Tragedy in Newtown Connecticut: Ending Violence throughout the Globe
By: Solomon Comissiong
As many of us (including our staff at Your World News) are filled with grief today upon learning of the horrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut that took the lives of a great many innocent human-beings (most of which were children), please remind yourselves of the children and innocent people whose lives have been and continue to be claimed throughout places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine, and Libya. Children from those places are no different. They are no less of human beings than that of children in the US. They laugh, they cry, they play—they have/had dreams of growing older. If we have found the time to rightfully express our sorrow for those innocent humans whose lives were viciously cut short today (December 14, 2012) in Newtown, Connecticut and wish for these types of things to never ever again happen in the US—-we need to reach deep in to our hearts and souls and begin to speak out against the senseless crimes of imperialist murder committed upon innocent children and adults throughout other regions of the world— including those places where our tax dollars are financing the destruction of human lives, without our say. Innocent children have had their lives ripped away from them by way of drones, air strikes, night raids, etc—-with the approval of the Bush administration, the Obama administration and virtually every other administration prior.
During his press conference in response to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut President Barack Obama stated, “We’ve endured too many massacres”. I agree with Obama—this country has endured too many massacres. The United States has been a quagmire of massacres and mass murder since its white supremacist inception. Untold millions of indigenous people (Native Americans) were massacred in one of the largest land thefts known to man. Thanksgiving, for instance, is a holiday whose origins are anchored in a mass murder of “Indian” nations throughout what is now known as New England. And untold millions of African people were killed during the Atlantic Slave Trade, as well as during this country’s institution of chattel slavery. These horrific events are no doubt massacres that few civilized humans would dispute. Obama only knows whether he was thinking about these populations when he made the aforementioned comment.
US President, Barack Obama, went on to say, “The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers — men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.” I personally have no disagreement with Obama’s words. Those children, like all children, are beautiful in so many ways. Children are free and overflowing with unconditional love. Children are full of adventure and see this world as an exciting place to explore and make friends. Children are impressionable and virtually free of many of the prejudices that society, unfortunately, will soon teach many of them. Obama was eloquent with his impassioned words. However, where I differ from Obama (as I do with the majority of his policies) is the hypocrisies strewn throughout those words, when one juxtaposes them next to his foreign policy. Obama has launched more drones that have taken more innocent lives than that of even George Bush. This is an indisputable fact. Both Bush and Obama have combined for the killing of over 176 children, by way of their nefarious drone attacks, in Pakistan alone. And as we all should know, Obama has orchestrated indiscriminate drone attacks in several more countries, like Afghanistan. I challenge you (the reader) to ask yourself when is the last time you heard President Obama issue a heartfelt speech, as he did today, that mourned the lives of children killed via the actions of the military he, ultimately, commands. And when has this nation, collectively, stopped to think, long and hard, about those children in far off places, like Libya and Pakistan, who have had their lives cut short because of the US’s imperialist wars and policies? For that matter, ask yourself the same question in regard to people of color who are victims of police brutality.
Obama then said, “So our hearts are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.” Once again, if we examine President Obama’s repeat actions, as closely as some of do his words’ we should come to the conclusion that he, in no way, was thinking universally about children in Central Asia, Libya, Yemen, or Somalia. He has repeatedly ordered drone attacks in these regions, and has publicly defended his destructive actions. No contrition whatsoever—the drone attacks on civilian life continue in perpetuity. What about the innocence of the children in those places whose purity has also been torn away from them? Children in Afghanistan, whose villages were destroyed by US drone strikes, walk around as if they were zombies. They souls are bleeding, for they have lost significant chucks of people whom they loved dearly. Many remain orphans. How many in the US are conditioned to mourn their losses? Please do not struggle trying to come up with what can only be an incredibly small number. Most Americans have been socially conditioned to overlook human suffering, from other parts of the globe, when that suffering comes from the hands of their own government. They have been socially engineered to unconditionally support the actions of their government—and its military, no matter how destructive. There is no time like the present to unhook the mental strings, and begin to reengineer ourselves, as a society. It is truly time for many of us to rise above the socially destructive way of thinking we have accepted.
