Just as in discussions of bombing nations for women’s rights it’s hard to bring up the subject of the right not to be bombed, in discussions of shipping so-called illegal children away from the border where you’ve been terrorizing them in reenactments of Freedom Ride buses it’s hard to bring up the subject of not having your government overthrown and your nation turned into a living hell.
Imagine, however, if Iraq were in Central America. Most people in the United States don’t realize how convenient it has been to have millions of Iraqis made homeless so far away from the United States, fleeing to places like Syria, and then fleeing Syria when it’s Syria’s turn to be destroyed.
If, during the past decades of war and sanctions and war on Iraq, Iraq had been located closer to Miami and San Antonio than New York or Seattle is, wouldn’t it have been a bit harder for people to tell pollsters that Iraq was benefitting from the war? Wouldn’t it have been a bit harder to continue pretending immigrants are something different from refugees? Wouldn’t immigrants rights groups have been compelled to notice the military and the wars that create the justification for abuses in the United States but also the motivations for fleeing homes where the wars happen?
If Gaza were in Maryland, would the United States still provide the weapons for bombing the homes there? Would CNN still blame Gazans who remain in their homes? Or would it, rather, scream at them to get back home where they belong?
Well, Honduras is closer to Florida and Texas than much of the United States is. The U.S. government facilitated the overthrow of the government of Honduras with a military coup in 2009 and has supported, funded, armed, and trained the military and the police that have turned Honduras into the most violent and dangerous place on earth, beating out Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, and other top contenders in the World Cup of Hell Holes. The President of Honduras was yanked out of bed and flown to a U.S. military base and out of the country. The military that replaced him has been trained in torture and assassination at the School of the Americas in Georgia.
And now President Obama is ordering Honduran toddlers flown home from the United States where they are disturbing good democratic citizens of the land of liberty. Perhaps this is a moment, after all, in which to unite the movement for the rights of immigrants with the movement for peace and the rule of law in foreign relations.
Imagine the strength of those two movements combined. Words like Hope and Change might actually mean something.
Until then, forgive me if I’m simply disgusted with the level of evil imposed on the world by those in power and the failure of those abused to unite against it.