Rad Geek People's Daily

It seems that the first victims of George Bush’s recent accumulation of political capital are the people of Fallujah. In the days leading up to the assault, over 10,000 encircled the city and sealed off all roads. Then they urged “civilians” to flee the coming assault–but by “civilians” they meant all and only women, children, and men over 45. Any and all “military aged men” trying to enter or leave the city would be taken prisoner. Either you sit and wait for the slaughter, or else you enjoy a lovely trip to Abu Ghraib.

And yes, it is slaughter. If you’re a military-aged man in Fallujah, he stated policy of this disciplined and precise strike is, as Wendy McElroy points out, the logic of the old Crusaders: Kill them all! God will know his own. The first major act of this offensive was to raze a hospital to the ground. Aside from the brutal inhumanity of the act, Wendy McElroy also points out that the likely motive is nothing more than to suppress information about the scope of the massacre:

Well…the invasion of Fallujah is now underway with the first brave target being the city’s main hospital. ABC Action News
reports, “The invaders used special tools, powered by .22 caliber blanks, to break open door locks. A rifle-like crackle echoed through the facility. Many patients were herded into hallways and handcuffed until troops determined whether they were insurgents hiding in the hospital.

“Dr. Salih al-Issawi, head of the hospital, said he had asked U.S. officers to allow doctors and ambulances go inside the main part of the city to help the wounded but they refused. There was no confirmation from the Americans.

“‘The American troops’ attempt to take over the hospital was not right because they thought that they would halt medical assistance to the resistance,’ he said by telephone to a reporter inside the city. ‘But they did not realize that the hospital does not belong to anybody, especially the resistance.’

“During the siege of Fallujah last April, doctors at the hospital were a main source of reports about civilian casualties, which U.S. officials insisted were overblown. Those reports generated strong public outage in Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world, prompting the Bush administration to call off the offensive.”

These are war crimes being committed in front of our eyes. What is there to say about it, except to report on the latest atrocity? This is nothing less than the face of evil–and all of it being done in our names.