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Junaid Jahangir

PhD, Economics Lecturer MacEwan University

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Would Obama Issue an Apology for "Other" Children?

Posted: 12/22/2012 7:59 am
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At the interfaith vigil in Connecticut, U.S. President Obama, fighting back tears, expressed overwhelming grief, as a parent, on the killing of 20 innocent little children.

In contrast, columnist George Monbiot noted that President Obama has remained silent over the 168 children killed by American drone attacks along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Likewise, Professor Vijay Prashad has noted that the White House has neither issued an apology nor called for an end to such tragedies.

Monbiot referenced a study, which indicated that many parents afraid of drone attacks -- one of which killed 69 children in 2006 -- along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have withdrawn their traumatized children from schools. He also mentioned that such casualties, termed as "bug splats" by drone operators, involve children without names, memorials or candles for they belong to the "other."

As someone inspired by Christian teachings, will President Obama not heed Jesus who taught what reward is there if you love only those who love you? Likewise, should he not draw wisdom from a devoutly Christian Tolkein's words that it is not great power but small acts of kindness and love that keep darkness at bay?

The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu empathized with the U.S. President over the murders in the Newtown school by stating that Israelis have also experienced such cruel acts of slaughter. In contrast, under his leadership, at least 30 Palestinian children were killed in November. With fighter jets and explosions scourging Gaza, Palestinian parents had to calm their children through the assault.

Neither President Obama nor Prime Minister Netanyahu made similar remarks as they did for the recent Connecticut shooting. In fact, President Obama, while remaining silent on the horrors perpetrated on the Palestinian children, simply stated that Israel had the right to defend itself. Journalist Glenn Greenwald has mentioned that President Obama has even joked about predator drones killing teenagers.

Unfortunately, journalist Gideon Levy has noted that in Israel, Palestinians are not depicted as human beings. It is perhaps why, three years ago, an Israeli woman felt free to yell at peacenik Dr. Abu Al Aish, author of I Shall Not Hate, falsely accusing him of harboring weapons, when he had just lost three daughters to an Israeli Defence Force attack.

Israelis, of all people, would recognize how throughout history Jews have been depicted as the "other." In the 16th century, Shakespeare depicted this disregard for the "other" through Shylock in the Merchant of Venice.

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?

In Pakistan, a blogger expressed how some Pakistanis have voiced their concerns on Gaza, while remaining silent on the killing of about 6000 Shia children since the mid 1980s. Freelance writer Zahir Janmohamed has noted how Shia Muslims are treated as the "other," stating that even during a funeral some Sunnis started lecturing Shias that their burial rites were un-Islamic.

Likewise, the plight of Ahmadi Muslims goes without much notice, even when their children are expelled from schools for following their faith.

Pakistani Muslims who come out in loud protests against blasphemy but who choose to remain silent over heinous human rights abuses against minorities seem to have ignored the Islamic emphasis on human dignity that lies above any faith affiliation.

Is not the universal message of "love one another" echoed in all three Abrahamic faiths? Is not the mandate of the Abrahamic faiths to overcome our human frailties to reach out to the "other"?

President Obama has stated that, even if there were one step to be taken, there is an obligation to try to save another child from harm. Likewise, Israeli President Peres has stated that no crime is more heinous than the killing of a child.

However, when will Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders go beyond themselves and truly express concern not just for their own children but also those of "others"? When will they cease to use great power that only perpetuates more evil and instead keep darkness at bay with acts of kindness and love?

Reverend Dr. Nancy Steeves of the Southminster Steinhauer United Church (SSUC) always reminds her congregation that one does not need to be a member of any Church to be welcome at the SSUC table. In our Church, no one is a child of a lesser god for the congregation sings, week after week, to echo that there is no "other."

Draw the circle wide, draw it wider still, let this be our song, no one stands alone, standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
One can only hope that Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders can join in this chorus.

Loading Slideshow...

  • Twenty-seven small U.S. flags adorn a large flag on a makeshift memorial on the side of Highway 84 near the Newtown, Conn., town line as residents mourn victims killed by gunman Adam Lanza, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. On Friday, authorities say Lanza killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • In this photo taken with a fisheye lens, a message honoring the victims that died a day earlier when a gunman opened fire at an elementary hang from a bridge near Hawley Pond, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Mourners carry ornaments to decorate the Christmas trees at one of the makeshift memorials for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Monday,Dec. 17, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

  • Crayons sit on a table outside of a barbershop a day after a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Crayons sit on a table outside of a barbershop a day after a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Tamara Doherty

