be illegal. President Clinton was in two minds until Al Gore walked in, laughed and said: 'That's a no-brainer. Of course it's a violation of international law, that's why it's a covert action. The guy is a terrorist. Go grab his ass.'

"To understand how the Bush administration went crashing off the rails, it helps to know where the train was coming from."

The Economist, August 2nd 2008, p 82