by David E. Christensen

A few short weeks ago most American adults seemed happy enough to go along with government and media hype to again bomb Iraq. Why? To get rid of Saddam, but again forgetting Iraq’s 22 million people who have suffered seven years of deprivation and death from the U.N. sanctions on which the United States insisted. Does this somehow relate to the Paducah, Ky., and Jonesboro, Ark., tragedies and pose a danger in our own communities? Read on.

We complain about Iraq’s biological and other weapons of mass destruction with great killing power. But the sanctions, like a dripping faucet for seven years, have killed more than 500,000 children. And 5,000 still die one at a time each month from a lack of common medicines, medical equipment and basic food. Aren’t the sanctions themselves a devastating weapon of mass destruction for the children and people of Iraq? For them the 1991 war has never ended.

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Madeline Albright said, If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future. What arrogance to say we, one nation among an interdependent community of 180-plus nations, are indispensable and have superior foresight.

So why should we, with our gun, violence and military-oriented society, be surprised at tragedies in Paducah and recently in Jonesboro where kids kill kids for no real reason? And could such a senseless tragedy happen again somewhere, even in Carbondale? Of course it can and will, unless…

As Pogo once said, We have found the enemy, and it is us. So look in the mirror, American adults, and you need wonder no longer what makes our children violent. They learn too well that killing is acceptable from our media hype and our sheep-like support of the sanctions on Iraq that are killing thousands of real children each month while Saddam continues to strut the streets of Baghdad. From movies, TV shows, computer games and even the news, our children are having the lesson downloaded and imprinted into their brains that killing is OK.

We must teach our children that life is not a game and that just as they prize their life, each person’s life is precious to him or her. We must teach them that at all levels, problems of civilized people must be solved by non-violent means. We must teach our children that in our interdependent global village, war is obsolete.