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Wishful thinking and serious ponderings
Nov. 18th, 2003 02:02 amIf only I was rich...
So much pretty stuff... Pretties... I want.
Oh, well.
Read a very interesting article on the subject of the Geneva convention and the occupation of Iraq today. It was in Norwegian, otherwise I'd give a link. It raised the question of there being a legal right for Iraqis to fight the American occupation. (My own country fought back when we were occupied in 1940, as did many other European countries, which is probably why we cling onto the Geneva convention.) The Geneva convention does give the legal right for citizens to fight an occupying force - however, there are a lot of stipulations. For instance, there is a lot of emphasis on avoiding or minimizing civilian casualties.
And with the UN and Red Cross being specifically targetted, the Iraqi resistance is certainly not paying much attention to the Geneva convention. And I must admit, I'm really not inclined to even mention the Iraqi resistance fighters in the same breath as the Norwegians, who I have grown up to think of as heroes.
But my perspective is flawed. I am Norwegian, so of course I think of the Norwegian resistance against the German occupation as heroic.
What would I think if I had been born in Iraq, I wonder?
Sometimes I wish I could walk a mile in someone else's shoes - that we all could. Perhaps it would change the world.
Or perhaps not. We'll never know. But because I am an optimist at heart, I rather think it would makes us a little better.
So much pretty stuff... Pretties... I want.
Oh, well.
Read a very interesting article on the subject of the Geneva convention and the occupation of Iraq today. It was in Norwegian, otherwise I'd give a link. It raised the question of there being a legal right for Iraqis to fight the American occupation. (My own country fought back when we were occupied in 1940, as did many other European countries, which is probably why we cling onto the Geneva convention.) The Geneva convention does give the legal right for citizens to fight an occupying force - however, there are a lot of stipulations. For instance, there is a lot of emphasis on avoiding or minimizing civilian casualties.
And with the UN and Red Cross being specifically targetted, the Iraqi resistance is certainly not paying much attention to the Geneva convention. And I must admit, I'm really not inclined to even mention the Iraqi resistance fighters in the same breath as the Norwegians, who I have grown up to think of as heroes.
But my perspective is flawed. I am Norwegian, so of course I think of the Norwegian resistance against the German occupation as heroic.
What would I think if I had been born in Iraq, I wonder?
Sometimes I wish I could walk a mile in someone else's shoes - that we all could. Perhaps it would change the world.
Or perhaps not. We'll never know. But because I am an optimist at heart, I rather think it would makes us a little better.
