(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
After the war against Iraq almost exactly ten years ago, some scientists examined more than 8.000 images from British TV's coverage of the attacks. Only one percent of the images showed human suffering. The rest of the material was abstract scenes to illustrate the breakthrough of super-technology in the now "surgical" and "smart" war industries.
The new year started brutally for a number of Norwegian politicians. The fact that Norwegian soldiers who have served in the Balkans throughout the 1990s may have been exposed to depleted uranium and thus are at risk of developing blood cancer is something that worries the Storting. But no one likes to be reminded that there are actually a number of people who have no country to travel home to, namely the civilian population in the Balkans and Iraq. Some politicians also find it unpleasant to be reminded that war is a dirty shop. Who really thought that depleted uranium could not be used in the war over Kosovo when it was used "successfully" in Iraq – even though artillery – the ammunition was dropped from an altitude of 5.000 meters? For the Western powers, there was no fundamental difference between Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic; it was both brothers in spirit with Hitler and his father – the devil. In addition, about halfway through the Kosovo war, NATO admitted that they actually used DU ammunition, as it is called – why did no one change their mind, why did no one protest then?
Coincidences have caused the debate about the Kosovo war to re-ignite at the same time as it has been ten years since the Gulf War. As if to remind us of cohesion, George W. Bush is stepping into the presidential role these days. It was, as is well known, his father, George Bush, who ten years ago chased Hussein out of Kuwait.
The connection is as simple as it is true: war produces repercussions. The result is clearer in Iraq than in the Balkans so far. As early as 1995, own UN organizations reported that more than 560.000 children had died as a result of the West's actions against Iraq. Asked if it was worth the price, the United States ambassador and later Foreign Minister Madeleine Albright replied: "It is a very difficult decision, but we think it is worth the price." The cause of major child mortality in Iraq is several, including malnutrition and lack of medicine due to sanctions policy, but also from diseases that are direct effects of warfare. When strikingly many children die of blood cancer, one can be sure that their family is not as much concerned about whether it is due to the use of depleted uranium or if it is due to something else. They just want to know what it is. The situation for Norwegian, Italian or American soldiers is the same. Ok, so it is not depleted uranium, what is it then?
If it turns out that the blood cancer cases among NATO soldiers are due to their own weapons, politicians must ask again: Was it worth the price?
The paradox is that for the past decade, NATO and the US have specialized in warfare that reduces or eliminates war damage to Allied soldiers. At least that's the intention. But it may be of little help when most soldiers die by that the war is over.
The effects of the war in the Balkans are extensive, both on landscape and soul. The Norwegian soldiers and the Storting's concern for NATO's health should not be attempted to trivialize, but it will all be a little small compared to the damage the Allied forces have inflicted on their enemies. The good thing about the whole "uranium scandal" is that the citizens of NATO countries are finally seeing some shadows of the war's face. Then it remains to extend the compassion of those affected by the "Gulf Syndrome" and the "Balkan Syndrome" to the civilian population of Iraq and the Balkans as well. Despite the modern and abstract packaging, after all, war is still about people.
In the same study that researchers had done on British TV pictures, a selection of children were asked what they remembered from the coverage of the Iraq war. Most of the kids talked about high-tech weapons, planes and explosions. Some talk about a special Pentagon "video game". But none of the children mentioned people.
The question must be the same again:
Is it worth the price?