If we are a global community then it should be easy to see children in places like Libya and Afghanistan as our little brothers and sisters, too. And if this is the case (and it should be seen as such), then we owe it to humanity to demand an end to American wars of imperialism and plunder. Look beyond your emotionalism of having a brown face in the White House! If that brown face is committing the same crimes as those before him, then he should be seen as the war criminal and war monger he is, no differently than those before him committing the same crimes. Wrong is wrong is wrong! We cannot mourn what happened today without, also, mourning atrocities committed by the US government and its Western accomplices.
Obama also said, “And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.” If we are to take this man at his word then his statement should be extended everywhere the United States’ theater of war presently exists. This should mean that he will put an immediate end to all drone attacks, air strikes, night raids, and war in general—-if he is a man of his words. If not, he should be seen as a man who values the lives of children differently based on where they were born and live. I personally do not believe that Obama was even remotely thinking about tragedies that he and his administration have caused, by way of war and brutal sanctions. This is a significant reason this author has never voted for him. He supported these same values as a US senator when he told his followers that he would expand the war in Afghanistan if elected. And by election year 2012, Obama had groomed himself in to a magnificently seasoned war monger.
Those of you who continue to categorically support President Obama, his policies, and US foreign policy, in general—-I ask you to take a long look at yourselves inward. Put yourselves in the same ‘shoes’ as those who are continually terrorized by way of US drone attacks and war. Ask yourselves if you would be begging the citizens from the country that is bombing your community, to demand their government immediately halt its bloody actions. And ask yourself if you see yourself as a human being full of love and peace for men, women and children, no matter where they reside. If you can do this simple exercise then you will see children in other parts of the world the same way you rightfully see children in places like Newtown Connecticut. You will also see children, men and women who lose their lives, by way of things like police brutality, within the US, in the same manner as those children in Newtown, Connecticut. If you are incapable of doing these things; your humanity is much further away from you than you are aware. And if this is the case, you are, undoubtedly, a part of the problem.
Please don’t let apathy and a false patriotism prevent you from taking a most noble and humanitarian stand, NOW—demanding an even to senseless violence, whether it may be in the US, by way of the tragedy that happened today in Newtown, Connecticut, or by way of police brutality, or by way of imperialist wars. 94 percent, or more, of the lives killed in the US’s wars are those of civilians. Let’s please collectively demand (and work together) to end these wars and senseless violence everywhere. Humanity and future generations are depending on our selfless acts, today, to ensure they have a bright future, free of injustice, which includes all forms of violence—-including economic violence. May the Most High Bless those who lost their lives (as well as their families) today (December 14, 2012) in Newtown Connecticut, elsewhere throughout the globe—-in places like Iraq, Congo, Haiti, Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Palestine—-and all over the world!
Lastly, Barack Obama said, “Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need — to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours.
“May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.”
As you pray for the lives of the victims (and the families) of the tragic sadistic attack in Newtown, Connecticut, please also pray for those who have been, are, and continue to suffer as victims of the United States’ foreign policies. They are human beings as well. They eat, drink and breathe—just as we do. They have (or had) dreams, just as we do. They deserve much better than the terror that is being imposed upon them. Honor the lives of those who were senselessly and violently murdered throughout the world, and in Newtown, Connecticut; by saving the lives of children who stand to be killed if this country’s imperialist wars and policies do not end. Demand an end to the United States’ destructive foreign and domestic policies, which include wars, police brutality and deadly sanctions. Take a stand and rise above the reprehensible moral standards of the United States’ government. Don’t let their hypocrisy direct your moral compass anymore. Help reshape society in to something that is humane, replete with peace, justice, equality and the freedom for all communities to determine their own destinies.
“Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere”–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Solomon Comissiong is an educator, community activist, author, and the host of the Your World News media collective (www.yourworldnews.org). Mr. Comissiong is also a founding member of the Pan-African collective for Advocacy & Action. Solomon is the author of A Hip Hop Activist Speaks Out on Social Issues. He can be reached at: solo@yourworldnews.org
