Since that time we have imposed sanctions and barriers, which have resulted in suffering and death at a scale not seen since the Black Plague. The U.S. government prevents food supplies from entering Iraq, so the children starve to death. The U.S. government forbids the import of critical medicine and hospital supplies to Iraq, so the children die horrible deaths from otherwise preventable diseases. The U.S. denies Iraq the means to rebuild its water and sanitation systems, so the children drink raw sewage and they die in their mother's arms. A bloodthirsty lot, are we.
Violence is a legitimate way to settle a conflict.
Our children have this lesson drilled into their heads, with every nightly news-broadcast. Whether that broadcast depicts 11 New York City cops firing 18 bullets into a young unarmed black man, or whether that broadcast depicts Secretary of State Colin Powell demonstrating his intent to further tighten U.S. sanctions on Iraq. The message is the same. We are the rogue state. We kill with wanton abandon, whenever and wherever it suits our interests.