The Humanitarian Issues Evaluated
- sarahpinkerton1
- Apr 20, 2022
- 5 min read
As stated in my first ethical issues post, as well as emphasized repeatedly throughout my first four summary posts of the book, this invasion's most infamous moral issue is certainly its impact on human civilian life.
Civilian casualites are defined, by Statista, as "the deaths of non-military individuals as a result of military operations." Thus, this means, all the civilians living in Iraq at the time. Families, children and individuals leading their own fulfilled and independent lives.
It is clear throughout Riverbend's account that life in Baghdad for innocent civilians was one of death, depravity and ruin. If we continue to look beyond just the city of Baghdad, we see this trend continuing. According to Statista, the number of civilian deaths in Iraq as a whole hit its peak in 2006, two years after Riverbend's account, meaning that the death and destruction that she was reporting on did not even begin to cover the height of how tragic these deaths truly were. In 2004, the death toll hit 29,517 . This data only includes the deaths that have been actually and factually reported; many go unreported.
Thus, I argue, that this war cannot be Biblically backed up or supported due to the sheer amount of humanitarian disruption and high loss of innocent civilian lives.
There are several main examples of human rights violations that we see in this text.
1) Firstly, the bombing of innocent civilians. Throughout the United States' time in Iraq, 29,199 bombs were dropped with 2/3 of these being precision-guided munitions. These bombs were dropped on villages, cities, and human beings and, as stated above, resulted in over 29,000 casualties. Riverbend continually states throughout her account that while the bombs aimed to kill certain people groups, it is inevitable that the bombs simply kill anyone in the vicinity. She witnesses bodies being pulled out of rubble after "precision attacks" sweep through huge cities.
“What exactly are precision attacks?! How can you be precise in a city like Samarra or in the slums of Sadir City on the outskirts of Baghdad?...We got a first-hand view of America’s ‘smart weapons.’ They were smart enough to kill over 10,000 Iraqis in the first few months of the occupation.”
2) Secondly, the food, water and electricity shortage remains a constant theme in Riverbend's daily life. Little produce is entering the city of Baghdad and water sources are heavily contaminated, when even available. The corpses from the bombings lie in the street and continue to further pollute these water sources. In addition, electricity is dwindling and the ability to cook or heat water is rare. Riverbend has to purchase expensive bottled water to drink, electricity is shortened to four hours a day at most and communication with surrounding areas is almost impossible. Riverbend gets to a point where the sound of dripping water from the faucet brings hallelujahs and tears of joy. She recounts several alarming statistics from July through September of 2005:
54% of Iraqi households have a stable water supply. Not all of this is potable.
78% of households have daily electricity blackouts
36% have modern sanitation
3) Third is the issue of raids and kidnappings with no pretense. New torture houses are popping up all around Baghdad, specifically in the Jadriya neighborhood. Funded by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, dead bodies, hanging corpses and prisoners are found in these buildings. After being taken from their homes in the middle of the night, any male in the region is at risk of being attacked and taken under no previous accusations. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior is denying these atrocities and educated people are fleeing the country.
According to the Humanitarian Coalition, humanitarian crises can be grouped under three man types: 1) Natural Disasters 2) Man-made emergencies such as war, crashes or fire and 3) Complex emergencies such as food insecurity, armed conflicts and displacement. The crisis in Iraq checks two of the three boxes. It, additionally, describes these complex emergencies as "extensive violence and loss of life" "displacement of populations" "widespread damage" and "need for large-scale, multi-faceted humanitarian assistance." The crisis in Iraq checks all of these boxes.
After the end of World War II, the United States signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The humanitarian atrocities of the second world war were enough to call for international human rights legislation. The United States' signing of this statement should be enough to hold us accountable to preventing our involvement in war crimes abroad.
The UDHR covers freedoms, rights to one own's culture, expression, safety and assistance. Article 30, the final article, then states, "Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein."
Yet, when we see examples of death, water and food shortages, blockading of cities to prevent interregional travel, hours long lines outside of gas stations, the raiding of homes and capturing of civilians, we see multiple blatant offenses of these human rights.
These acts cannot be morally condoned by the Bible. Part of the church's mission is to promote and uphold the dignity of human beings. Jesus, himself, was hung on a cross, tortured, slandered, and murdered by the Romans. These are obvious human rights abuses and one of the darkest examples of human brutality. Just as we don't condone it happening to Jesus, we shouldn't condone it happening to the Father's beautiful and uniquely crafted human creation.
In the Gospel of Mark we see him being dehumanized in many, many ways. One notable example is the Crown of Thorns. Mark 15:18-20 states, "They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him."
Under the UDHR, these instances would be considered international human rights abuses.
Additionally, we see many examples across scripture calling for justice in human liberty and dignity.
"Give justice to the weak and to the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." Psalm 82:3
"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." Isaiah 1:17
It is evident both through scripture and international law that our presence in Iraq is not morally sound. Therefore, as we call out other nations on their humanitarian compromises, we must also look at our own actions. We must shift the way we view war, invasion and the lives of those living in other nations. While they may be far away, God breathed the same breath of life into them as He did into us.
Comments