In Memory of Presidents' Victims

In Memory of Presidents' Victims

By Quantum Tuba
Information Clearing House
Saturday, June 30, 2012

On facebook, there is a liberal page titled "We survived Bush.
You will survive Obama."

This appears to define the people who matter as relatively
privileged liberals and conservatives.

Privileged American liberals survived Bush. Privileged American
conservatives will survive Obama.

But what about those who don't survive the policies of presidents?

In American political discourse, we so often forget the victims of
state violence.

We so often forget those who are killed as a result of presidents
and their abusive policies.

This post is dedicated to those victims.

There were many who died as a result of George W. Bush's policies.
Iraq Body Count has documented between 107,055 and 116,979
civilian deaths from the Iraq War.

The Wikileaks Iraq War Logs reveal an estimated 15,000 additional
civilian deaths.

A 2006 study estimated that around 600,000 Iraqis had been killed
by the Iraq War.

Whatever the numbers, it is clear that a huge number of Iraqis
did not survive Bush.

Further, Margaret Griffis uses the US military's own data to
show that 4,486 American troops have died in the Iraq War.

Those soldiers did not survive Bush either.

While the Bush administration's greatest killing spree was in Iraq,
people from other countries also died as a result of his policies.

Before the Iraq War, the Bush administration began a war in
Afghanistan, a war that still rages today.

As a result, many Afghans did not survive Bush.

And the deaths that can be attributed to Bush policies did not
simply occur in war zones.

While the Bush administration's torture program at Guantanamo
was often discussed, it was rarely mentioned that at least 100
detainees died from US torture techniques.

These detainees did not survive Bush.

And just like many people throughout the world did not survive
Bush, many others have not survived or will not survive Barack
Obama.

It is known that President Obama has a secretive kill list. Those
on this list will not survive Obama.

The drone program directed by Obama shows virtually no concern
for civilian casualties.

Obama's drones bomb funerals and rescuers. Thus, many funeral
goers and rescuers will not survive Obama.

In Yemen, the administration used cluster bombs, which many
countries have agreed never to use, in a strike that killed 35
women and children.

Those women and children did not survive Obama.

The Obama administration has also redefined the word "militant",
such that any adult male killed by a US bomb is assumed to be a
"militant."

These supposed "militants" will not survive Obama.

Obama has presided over bombings in six countries: Yemen,
Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

The victims of those bombings will not survive Obama.

Furthermore, Obama has escalated the war in Afghanistan,
resulting in increased US casualties. Many Americans and
Afghans will not survive Obama.

Obama's policies, like Bush's, kill through more than simply war.

For example, while the 2010 Haitian earthquake led to a
moratorium on deportations to Haiti, the Obama administration
resumed deporting Haitians in August of 2011.

At this point, the earthquake-ravaged country faced a cholera
epidemic.

The situation was even worse in the crowded prisons and camps
where deportees were sent.

Vincent Warren of the Center for Constitutional Rights wrote at
the time that "as the U.S. government knows, deportations to
Haiti amount to a death sentence for deportees."

It appears some Haitians may not survive Obama.

Obama administration policies may soon also cost lives
by decreasing access to medicine in the developing world.

It was recently revealed that the Trans-Pacific Partnership,
an international trade agreement currently being negotiated
by the Obama administration, would substantially expand the
power of pharmaceutical patent monopolies.

This would create artificial scarcity, driving up medical costs,
particularly in the developing world.

Peter Maybarduk of Public Citizen wrote that with these
provisions "the Obama administration has again increased
demands on developing countries to trade away access to
medicines."

Judit Rius Sanjuan of Doctors Without Borders' Campaign for
Access to Essential Medicines explained that "Policies that
restrict competition thwart our ability to improve the lives
of millions with affordable, lifesaving treatments."

Fundamentally, the Trans-Pacific Partnership threatens to deny
people in the developing world access to lifesaving medication.

If it passes with the current intellectual property provisions, sick
people will probably die for a policy that inflates pharmaceutical
industry profits.

These patients will not survive Obama.

While this post has focused on the Obama and Bush administrations,
it should be understood that deadly policies are by no means unique
to these two presidents.

Under Andrew Jackson, thousands of Native Americans died on
the Trail of Tears.

Under Bill Clinton, UNICEF estimates that sanctions on Iraq killed
around 500,000 children.

LBJ, Kennedy, and Nixon waged an unjustifiable war in Vietnam.

Reagan financed the murderous Contras in Nicaragua.

Woodrow Wilson sent the country into the bloody conflict of
World War I, and jailed those who opposed that war.

Throughout US history, presidents and their policies have left
gruesome trails of bodies.

When will we demand an end to these deaths?


Dissenting Leftist


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31737.htm