Title: The Word on the Street - Luckily, They Were Only Arabs
- Author: Stephan Anpalagan
- Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes
Arabs Escaped Unfortunate Incident, According to Stephan Anpalagan's Article - Writer Stephan Anpalagan: Fortunately, it was merely Arab individuals involved.
It's done. The successful strike is met with cheer emojis. A raised fist, an American flag, and a burning fire.
The emojis come from Michael Waltz, a security advisor to the U.S. government, in a chat group where he, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and others discuss the bombing of the Houthi militia in Yemen. Waltz, it appears, can't hold back his excitement about the military operation. He sends the emojis from his phone. All he's missing is a cowboy hat, a revolver, and a sheriff's badge, I reckon.
As the international stage is a complex playground, foreign affairs is a filthy business. Eliminating terrorist hideouts is necessary to maintain peace, and it's now a wide-spread consensus. But the fact that the U.S. plans military operations in chat groups and reacts to them with emojis should give pause to anyone with a conscience left intact. After the chat group was exposed, there was much discussion about security breaches in confidential political communication. However, there was little about the indecency in the way high-ranking members of the U.S. government decide on the deaths of other human beings.
Maybe it's because they were only a handful of foreigners.
Nearly Four Million Unintended War Deaths
According to estimates by the "Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs" at Brown University, at least 408,000 civilians have been killed in military operations, wars, attacks, and counterattacks since September 11, 2001. The highest numbers are in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Scientists estimate that up to 3.8 million people have died as unintended casualties of war and terror.
With such figures, six more deaths in a U.S. bombing might easily go unnoticed, especially if they were terrorists, as U.S. government officials claim, who never fib about such matters.
Increasingly, people are taking to social media to express their dissatisfaction with political developments. Business leaders are questioning how to navigate such an environment. Several countries are discussing a boycott of U.S. goods. Reports of innocent Germans, French, and Canadians being detained, imprisoned, or even tortured by U.S. border agents are difficult to bear. A survey by the scientific journal "Nature" found that 75% of researchers are considering leaving the U.S. The German magazine "Spiegel" reports on historians and fascism researchers from Yale University who now want to move to Canada.
About the Author
Stephan Anpalagan, born in 1984 in Sri Lanka and raised in Wuppertal, is a theologian, author, and musician. After working a decade in the business world, he is now the CEO of a non-profit strategic consultancy and a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration in NRW. In his texts, he addresses themes of home and identity.
I'm having trouble finding a similar reaction to the one we're seeing now, following the revelation of conditions at the detention camp in Guantánamo Bay in 2002. The military base, where people are imprisoned without charge or trial and subjected to torture, hasn't stirred much controversy. Not even when it became known that there were children and teenagers among the detainees.
I'm also not aware of any company that would have ended its business relations with the U.S. after the conditions at the Iraqi Abu Ghraib prison were exposed in 2004. In Abu Ghraib, prisoners were abused, molested, and tortured to death by U.S. guards. Prisoner Manadel al-Jamadi dies 45 minutes after arrival. He suffocates due to broken ribs and restraints applied by CIA agents. There are numerous photographs taken by U.S. personnel. One image shows a prisoner being attacked by a dog. Another shows a prisoner being tortured with electric shocks. Other images document U.S. soldiers smearing prisoners with feces and raping a prisoner.
Hanged and Shot
On December 18, 2021, the "New York Times" reveals 1,300 classified Pentagon reports on U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. Journalists show how those responsible for these strikes systematically accept civilian casualties. Due to slow internet connections, short observation periods, and poor image quality, the military often can't accurately determine whether the targeted individuals are civilians or terrorists. The report leaves it unclear whether they simply don't care. The first strike is usually followed by a second, while rescue workers are still digging out the dead and injured. The drone then kills the rescuers and buries them under debris and ashes. Entire regions are left looking like the Moon's crater landscape. Those wondering why people in distant lands aren't making economic, political, and social progress might find an answer here.
Few seem to care about these geopolitical connections. Most of those criticizing "the Arabs" today have forgotten that it was the same Arab men and women who, for years, served the German military as interpreters, drivers, and informants, ensuring the safety of German soldiers. Now that the military has withdrawn from Kabul, Kundus, and Mazar-e Sharif, the promises of a supposedly feminist foreign policy hold no weight for us. Let the Taliban take care of them. They're only foreigners, after all.
We Lack Empathy
One could continue in this vein. I wish I could end on a hopeful note. Yet, with the election results in Germany and the U.S., the lives of Arab women and men are more threatened than ever. President Donald Trump has already declared that he will not only keep Guantánamo Bay in operation but also expand it.
It looks grim. Our only hope now is that it won't only be foreigners affected. Perhaps news about the mistreatment of white Europeans and North Americans will help us develop the empathy we've denied Arab women and men for too long. With a bit of luck, it will soon be Germans, French, and Canadians too.
- USA
- Foreigners
- Yemen
- Bombings
- The community policy regarding confidential political communication should be revised to prevent the sharing of sensitive information in unsecured chat groups, symbolizing a commitment to responsible decisions and transparency.
- Despite the Taliban's control in certain regions, it is crucial for employment policy to prioritize the protection of human rights, especially for women, to celebrate global diversity and avoid promoting a backdrop of inequality and discrimination.
- The celebration of six more deaths in a U.S. bombing may easily go unnoticed, but institutions, businesses, and nations ought to question their symbols and values, ensuring they uphold justice and empathy for all lives, regardless of ethnicity or nationality.
