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Vile human cost of war ignored by Americans playing political games

By David McElroy · June 4, 2012

In 2009, three baby girls were among the victims of a missile attack launched on their village in Pakistan. They were badly burned and someone placed the three into a trash bin to die. A volunteer doctor from House of Charity found them and tried to save the little girls. Two of them died, but one of them, Shakira, lived. Barely.

Later the same year, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. What will Shakira think when she grows up and discovers that the man who was inexplicably lauded for being a peacemaker was also the man who unleashed terror on her and her village?

How can we live in a world insane enough to give a peace prize to the man who gives orders for missiles to destroy random sections of remote villages just because someone suspects a U.S. enemy might be there?

It was under George W. Bush that the drone program was launched, but it was under Obama that it was greatly expanded. The administration has recently admitted that U.S. policy basically says that if you’re in the vicinity of a terrorist, you must be a terrorist. Can you imagine if police used that standard for criminal cases here? If a criminal suspect is said to be in an office building, they’d just blow up the office building.

The other people who would be killed or maimed? They’re probably criminals, too, if they’re associating with him. Right? What about the suspect’s indictment or trial? If someone high enough in the police determines the guy probably did it, isn’t that good enough?

What kind of ministers have we become?

Most Americans honestly don’t really care much about the many people such as Shakira whose lives are being destroyed by this illegal and unjust war against their homes. If Bush were still president, there would be riots in the streets from those on the progressive left about what’s going on. But the bulk of the progressives are silent on the matter. What’s more, when the rare people do have the temerity to criticize Obama, they’re savaged by other Democrats — because nothing is more important to them than protecting Obama against Mitt Romney. They’re perfectly happy to let children and other innocent people be killed and maimed — as long as it helps their “team” keep the White House.

As for Republicans, it’s pretty clear that the vast majority of them don’t care, either. In fact, if anything, they would like to see increased use of these attacks. If you talk to some of the advocates of this sort of policy — the ones  who just want to kill everyone in the area of suspected terrorists — you wonder if they could really be as evil as their words make them appear. They’re not civilized. They treat the people in the area of these attacks as sub-human. That’s just as evil as what terrorists do when they strike here.

The terrorists who oppose the United States have grievances against the U.S. government — and they believe that innocent Americans are fair game in their struggle to respond to what they see as U.S. aggression. Isn’t this exactly the same attitude taken by those on “our side” who see collateral damage of innocents as perfectly acceptable?

Shakira is one of the very rare lucky victims. Because she happened to be rescued by a doctor from a U.S.-based charity, she eventually ended up in Houston getting medical care. She’ll never look right, but at least she’s alive. Others in her village — and hundreds of other villages — can’t say the same thing.

When Obama had just taken office, he was discussing with aides what the U.S. policies should be about indefinitely imprisoning terror suspects. In a new book called “Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency,” author Daniel Klaidman says Obama worried about how such powers might be used by future presidents.

“You never know who is going to be president four years from now,” Obama told aides. “I have to think about how Mitt Romney would use that power.”

Obama needs to think about his own use of lethal force instead of worrying about what some future president might do. Obama is killing children and other innocents all the time. His obscene actions are making brand new enemies for the United States. When Islamic extremists go to those villages, they’re likely to find ready recruits to attack the United States. Those people aren’t necessarily trying to serve religious ends. Many of them are simply angry that Americans keep destroying their homes and killing their friends and family.

The policy that the U.S. government is pursuing is insane and immoral. It’s not going to end, though, because the majority of the public either supports killing babies or is just plain indifferent. That’s disgusting.

All the Nobel Peace Prizes in the world can’t cover the sin of Barack Obama and those who support this evil.

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As part of my effort to rid my life of social media, I will no longer display links to my two Instagram accounts here. Those accounts will be dormant for the time being and will eventually be deleted. I plan to have a method for displaying photos here instead, but the solutions I’ve tested so far have been disappointing. I’m still working on it.

