As I
sit down to write this piece the first pictures of civilian casualties
are coming through on television from the battlefields in Iraq. Among
them are little children, injured, bewildered, in pain, howling. One
young girl was said to have been injured so badly that she is unlikely
to walk again.
They
were being shown off to the press, with cameras flashing. Not only
had they suffered the physical traumata and shock of their injuries,
but they were being used as propaganda. With the collusion of the
world’s media, their pain and grief was on display for everyone
to see. No thought of privacy or confidentiality or rights. Victims
of injury and of exploitation to make a point.
They
are children now, but their injuries will stay with them into adulthood.
I hope that at some point in the future those responsible will be
able to explain to them why they had to go through these horrific
experiences, why it was they who had to pay the price on behalf of
their government and leader, why it was necessary to fight rather
than wait for the United Nations inspectors to complete their task,
why the Iraqi government felt it necessary to conceal weapons of mass
destruction, why it needed them, why western governments decided to
sell weapons to Iraq in the first place, why countries feel the need
to manufacture and sell arms at all, when war is known to be so damaging
and destructive.
There
are a lot of people who have played a role in the tragedy that led
to the children’s injuries - arms salesmen, politicians, religious
leaders, the crew of the aircraft that dropped the bomb, and the rest
of us who have looked on for years as the situation in Iraq deteriorated
and thought to ourselves that it was all a long way away.
To persuade
the children that there was a point to their injuries will take some
doing, so I hope that we all have good arguments. I hope we will also
be prepared to listen to their answers.
War should
now be a thing of the past.