    Shop owner Tamara Doherty, paces outside her store just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Tamara Doherty, Jackie Gaudet

    Shop owners Tamara Doherty, left, and Jackie Gaudet, right, meet outside their stores for the first time since being neighbors, just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Kristin Hoyt

    Kristin Hoyt, 18, of Danbury, Conn., ties a balloon to an overpass up the road from the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • A Newtown, Conn., resident, who declined to give her name, sits at an intersection holding a sign for passing motorists up the road from the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • A snowflake ornament with the name of 6-year-old Noah Pozner hangs on a Christmas tree at a makeshift memorial in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn., Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, as the town mourns victims killed in Friday's school shooting. Pozner, who was killed Friday when gunman Adam Lanza opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School, will be buried Monday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Twenty-seven small U.S. flags adorn a large flag on a makeshift memorial on the side of Highway 84 near the Newtown, Conn., town line as residents mourn victims killed by gunman Adam Lanza, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. Authorities say Lanza killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life, on Friday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Jamie Duncan, 16, of Newtown, Conn., lights a candle at one of the makeshift memorials for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Monday,Dec. 17, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

  • A mourner carries a giant Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal to place at one of the makeshift memorials for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Monday,Dec. 17, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

  • A hearse arrives at B'nai Israel Cemetery with the body of Noah Pozner, a six-year-old killed in an elementary school shooting, during funeral services, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Monroe, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • People arrive at B'nai Israel Cemetery during burial services for Noah Pozner, a six-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Monroe, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Veronika Pozner

    Veronique Pozner waves to the assembled media as she leaves after a funeral service for her 6-year-old son Noah Pozner, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Fairfield, Conn. Noah Pozner was killed when Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Twenty seven wooden stand in a yard down the street from the Sandy Hook School December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were shot dead, including twenty children, after a gunman identified as Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza also reportedly had committed suicide at the scene. A 28th person, believed to be Nancy Lanza, found dead in a house in town, was also believed to have been shot by Adam Lanza. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Newtown residents Claire Swanson, Kate Suba, Jaden Albrecht, Simran Chand and New London, Connecticut residents Rachel Pullen and her son Landon DeCecco, hold candles at a memorial for victims on the first Sunday following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    U.S. President Barack Obama waits to speak at an interfaith vigil for the shooting victims from Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 16, 2012 at Newtown High School in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Eknoor Kaur, 3, stands with her father Guramril Singh during a candlelight vigil outside Newtown High School before an interfaith vigil with President Barack Obama, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    New London, Connecticut resident Rachel Pullen (C) kisses her son Landon DeCecco at a memorial for victims near the school on the first Sunday following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    US President Barack Obama speaks during a memorial service for the victims and relatives of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were killed when a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary and began a shooting spree. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    A woman covers her face as US President Barack Obama reads out the names of children killed during Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at a interfaith memorial for victims and relatives at the Newtown High School on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were killed when a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary and began a shooting spree. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    A woman pays respects at a memorial outside of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. On Friday, a gunman allegedly killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Residents wait for the start of an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Cheryl Girardi, of Middletown, Conn., kneels beside 26 teddy bears, each representing a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, at a sidewalk memorial, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children.(AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Connecticut State Police officers respond to a bomb threat outside of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Worshippers hurriedly left the church Sunday, not far from where a gunman opened fire Friday inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Ava Staiti, 7, of New Milford, Conn., looks up at her mother Emily Staiti, not pictured, while visiting a sidewalk memorial with 26 teddy bears, each representing a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    This photo provided by the family shows Jessica Rekos. Rekos, 6, was killed Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 children and adults at the school, before killing himself. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Rekos Family)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    A U.S. flag flies at half staff outside the Newtown High School before President Barack Obama is scheduled to attend a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    David Freedman, right, kneels with his son Zachary, 9, both of Newtown, Conn., as they visit a sidewalk memorial for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    A man reacts at the site of a makeshift memorial for school shooting victims in Newtown, Conn., Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. A gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the town, killing 26 people, including 20 children before killing himself on Friday. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    People wait in line to attend an interfaith vigil with President Barack Obama, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Residents greet each other before the start of an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Residents greet each other before the start of an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into the school Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. President Barack Obama is to scheduled to speak at the event. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Residents greet each other before the start of an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into the elementary school Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak during the vigil. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    This image provided by the family shows Grace McDonnell posing for a portrait in this family photo taken Aug. 18, 2012. Grace McDonnell was killed Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 children and adults at the school. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the McDonnell Family)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    This Nov. 18, 2012 photo provided by John Engel shows Olivia Engel, 6, in Danbury, Conn. Olivia Engel, was killed Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 children and adults at the school. (AP Photo/Engel Family, Tim Nosezo)

