Bionic hands for Iraqi's.
May. 26th, 2004 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plutherusThis story apparently is getting a lot of press. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with spending some of our propaganda money on actually doing something for some people, but I got to wonder if this will really work.
I mean, will replacing 6 people's hands, that were cut off by Saddam Hussein make up for the thousands we have killed? Or the tens of thousands who have lost limbs through U.S. bombing? Are we going to be replacing any of those limbs with $50,000 prosthetics?
Does the U.S. Ministry of Propaganda really think that Iraqis are going to forget about the 30-something people we killed in Abu Ghraib, not to mention the thousands we've tortured there, just because we've undone to some degree the damage done to 6 of the people who were tortured by the former warden?
And, doesn't this kind of thing specifically underscore the pathetic state of health care in this country? I mean, we can find $600,000 for bionic hands for Iraqis, while there are millions of Americans who can't go to the hospital because they're neither poor enough to get government aid nor rich enough to afford insurance. That can't look good. There's bound to be a lot of handless people - some of them veterans of our various wars - who are going to look at this and instead of thinking "wow, the U.S. is great for doing that!" are going to be thinking, "gee, I wish I could afford a $50,000 bionic hand. I wonder why the V.A. only provides these damn clip/hook things?"
Don't get me wrong - those are great prosthetic hands, and more than most people get in the U.S. when they lose a limb, but I still think there's bound to be some bad feelings when the same government that can't give you adequate health care after they put you in the situation where you lost a limb can easily find half a million dollars to get half a dozen Iraqis to stop saying mean things about them...
I mean, will replacing 6 people's hands, that were cut off by Saddam Hussein make up for the thousands we have killed? Or the tens of thousands who have lost limbs through U.S. bombing? Are we going to be replacing any of those limbs with $50,000 prosthetics?
Does the U.S. Ministry of Propaganda really think that Iraqis are going to forget about the 30-something people we killed in Abu Ghraib, not to mention the thousands we've tortured there, just because we've undone to some degree the damage done to 6 of the people who were tortured by the former warden?
And, doesn't this kind of thing specifically underscore the pathetic state of health care in this country? I mean, we can find $600,000 for bionic hands for Iraqis, while there are millions of Americans who can't go to the hospital because they're neither poor enough to get government aid nor rich enough to afford insurance. That can't look good. There's bound to be a lot of handless people - some of them veterans of our various wars - who are going to look at this and instead of thinking "wow, the U.S. is great for doing that!" are going to be thinking, "gee, I wish I could afford a $50,000 bionic hand. I wonder why the V.A. only provides these damn clip/hook things?"
Don't get me wrong - those are great prosthetic hands, and more than most people get in the U.S. when they lose a limb, but I still think there's bound to be some bad feelings when the same government that can't give you adequate health care after they put you in the situation where you lost a limb can easily find half a million dollars to get half a dozen Iraqis to stop saying mean things about them...