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I need some new portraits of myself, so I tried a I need some new portraits of myself, so I tried a few shots after I got home late Monday night. This one wasn’t great, so I’ll try again later, but I can use it until I have time to shoot another. I was too lazy to light this one properly — and it shows. 😺
Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 27, 2026 Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 27, 2026
Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 19, 2026 Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 19, 2026
When I got home at midnight Monday, I was doing so When I got home at midnight Monday, I was doing some work in the studio and Oliver wanted to join me, so I showed him around to acclimate him to the place again. He rarely goes in there, but I have pictures of him in that studio on the night I brought him home as a kitten. 😺
Earlier this week, I found two photos of Lucy and Earlier this week, I found two photos of Lucy and me that I had never seen. I loved finding the pictures, but seeing these photos left me thinking about the effect it has on us when we lose an animal we love — and it was also a reminder of how much my life has changed for the last nine months it’s been since I lost her. I wrote an essay about this. You can find it as the most recent post at davidmcelroy.org right now if you’re interested. I really do miss this sweet girl.
When I take lightning pictures, I’m always hoping When I take lightning pictures, I’m always hoping to get just one usable photo, but I got two dramatic images tonight. You might recognize the water tower and communication tower that you’ve seen in many of my sunset photos. This is about a mile from my house in Leeds, which is just east of Birmingham.
For those who are in places where it’s miserably h For those who are in places where it’s miserably hot today, here is a minute of light rain and gentle thunder from my back yard late Saturday afternoon. It’s very relaxing to stand at my back door and watch this, especially since the heat is pretty mild today — 80 degrees (about 26 celsius) — for July in the American South.
Alex was willing to cooperate with me for a new po Alex was willing to cooperate with me for a new portrait late Wednesday night. It’s been roughly three and a half years now since the cold night when I was able to lure him out from behind a garbage dumpster into a trap — but I don’t think he’s sorry at this point that he fell for the trick. 😺
This is the face of a man who’s thrilled that the This is the face of a man who’s thrilled that the weekend is finally here. It was a very long (and productive) week, but the time has finally come that I have time to write and read and think. Late Friday night, I’m at the McDonald’s near my house with a Diet Dr Pepper and a MacBook. For me, it’s like Cheers without the booze.
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Alex and Sam have both developed a love for this c Alex and Sam have both developed a love for this cat bed on my desk. (It actually came with Oliver when he was a kitten, but the other two love it far more than he does.) When Sam is in the bed, Alex often stands impatiently to the side, waiting for him to get up — and then they seemingly swap places when I check later. It’s a funny pattern to watch.
At the end of a long day, Meg is looking out a win At the end of a long day, Meg is looking out a window with me at the front of the house. I’ve taken this exact photo with all the other cats of the last few years, so she’s joining the tradition.
We’ve had thunder and lightning this evening — to We’ve had thunder and lightning this evening — to go with the rain you can see — and Meg isn’t sure what she thinks about all that. She’s already nervous in the office with all three of the other cats, so the thunder was a bit much for her.
I came home a bit after 10 p.m. Friday to find Meg I came home a bit after 10 p.m. Friday to find Meg sound asleep, but she laid in my arms and purred as she tried to wake up. I’ve been able to leave her in the same rooms as the rest of the cats for several days now and there are no problems. They still avoid one another — and there can be some mild hissing if one of the boys gets too close — but they’re getting closer and closer to accepting her as one of their social group.
I think Meg is quite comfortable living inside the I think Meg is quite comfortable living inside the house already. A few minutes ago, she was just posing nicely on the bed, but shortly after that, she was stretched out to be far longer than I thought she could be. 😺
Late Wednesday night, Meg is the only one of the c Late Wednesday night, Meg is the only one of the cats still hanging out with me in the bedroom while I’m writing.
When I got home late Wednesday night, I went to a When I got home late Wednesday night, I went to a side window to see how the cats would react to me showing up there unexpectedly. Alex got out of the bed on my desk and posed on the corner of the desk. Sam jumped into the window and meowed at me. This is an example of a picture that wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago, because the contrast was awful and it was far too hazy since it was taken through the window. But current tools that would have amazed me a few years ago allow me to save such images now. And that’s pretty satisfying.
From the CritterCam: I’m still at work on the othe From the CritterCam: I’m still at work on the other side of town, but Alex seems quite relaxed back home as he rests in the cat bed on my desk.
Meg just woke me up at 3:45 a.m. to let me know th Meg just woke me up at 3:45 a.m. to let me know that it’s time to play. She’s a very determined little girl. She’s purring up a storm. She was rubbing her face all over my hair and walking on top of me until I woke up to give her the attention she demanded.
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Meet my new girlfriend. Her name is Meg. And she’s my little sweetheart. A couple of months ago, a neighbor across the street told me about a new stray in the neighborhood that she and I were both soon feeding. The cat had been very skittish about contact and she had a lot of scabs and parasites in her fur, but a trip to the vet last week revealed that she was otherwise in good health. The vet estimates her to be 1 to 2 years old. I named her for Meg Murry, the 13-year-old protagonist of Madeleine L’Engle’s wonderful book, “A Wrinkle in Time.” (Please read the book. Don’t watch the horrible movie.) Since we lost Lucy almost a year ago, it seems appropriate that we finally have a new little girl to join the household. She’s already captured my heart, but Alex, Oliver and Sam aren’t there quite yet.

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