  • Emilie Alice Parker

    This 2012 photo provided by the family shows Emilie Alice Parker. Parker was killed Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 children and adults at the school. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the Parker Family)

  • Noah Pozner

    This Nov. 13, 2012 photo provided by the family via The Washington Post shows Noah Pozner. The six-year-old was one of the victims in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Family Photo)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    This handout image provided by ABC News, shows Nancy J. Lanza mother of suspected mass shooter Adam Lanza at an unspecified time and place. Twenty six people were shot dead, including twenty children, after a gunman identified as Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza also reportedly had committed suicide at the scene. A 28th person, believed to be Nancy Lanza was found dead in a house in town, was also believed to have been shot by Adam Lanza. (Family of Nancy Lanza / ABC News / Getty Images)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121215/us-school-shooting-victims/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage">Lauren Rousseau, 30,</a> had started a job as a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School this fall. She was killed in the Dec. 14 shooting at the school.

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    School psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, was killed during an attempt to stop gunman Adam Lanza during the Dec. 14 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121215/us-school-shooting-victims/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage">Sherlach and school principal Dawn Hochsprung</a> reportedly both lunged at Lanza in an attempt to protect the school's students and teachers. Both Sherlach and Hochsprung were killed.

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Victoria Soto, a 27-year-old teacher, was killed in the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Her cousin, Jim Wiltsie, told ABC that Soto, a teacher, died while shielding her young students from the gunman, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121215/us-school-shooting-victims/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage">according to the AP.</a>

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/sandy-hook-principal-dawn-hochsprung_n_2303944.html">Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung</a>, 47, was killed as she, along with school psychologist Mary Sherlach, attempted to overtake gunman Adam Lanza during the Dec. 14 mass shooting at the school. Hochsprung and Sherlach reportedly both lunged at Lanza in an effort to defend the students and teachers at the school. Both women were killed.

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    This photo posted to the Emilie Parker Fund Facebook page shows Emilie Parker. Fighting back tears and struggling to catch his breath, Robbie Parker the father of 6-year-old Emile Parker who was gunned down in Friday's school shooting in Connecticut told the world about a little girl who loved to draw and was always smiling, and he also reserved surprising words of sympathy for the gunman. (AP Photo/Emilie Parker Fund)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Shop owner Tamara Doherty paces outside her store just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at the school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    This photo posted to the Emilie Parker Fund Facebook page shows Emilie Parker and her father Robbie Parker. Fighting back tears and struggling to catch his breath, Robbie Parker the father of 6-year-old Emile Parker who was gunned down in Friday's school shooting in Connecticut told the world about a little girl who loved to draw and was always smiling, and he also reserved surprising words of sympathy for the gunman. (AP Photo/Emilie Parker Fund)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Robbie Parker, the father of six-year-old Emilie who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, fights back tears as he speaks during a news conference, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Isabella Jimenez, 12, reacts while talking to reporters about the shooting rampage from a day earlier when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Jimenez said she might know the victims because she has done volunteer work with small children. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

    Newtown, Connecticut mass shooter Adam Lanza is third from right in this 2008 yearbook photo. <a href="http://abcn.ws/UlqIyn">(ABC News)</a>



 
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At the interfaith vigil in Connecticut, U.S. President Obama, fighting back tears, expressed overwhelming grief, as a parent, on the killing of 20 innocent little children. In contrast, columnist Ge...
At the interfaith vigil in Connecticut, U.S. President Obama, fighting back tears, expressed overwhelming grief, as a parent, on the killing of 20 innocent little children. In contrast, columnist Ge...
 
