Conflict, War and Disability
By Charlotte Vuyiswa McClain (cmcclain@sahrc.za)
Wars have been waged for centuries. Historically there were labelled just wars or unjust wars. Wars were fought for power, for liberation and for regime change. Today wars are brought to our homes via television screens. Analysis and coverage differ from sanitized reporting to gory visuals of war. More recently I have been watching celebrations in Baghdad of Saddam's fall. Saddam was a brutal tyrant and I welcome his demise. I also often welcome regime change, particularly where dictators violate rights of citizens. But I do not believe in "regime change" that is force-fed or that shrinks our constitutional rights, women's rights, maims children, destroys the environment, erodes social justice, destabilizes world peace, waters down civil liberties, and civil rights all in the in the name of democracy.
I do not believe in smart bombs, bombs bring only pain and terror they do not bring democracy. I was horrified when I read that the Red Cross reports that the civilian death toll in Iraq is 'too high to count.' Unfortunately the toll and consequence of conflict and war continue long after the combat is over.
Remember, the US invasion of Panama in 1989, when American troops pursued narco-dictator and onetime US asset Manuel Noriega. El Chorrillo, a poor neighbourhood in Panama City, was turned into a battlefield and many civilians were caught in the crossfire. Months later, Americas Watch, released a report finding that US forces had violated the Geneva Conventions by failing to minimize harm to the civilian population. A Physicians for Human Rights inquiry found that at least 300 civilians had died in the invasion, that 3,000 Panamanians received serious injuries with many disabled as a consequence of the operation.
Then we had the Persian Gulf War, which left thousands of vets with a variety of illnesses commonly known as the Gulf War Syndrome. As of the end of 1999, 184,000 of the 697,000 Gulf War troops had filed disability claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, of which 136,000 were approved. The VA has acknowledged that Gulf War veterans suffer from chronic and ill-defined symptoms, including fatigue and neurocognitive and musculoskeletal problems. The Pentagon concedes that 100,000 US troops were exposed to low levels of nerve gas.
In the armed conflicts of recent years, children have been not only unintended victims but also deliberate targets of violence. The number of children who have been directly affected is enormous. Millions of children have been killed, disabled, orphaned, sexually exploited and abused, abducted and recruited as soldiers, uprooted from their homes, separated from their families, and faced with heightened risk of disease and malnutrition.
In our homes, televisions flicker with disturbing images of children who have been hurt and injured in Baghdad. The children of Iraq are caught up in war for the third time in 20 years. Almost half of Iraq's total population is under 18. Even before the conflict began, many children were highly vulnerable to disease and malnutrition. One in four children aged under five is chronically malnourished. One in eight die before their fifth birthday. Force-feeding them with "regime change" will not address their plight.
Rwandan children still suffer the devastating consequences of the 1994 genocide and the war that preceded and followed it. Many of these children will carry lasting wounds as consequences of the war and genocide. In the violence nine years ago, hundreds of thousands of children were killed and maimed, physically and psychologically.
Souvenirs of war can be lethal souvenirs for children: think of landmines. Others souvenirs like spent cartridges, bullet-ridden buildings, mass destruction, bloodstains and pain also remain as indelible markings of war.
There are other reasons to be cynical about the democratic impact of this war particular after having read that oil contracts, and other reconstruction and rebuilding contracts are being made by the Bush administration. Iraq is open for business. My understanding of democracy would leave this kind of planning to the people of Iraq. This hegemonic power is disturbing and we can't remain silent because one of the important components of democracy is participation--- people's participation. Surely we can strengthen democracy without violating human rights or waging war.
Someday, when the war is over, or grinding away on the inside pages of our newspapers, we'll again hear how there's a "crisis" in Social Security, a "crisis" in health care services. We will hear about the cut backs that people with disabilities are facing. In war and post war we are all victims.
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