As I was flipping through the TV channels last night, I saw a 6abc report about Iraq. The report was not about Iraqi people; it was about Iraqi stray dogs.
The anchors of the five-minute report called its subject "an extraordinary story." Stray dogs are being flown from Iraq by airplanes to the U.S. to be adopted by U.S. military servicemen and women, and sometimes by the private security contractors whom we all know how they behave with humans in Iraq. Each dog brought costs the U.S. $1,200. The military men and women do not have to pay for that. Volunteers from across the U.S. donate hundreds of dollars to save these pups.
By the time millions of Iraqi civilians have become refugees inside and outside Iraq, the perpetrators of the war have the guts to show up on TV and say they are paying thousands of dollars to save some stray dogs. Instead of helping those who were affected by their war, the Americans are helping cats and dogs. I wonder how those who worked for the Americans and risked their lives without any appreciation would feel after seeing this “operation”!
The report did not only belittle the feeling of suffering Iraqis, it also provided Americans with false information and facts about how dogs are treated in Iraq. The female anchor proudly and sadly said, “[Iraqi] children are taught that animals are dangerous.” It is such an outrageous lie. Yes, I didn’t have a pet at home, but many of my friends and relatives did. My parents, for instance, had never ever taught me to hate or abuse an animal. In schools under Saddam, we were taught that we should not harm animals and should always be compassionate to them, because that’s what Islam teaches. The other lie was that there are little veterinaries in Iraq. Oh! I wonder how we have our dogs and cats and other animals vaccinated then?! They might even think in a mosque or in tent in the desert. Oh, they might even think we didn’t have tap water to clean them with and that we wash them in the Tigris!
This was really outrageous. Shame on abc and their local crew in Philadelphia for not checking facts. The American media keeps deceiving its own people with things that have no relativity to reality. Now they reached farther than deception. They are belittling the feelings of the millions of people suffering under their occupation.
And you tax payers, go save the next stray dog and let human beings die in hundreds. Good for you. Good for America.