 
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LeoF
1 Fans
10:51 PM on 12/24/2012
Let's look at the argument for the drone attacks which kill children:
The argument is that in the long run, fewer innocent people will die by targeting Al Qaeda extremists and killing some children in the process, than by allowing the Al Qaeda the latitude - that the drones remove - to implement their own policies. The argument is that the drones are the lesser evil.
If you disagree with that assessment, then you are claiming that you can foresee the future clearly enough to be certain that more long-term suffering and killing is being caused by the drones, than would be caused if no drone attacks took place. So if you believe the drone attacks are wrong, then you are making a claim. And if you are making a claim whose justification may not be clear to your readers, then the obligation is on you to make the case for your argument.
In other words, the end does not justify the means. I challenge anyone to provide a rationale for that. The end always justifies the means; otherwise the end is unachievable. It would be ludicrous to claim otherwise. The drones are means to an end; the issue is whether those means are justified by their results.
We can only make our best judgement. If you are audacious enough to claim that the drones should not be used, you have made an extraordinary statement which requires extraordinary justification.
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pinkibus
1812 Fans
11:10 PM on 12/23/2012
At the risk of being exoriated like Obama, I would like to point out the deaths in the Muslim world of children who are not innoculated from polio or die of hunger or die in childbirth because they were impregnated by an old man or the deaths from dirty water or the deaths because they dared to go to school. In the numbers game in the child deaths in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including violent deaths, 158 is not a lot. It is a very few. Any time the taliban decides to allow children to be innoculated from polio rather than killing six or eight aid workers who were giving the polio this blogger can insinuate that Obama is a hypocrite for mourning the children killed by a very disturbed young man in Newtown, Conneticut.
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flyingfree22
436 Fans
11:21 AM on 01/27/2013
Yeah, right drones only kill 158 children which is really good, its a good death & they're being killed by American's which makes their deaths holy, somehow.

That argument is like saying 3000 dead on 9/11 is 'not a lot' because over 3200 die of the flu in the US annually that's over 30,000 dead Americans since 9/11 from the flu.

The Taliban is now attacking polio vaccines because the CIA used fake polio vaccine centres to find Bin Laden & kill those 'only' 158 + children.

If it's not a big deal pinkibus, offer up some of your own children.
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Turdinthepunchbowl
Mayor Ford, save some for Buddy
532 Fans
09:30 PM on 12/23/2012
Every US president ever to hold office has committed crimes against humanity; it's the nature of empire.
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Guy from Marrs
13 Fans
02:08 AM on 12/23/2012
"Nits grow into lice". Attributed to a US cavalryman as he blew out the brains of an Indian child during an extermination raid. He has bothers in every country and creed.

"Catching them young" is a good motto - applied to development or extermination, it works equally well.
Well said. Junaid. You could have included Hindus, Buddhists, Shintoites as well. But who is listening?
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kaladarbob
51 Fans
07:59 PM on 12/22/2012
After having read these post, what stood out more than anything else is that politicians, religious leaders, other countries, war machine manufacturers and others are to blame. Not on one post did any American voter accept any responsibility for all the killing. Who is it that elected Bush or Obama rather than Paul? Remember him? He is the guy who wanted to bring all American troops home and cut the military and the military budget down to a defensive force. He is the one who wanted to end completely America's involvement in war except for situations where someone physically threatened the US. It is the American voters who are responsible for the death of all those thousands of children around the world, and just like Obama they won't apologize because they simply don't care about those children.
Merry Christmas to all you people who will be going to church this Sunday believing that is all it will take to keep you from the fires of Hell.
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huffing and puffing2
33 Fans
05:31 PM on 12/22/2012
when will we create world that welcome children and the future they bring as opposed to using children to venge our old hurts.this is for all people, all religions, skin colour and social standing. we will either all survive together on the planet or all perish.as long as the people of the world are at war with one another or against one another, there will never be place to help children grow to make a better world.
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Nat Pop
40 Fans
04:52 PM on 12/22/2012
Exactly. It's the end of the world when our children die, but when it's the others' children (with emphasis on "others") then it's ... bug splat.

Let's not forget that every 5 seconds a child dies of hunger in this world. In 2 minutes more children die of hunger than all the victims at Sandy Hook. And nobody cares, certainly not the powerful who could easily make a difference.
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flyingfree22
436 Fans
11:24 AM on 01/27/2013
Exactly, 'other' peoples children are 'collateral damage' & no one even bats an eye at such heinous descriptions.
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garyg210
221 Fans
04:20 PM on 12/22/2012
I agree completely with what Dr. Jahangir says. I have personally been revolted by the hypocrisy of President Obama and many, many others who express grief over one group of children but callously go on killing others through drone strikes, terrorist attacks, and by many other means.

Even though I am an agnostic I am still moved to say: “They are all God’s children.”

My Christmas wish is that through posts like Dr. Jahangir, awareness will grow and we might eventually start to move toward a world where the concept “collateral damage” is unacceptable.
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morphyous
412 Fans
08:00 PM on 12/22/2012
Remember, the killing of children is done EVERY DAY by their own Governments in many Countries. Lest we forget. President Obama most CERTAINLY never "joked" about killing anyone That statement is revolting. Do you honestly think that he does not think of innocents killed under his watch?? If you do , you are wrong. The killing must stop. on all sides, Faiths, factions. Enough is so much more than enough. Parents in the Middle East, and everywhere else ,grieve the horrendous loss of their children. None more or less than the other. Save the children.
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Advocateforthedevil
7 Fans
12:47 PM on 12/23/2012
Except when he said this at the white house press correspondents dinner,

"The Jonas Brothers are here; they’re out there somewhere. Sasha and Malia are huge fans; but boys, don’t get any ideas. Two words for you: predator drones. You will never see it coming. You think I’m joking?"

