False sympathies...

For one of my psychology projects, I had to rent the movie Uncle Saddam. Since the movie came out right before the invasion of Iraq, I knew there would be some pro-war comment somewhere. One of the people says "Anyone who has doubts about Operation Iraqi Freedom should try and view this film...It becomes clear that the Baathist/marxist policies of Saddam do nothing to elevate the lives of the average Iraqi and merely spread the misery equally among anyone outside Saddam's circle of influence in Iraq." Aside from the fact that he doesn't mention other factors about Iraq (the Iran-Iraq War, The Gulf War, and the sanctions regime), his sympathies for the average Iraqi seem feigned. It's not that Saddam wasn't bad for Iraq, but how does this guy feel about Iraqis if they ask for the American troops to leave? Suddenly I could imagine a different story.

And of course I see headlines like this that make me want to gag. It begs the question that if the U.S., the most powerful and influential country in the world, is so committed to the Palestinian people, why is this happening? It's because the U.S. doesn't care. The only honest people in their attitudes are the people in the streets of Gaza celebrating and the Israelis outside the school screaming death to Arabs. It is as one of my professors said, first we must admit that we utterly hate the people of the other side and then recognize they aren't going anywhere. Then we can talk peace.