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"But this
brutal act of murder, especially when given the length of time her captors
had to reconsider their intentions, not only legitimizes the Bush regime's
and Iraq's puppet government's claims of insurgency, but also serves to
excuse and legitimize the torture and slaughter of Iraqi civilians."
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Iraqi Resistance's Fatal Blunder
THE MURDER OF MARGARET HASSAN
Posted November 18, 2004
thepeoplesvoice.org
By: Ted Lang
It is clear to the entire world that the atrocities perpetrated against the
Iraqi people by the Bush administration are a carbon copy of Hitler's
foreign policy towards sovereign nations first initiated some 65 years ago.
It was Hitler's fascist paranoia towards German citizens as well as his
overwhelming concentration and rapid deployment of mechanized military might
against unprepared lesser nations that have branded him as history's most
evil dictator. In the eyes of the world and its press, today's Nazification
of American foreign policy and its inhumane brutality based upon racial
lines of demarcation are universally considered as an abomination by any and
all international standards.
And as evil begets more evil, and violence creates yet more violence, we are
now apprised of yet another inhumane atrocity in the brutal and barbaric
murder of Margaret Hassan. This was a woman with a Mother Teresa philosophy
of gentleness and kindness that showcased a life of self-sacrifice, service
and dedication in caring for the people of Iraq. Margaret Hassan was born
in Ireland and married an Iraqi. She bucked the political system and its
so-called correctness to do the Christian thing of dedicating her life to
others, especially the children of Iraq.
She risked all to protect the vulnerability of the oppressed Iraqis under
the tyranny of Bush I and II and the diabolical cynicism of an out-of-touch
Clinton administration. She abandoned her origins and its comforts and
demonstrated both a service to her fellow Man and her God in rejecting her
own safety and security to care for those less fortunate who were being
ruthlessly oppressed by her own kind. In short, these are sacrifices most
commonly identified with sainthood.
Hassan in effect, rejected the political philosophy and policy initiatives
of her Western heritage replacing them with her own self-generated concept
of right and wrong. And she followed through by rejecting formalized and
legitimized political organizations and sought a more beneficent
organizational structure devoid of gain. She was a director for CARE
International. She isolated herself in this manner knowing all the while
that she could be targeted anytime because of her foreign origins and her
isolation in helping others.
Hassan was kidnapped by what can be best described as an undefined and
disorganized resistance, which is, and continues to be, completely and
morally justified in opposing a foreign invasion initiated to affect Iraq's
colonization by American corporate oil interests. And as has been
editorially admitted to in this space, the resistance to imperialistic
invasion and unprovoked attack is always justified as an acceptable mode of
self-defense by any and all standards of decency allowed by all but the most
despotic of governments.
Iraqis that had benefited directly from "Mama Hassan's" care took to the
streets. Children crippled by Bush family bombs, rockets and artillery took
to the streets in their wheelchairs, on their crutches, and with prosthetic
arms and legs she provided, to protest and appeal for her safe release. The
world became familiar with her humanitarianism, and now the Iraqis whom she
cared for and had helped were taking to the streets begging for her release.
And the whole world waited. And waited, and waited.
The heroes of war on the other side had to know of her patriotism to her
newly adopted nation and religion of Islam. She spoke their language. She
was, for all purposes and intents, an Iraqi citizen. In all probability, in
her taped appeals early in her captivity, she knew she would be killed. Her
tearful appeals are testimony to the brutality and inhumanity of her
captors.
I have long hated the term "insurgents." How can people be insurrect in
their own country against a foreign invader? But this wanton singularly
brutal and senseless act against a former British subject that has given 30
years of her life to reduce the suffering of the Iraqi people against the
protests of Iraqis, now establishes precisely what Iraqi freedom fighters
really didn't need: it legitimizes the term "insurgents."
A regular army with a chain of command can and should be held accountable
for war crimes. And the war crimes in Iraq are well documented. But this
brutal act of murder, especially when given the length of time her captors
had to reconsider their intentions, not only legitimizes the Bush regime's
and Iraq's puppet government's claims of insurgency, but also serves to
excuse and legitimize the torture and slaughter of Iraqi civilians. The
denizens of talk radio and FOXNews can now justify Abu Ghraib and Fallujah.
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© THEODORE E. LANG 11/17/04 All rights reserved.
Ted Lang is a political analyst and a freelance writer.
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