You are right technically, he did say he was not joking about killing some young musicians.
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Advocateforthedevil
7 Fans
12:52 PM on 12/23/2012
The Jonas Brothers are here; they’re out there somewhere. Sasha and Malia are huge fans; but boys, don’t get any ideas. Two words for you: predator drones. You will never see it coming. You think I’m joking?
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bruce mcgoose
36 Fans
02:17 PM on 12/22/2012
Religion builds walls. It convinces people god is in agreement with them. It gives them permission to look at fellow human beings as others, simply because they hold different superstitious beliefs.
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SayBlade
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699 Fans
04:50 PM on 12/22/2012
So does politics, prejudice and power.
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bruce mcgoose
36 Fans
05:16 PM on 12/22/2012
I would agree except for the superstituois belief part.
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Chico Smith
14 Fans
01:08 PM on 12/22/2012
Interesting post but America has war fever instilled by a Neocon Cabal. So to answer your question, no, there will be no apology because the other children do not count. When all of those children are gone, they will come for the others. In a country that killed 500,000 children in Iraq through sanctions and another 500,000 human beings through war, don't even bother asking such a question.
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tripas de leche
220 Fans
04:32 PM on 12/22/2012
I agree in that American lives count, others don't. If other lives are important too, why are meddling all over the place with death and destruction?
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garyg210
221 Fans
04:56 PM on 12/22/2012
Although I agree that the USA's war fever was indeed instilled by a Neocon Cabal - namely, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeldt and a few other of their cronies - President Obama was elected the first time around largely on the theory that he would be a man of principal and peace who would change course. Unfortunately, he has done little or nothing to do that and, indeed, has expanded some of the violent policies of his predecessor, as witness the expanded drone program and the bombardment of Libya.
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ABshig
4 Fans
06:23 PM on 12/22/2012
It actually goes right back to the beginning...the USA hasn't been able to go much more than a decade without war in its history.
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Chico Smith
14 Fans
06:31 PM on 12/22/2012
I agree, but be clear, it was Wolfowitz, Perle and Libby that were the Cabal, aided by those in the press. Cheney is included as is Rumsfeld. One group waging war for Israel, the other waging war for profit. Obama continues these policies. Look up Wesley Clark and the 7 wars.
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Hafingnetonne
A few words
39 Fans
 
12:59 PM on 12/22/2012
When societies follow Madrassas it is not surprising that polio vaccine workers be gunned down. What about Taliban apologizing for thousands of Pakistani children suffering from polio because of their insanity.
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theslip
30 Fans
10:00 PM on 12/23/2012
Stop deflecting - article is about what we do - we can choose what kind of people we want to be. I choose to be better than the Taliban.

Their choices do not excuse ours.
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Hafingnetonne
A few words
39 Fans
 
06:50 AM on 12/24/2012
Nonetheless their choices do not force us to apologize everytime they kill innocent kids and polio vaccine workers incidentally most of them women. They are criminal we do not have to crawl for them.  
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GravffItti
40 Fans
12:07 PM on 12/22/2012
When the religious sects give up their tribalistic, in-group out-group, us verses them doctrines and dogmas will the world be freed from internecine squabbling and bickering, and the appalling slaughter of 'other' children.

An unfortunately formidable, dismaying and dishearteningly tall order in the face of man-made religious illusions and delusions.
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edgermanJ
93 Fans
10:02 AM on 12/22/2012
Sometimes karma comes back around to give us some small perspective on what we accept as normal for people in other parts of the world. We have no "greater good" being served to help us rationalize the senseless murder of children on our own continent, like we have when they are killed elsewhere. All we understand now is that young lives were taken and the hopes of their families were destroyed. It might help us to understand that killing children is madness, no matter what the context or the location.
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wallyone
161 Fans
09:48 AM on 12/22/2012
It seems that the Bresian school massacre in Russia made for a mass change in attitude there. Hope Newtown does the same for us, in a positive way. Way too tragic to accept without action.
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zorroplata
34 Fans
09:33 AM on 12/22/2012
After reading this, it is easy to see the problem. Organized Religion.
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SayBlade
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699 Fans
04:52 PM on 12/22/2012
And, disorganised politics, prejudice and power. Don't discount economic interests, either.
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