Omran’s photo inspires actions toward peace
Omran Dagneesh speaks of the tragedy
of war, its unspeakable horrors and atrocities, and man’s inhumanity to man.
It reminds me of the photo in 2008 of a 3-year-old Iraqi boy whose body lay on the floor at the Sadr City hospital morgue. He was killed in the exhanges of fire between American aircraft and Mahdi Army fighters. Images of civilians caught during the U.S. invasion and bombardments of Iraq still taint our collective conscience.
These pictures stand alongside the horrific photos of babies, women and men massacred at My Lai, the Vietnamese girl burned by napalm, the raining of bombs by B-52s over Hanoi and Haiphong, the spraying of Agent Orange over Vietnam’s lush landscapes, and the deformities and cancers from Agent Orange borne by the Vietnamese since then.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against the Vietnam War. He stated, “Never again will I be silent on an issue that is destroying the soul of our nation and destroying thousands and thousands of little children in Vietnam.
“I had for too long allowed myself to be a silent onlooker. The time had come — indeed it was past due — when I had to disavow and disassociate myself from those who in the name of peace burn, maim and kill.”
What is our nation’s role in the killings in Syria, in the continuing violence in Iraq and the Middle East?
Let us reclaim our belief in the sanctity of human life.
Anh Lê San Francisco