30 December 04
The recent tsunami has killed one hundred thousand people in Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and other countries. [image source]
The people killed are from many more countries since many tourist areas were affected. By ‘affected’, I mean specifically ‘run over by a 500 MPH wall of water’. It makes it all easier to swallow, easier to live with. Kind of like saying ‘detained’ when talking about the hundreds of people we have indefinitely imprisoned in Guantanamo.
We’re doing this to Iraq on a similar scale, just packed into one little country. But instead of earthquakes and flooding, we’re using smart bombs and napalm. Fitting with our tradition of excellence, we did it sooner and with better technology.
The point I’m badly trying to make is that the anguish obvious in the above picture is the same pain we’re inflicting on the civilians of Iraq, in very similar numbers. But somehow, this picture hits harder. Maybe it’s the blue jeans and western haircuts.