The
Useless Logic Of Round Numbers: War Is Criminal Any Day
12 February 2010By Ramzy Baroud
The media's habit of revisiting certain issues at set
intervals can be strange and even illogical at times.
For example, many news outlets commented on President
Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office, as well as on
the anniversary of his election win, and then again
one year after his inauguration day. With every new
round number, more commentators joined in and
discussions heated up between proponents and
detractors of his government’s performance.
I am not exactly sure why we like round numbers. Is it
because they make valuations easy, even when the
particular number is irrelevant? Some philosophers,
Plato included, believed that order and symmetry are
innate values in the human psyche. Perhaps. Or,
perhaps, in the case of the media, numbers give us the
sense, deceptively, that we have a grasp over certain
truths. We determine the order in which legacies such
as Obama’s should be dissected. After a decided date,
the subject can be ignored until the next round number
arrives, bringing with it more useless chatter.
Of course, this is a delusion. Like much of the
media’s behaviour, it has no connection to reality.
It’s all a mind game. A lie, even. For victims of US
policies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, and
elsewhere, the attention given to round numbers is
wholly illogical. The drones flying over Afghanistan
and Pakistan, loaded with killing technology, care
little for numbers, including the number of lives they
destroy daily.
Did Gazans starve less when we ‘examined’ Obama’s
(pro-Israel) legacy after 100 days of his presidency?
Where they better off one year from his election
victory or one year from his inauguration?
How about 273 days from his ascendancy to the White
House? Was that a particularly chaotic day in
Baghdad’s streets? Do soldiers take a break from
killing on even days, and resume the slaughter on odd
ones?
But why should this discussion matter at all? It
matters because we often buy into this folly, allowing
the media to determine what is important and when a
discussion is pertinent. Those involved in this
charade express their views, agreeing politely and
disagreeing loudly. The next day, the media returns to
a state of complacency, as if the detrimental policies
of Obama’s government ceased to exist; as if war was
eradicated, and there was nothing left to talk about.
But truly, do Palestinians in Gaza care much for round
numbers? I doubt it. Nor do Iraqis, Afghanis, and,
now, Yemenis. Misery is misery, any day, every day;
war is an inferno. The smell of death, the scenes of
blood in Kabul and Baghdad and Gaza, will remain the
same on a Friday, or a Tuesday, 100 day into Obama’s
presidency or 514 days later.
Every minute in a victim’s or potential victim’s life
counts. Those who have lived in war zones can
comprehend this truth. That’s why Gaza wants to see
the end of its misery now, instead of waiting for
CNN’s next roundtable discussion assessing the next
round number in Obama’s presidency. Iraqis and
Afghanis similarly listen to words and judge deeds,
caring little for numbers.
Remember when Obama spoke to the “Muslim world” from
Cairo on June 4th? That’s the date that Muslims - many
still victimized, directly or otherwise, by the Obama
administration’s policies – remember and recount. On
that day, Obama made promises, speaking with
‘audacity’, and much hubris. Muslims listened. Some
clapped and even cheered; others hesitated or
expressed cynicism, but still hoped for change. Alas,
none of those hopes have been fulfilled, as instead of
change, there is only a continuation of the policies
of his predecessor.
“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the
United States and Muslims around the world; one based
upon mutual interest and mutual respect,” said Obama
in Cairo. His deeds since then have reaped the
opposite results: mistrust and disrespect.
“Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in
Afghanistan,” he said. Since then, he has ordered the
surge of 30,000 additional soldiers to that already
distraught country. The US, its allies and their
drones have killed and maimed hundreds of innocent
civilians since that statement was made.
“Today, America has a dual responsibility: to help
Iraq forge a better future – and to leave Iraq to
Iraqis,” he said. One fails to see evidence of a
better future based on his administration’s conduct in
Iraq in the last year or so. Little progress has been
made in leaving Iraq to the Iraqis.
Even in Cairo, he had the audacity to lecture
Palestinians, the very victims of Israel’s brutal
occupation, which is armed and funded by US money.
“Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance
through violence and killing is wrong and does not
succeed. Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on
what they can build.” We must note that the US
government continues to make these demands of
Palestinians, ignoring the fact that Israel’s reign of
terror has never ceased, including Israeli violence
against Palestinian non-violent resistance in the West
Bank.
Still, Obama did state that “The United States does
not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli
settlements. Israel must also live up to its
obligations to ensure that Palestinians can live, and
work, and develop their society.”
Alas, the Obama administration faltered on its demand
of a complete Israeli freeze, and is now harassing the
ineffective leadership of Mahmoud Abbas in the West
Bank to return to the negotiation table without
conditions.
In addition, the hope of ensuring that “Palestinians
can live, and work and develop their society,” is
nothing but a pipedream, considering that Palestinians
in Gaza teeter between chronic malnutrition and
starvation. We cannot forget the fact that the siege
on Gaza would not have been possible without US
support.
So before we giddily gather to discuss Obama’s legacy
the next time another round number is celebrated on
our television screens, let’s remember that for an
Iraqi father, frantically searching for his son’s
remains in a Baghdad street, numbers matter little,
whether even, odd, round or in any combination. A
massacre is a massacre, and a war of choice is a
crime, any day, any time.
- Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an
internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of
PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is "My Father
Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story" (Pluto
Press, London), now available on Amazon.com.
©
EsinIslam.Com
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