I found her article here:
http://www.wesh.com/helenthomas/16190138/detail.html
and also here:
but I found a better version here:
http://www.banderasnews.com/0805/wr-thousandwords.htm
Ms. Thomas is correct when she says that "Americans should be aware of their own responsibility for inflicting death and pain on the innocent." Yet, many Americans are ignorant that theyare inflicting death and pain on the innocent.
Intelligence and ignorance are never mutually exclusive. There are many people --in addition to graduates of Columbia College, Columbia University in the City of New York, but everywhere --who are both extremely intelligent (have high I.Q.'s) and yet, at the same time, are extremely ignorant about certain facts. Or to put it another way, people are sometimes "ignorant of the facts," regardless of how intelligent they are.
Unfortunately, when there is a virtual black-out of hard news about Iraq (there are exceptions), and when there are criminally complicit commercial television news broadcasting corporations, a mass-media, and government-sponsred propaganda, contolling the "news," if people don't look up the facts for themselves, or tie into alternative ("independent") news sources, they often don't really know what's going on.
Every American is capable of investigating the facts about the U.S. military presence in Iraq, (granted, some are better at it than others), but few people do it. (Nor does one have to visit Iraq, and knowledge of Arabic is not a pre-requisite for investigating the facts about the U.S. presence in Iraq in 2008.) Nevertheless, it is true that all American citizens are partly responsible for what their country does. That's the definition of a democracy.
No matter how high their I.Q., many Americans are completely ignorant of the "death and pain" that their armed forces have caused in Iraq. They are completely ignorant of the fact that U.S. forces have killed over a million Iraqi civilians --old and young men, old, pregnant, and decrepit women, and children --of all ages. They are completely ignorant of the fact that as many as ten million Iraqis have been killed or displaced as a result of the ongoing invasion, occupation, and genocide of Iraq by U.S. forces.
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000796.php#more
Consider yourself informed. You now know. If you are an American citizen, did you know your are responsible for inflicting that death and pain? You are. Helen Thomas says so.
Likewise, many Americans are completely ignorant of the fact that we have a mass-media in the United States that is complicit in war crimes and is also guilty of participating in several ongoing criminal conspiracies and cover-ups. (Against All Enemies, by Richard A. Clarke, Censored 2006 by Project Censored at Sonoma State University, and Static by Amy Goodman talk about this.) If you are an American citizen, hopefully you are not also completely ignorant about this. Not any more, anyway.
Many Americans are completely ignorant of the role the Pentagon, the CIA and the FBI had in creating and protecting al Qaeda prior to September 11. Richard A. Clarke talks about this in Against All Enemies. If you are an American citizen, hopefully you are not ignorant about this.
Yes, it was an 'unprovoked U.S. “shock and awe” invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003.' Unprovoked yes, but not unplanned. (see Richard A. Clarke, Against All Enemies.)
True, "the government tried to bar the news media from photographing flag-draped coffins of American soldiers returning from Iraq." A Freedom of Information lawsuit might have "forced the government to release pictures of returning coffins," but the lawsuit did not remove the de-facto censorship. It continues to this day. Where are the photos of flag-draped coffins of American soldiers returning from Iraq? The government is still blocking the American people from seeing the photos of flag-draped coffins, thanks to a criminally complicit media in an ongoing criminal conspiracy and cover-up of an illegal war and multiple war crimes.
Ms. Thomas points to the "in poor taste” objection. Her answer: "Well, so is war." Is the brutal massacre of over a million Iraqi civilians not in poor taste? Is it not bloody? Is it not ugly? Is genocide not also "in poor taste?" Let's get the facts straight here. This is not a war. This is a massacre. It is state-sanctioned genocide. The U.S. military presence in Iraq is the first stage of ' "the final solution" --to the Arab Muslim question.'
Ms. Thomas, continues, "This makes me wonder why the media have shied away from telling the story about Iraqi civilian casualties." Does Helen Thomas really "wonder," (as in Alice in Wonderland) or does she know? does she really think the media is "shy?" Really, she should know. Of all people, the dean of the White House Press Corps should know. Are we now equating ongoing criminal conspiracy, complicity, and cover-up --with "shyness?"
So where's the picture Helen Thomas celebrates in her article? If "a picture is worth a thousand words," is Helen Thomas' article of less than a thousand words supposed to be worth more than the picture the article is about? Evidently so. Perhaps Helen Thomas possesses some "wisdom" to wch "the rest of us" are not privy that she would like to share here. Perhaps Helen Thomas' words are meant to be prophetic. Perhaps Helen Thomas' article is a warning. Could this be considered "constructive notice?" What responsibility do Americans have for inflicting death and pain on the innocent? How do all Americans share in this responsibility? Do all Americans share equally in this responsibility? Or do some have more responsibility than others?
I found a picture of two year-old Ali Hussein, to whom Helen Thomas' phrase, "a picture speaks a thousand words," refers on the Internet. Here it is:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4775808&page=1
Then I found the exact Washington Post news article and the exact picture to which Ms. Thomas refers here, dated April 30:
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGkjwjdSdIBQgAHVVXNyoA?p=the+Washington+Post%3A+two+year-old+Ali+Hussein&y=Search&fr=yfp-t-340&ei=UTF-8
Another Hussein. Like the dictator by the same last name that we, America, "removed" from power by "liberating" the Iraqi people. We, the U.S. armed forces, the American people, are symbolically killing Saddam again, now as a two year-old child. Does Ms. Thomas not see the similarity? Do the editors of The Washington Post not see it? Do Ms. Thomas or the editors of The Washington Post relish in the re-enactment of the killing of the dictator-Hussein by seeing and thus participating in the celebration of the killing of the child-Hussein? How many Arab-haters in this america of ours relish in this killing? How much politically correct hate is perpetuated by this photo? Or, could that have been precisely part of the sensationalism that the violence of this photo was intended to arouse in the readers of The Washington Post? Nothing sells better than sex and violence, remember, in "news." --That's infotainment. More pain inflicted on "the Arab enemy" by the "forces of good." More ego-stroking by the righrteous, the liberators, bringing freedom to the Middle East. Yeah, right.
The Bush administration is replete with war criminals. They should all pay for their crimes --including murder, and mass-murder. If we had courts that could bring justice in this country, I would insist that these war criminals be brought to trial for war crimes, and that justice be served. But we no longer have a country of laws in this country, or a country that is governed according to the rule of law. This criminal behavior will never be rectified. The thugs in power in these United States of America not only continue to go free but remain on salary, at taxpayers' expense, and are under the protection of the police-state that used to be the United States of America. They are the official agents and representatives of our once-great nation, our outlaw-nation. It is an "outlaw nation" we have. Amy Goodman said so in Static.
If I am responsible for the death of two year-old Ali Hussein, then I am also responsible for speaking up and for protesting our criminal government officials and the criminal behavior of my government in the killing of two year-old Ali Hussein. I protest.
Overall though, this was a courageous article for Helen Thomas. Thank you Helen Thomas.
