...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Thursday, October 09, 2003
      ( 3:08 PM )
 
Iraqi Children Lose Head Start

Looks like Bush gives equal time to all children - while our own lose necessary meals from Head Start, he's decided that the children in Iraq are eating too much as well. In truth, the poor Iraqi children who have been benefitting from the food distribution system provided after our invasion are going to have to find their nourishment elsewhere.

A more substantial assault on Saddam's
legacy is under way in the Republican
Palace, where the occupation authority is
making preparations to dismantle the food
distribution system which gave free rations
of flour, rice, cooking oil and other staples
to every Iraqi.

Described by the UN as the world's most
efficient food network, the system still
keeps Iraqis from going hungry. But the US
civilian administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer,
views it as a dangerous socialist anachronism.
The coalition provisional authority (CPA) is
planning to abolish it in January, despite
warnings from its own technical experts that
this could lead to hunger and riots.

But evidently, that doesn't go far enough. We need to rub in their faces that we're no longer going to feed them after invading their country, killing their family members and causing massive job losses everywhere. Nope. We need to teach them a lesson.

Behind the mosque five American military
vehicles rumbled through a narrow lane,
scattering children and women, and
announcing through loudspeakers that
demonstrations in support of Saddam were
banned. Leaflets fluttered to the ground
behind them. "Freedom = Responsibility",
the headline said.

Beautiful. If that's not patronizing condecension, I don't know what is. It seems, however, that the leaflets aren't working that well:

A man with a baby in his arms stooped to
pick one up and, staring straight at the US
troops, ripped it in half.

I wrote below about this administration's callous treatment of our own children. So I realize my expectations are far too high if I thought it would treat Iraqi children any better. It only follows, I suppose that Bush's people would use some sort of weird neo-con phobia about socialism to justify not feeding children in Iraq, when it is obvious it is one thing we're doing well at this point. They're not even using the excuse of cost. Nope, it's just not "responsible" to allow the Iraqis to think they can just get free food whenever they want it. Who do those moochers think they are anyway?

(Thanks to Billmon for the heads-up on this topic. And also, check out Not in My America for some more good commentary on it)

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