Enough With
Hollow "Regrets" for Civilian Casualties: Help the Victims
October 14, 2001
When U.S. bombs or missiles fail to reach their intended military targets,
and instead go astray and kill
and injure civilians and destroy civilian property, the U.S. government
invariably issues
its "regrets."
In such circumstances, we've
killed or injured people we say we didn't mean to kill and injure, and
indeed whom we had no right to kill and injure. The victims are
usually impoverished citizens of Third World countries.
As the richest nation on
earth, we can and must back up our verbal "Sorry about that" with
concrete steps to assist the victims or their survivors.
First: The
next-of-kin of civilians killed should receive a monetary payment from us in
an amount customary in that area for accidental deaths.
Second: Injured
civilians should be cared for at our expense locally. If adequate
medical care is not available in that area, we should airlift the injured
parties to a location where such care can be received.
Third: If a family's
breadwinner is killed or disabled, we should provide income support for the
survivors until they can establish an alternate means of receiving a viable
income.
Fourth: Destroyed
property, whether houses, businesses, or public civilian facilities like
schools or hospitals, should be rebuilt at our expense.
Let's do the right thing.
Let's act honorably.
Let's make substantive amends
to those innocent men, women and children we accidentally injure or kill.
[Here's a link
to a campaign to set up a fund to aid Afghan civilian victims] |
