One of the worst things that can happen to anyone is the death of a child. I know. However "high tech war" conducted by the US minimizes politically-unpopular military casualties at the expense of horrendous "enemy" civilian casualties - and these civilian victims are mostly children. Thus the post-invasion under-5 infant deaths in the Occupied Iraqi and Afghan Territories total about 1.5 million as compared to US military deaths of about 2,000 [14], giving a "death ratio" of about 750 Muslim infant deaths for every US military death. This is vastly greater than the World War 2 "death ratio" of 0.3 Jewish children murdered for every Axis military death [8].

An "interim peace  plan" for the Holy Land

From the perspective of parents and children, US-backed violence has to stop NOW - even if the "peace" that is emplaced is only an "interim peace". The following "interim peace plan" for IMMEDIATE peace with justice in the Holy Land is offered purely by way of example in order to show that with honesty, humanity and good-will peace is possible, even in apparently intractable circumstances.

My "interim peace plan" for the Holy Land involves two formally independent states within defined borders; return to the 1967 borders; removal of all illegal settlements and the Wall but with special joint arrangements for Jerusalem; Palestinian disarmament and "total airport-level security" provided everywhere essentially by Israel alone (as in 1967); internationally-guaranteed civil and human rights for all; reconciliation and abolition of racism and incitement; and unhindered access to essentially all parts of an extremely secure, peaceful and prosperous Holy Land for all of its inhabitants - both Jews and Arabs would have peaceful access to ALL of the Holy Land.

The above "interim peace plan" simply turns the clock back to 1967. The key proposal for unilateral Israeli provision of "total airport-level security" is no doubt controversial and inequitable but is advocated because this is an "interim peace plan" to be implemented NOW; Israel is already effectively in charge of security;  nuclear-armed and justifiably paranoid Israel would insist on such total security anyway in any "final" peace deal; and bilateral security arrangements (as at present) would inevitably simply permit endless tit-for-tat violence leading to further Arab dispossession, miniscule Palestinian Bantustans (concentration camps) surrounded by concrete walls and razor wire, and eventual complete ethnic cleansing of Arabs from the Holy Land by violent, racist, Zionist fanatics.

Scientific solutions to immense global problems will come about through application of the scientific method (involving the critical testing of potentially falsifiable hypotheses) and commitment to truth, reason and free speech. I am a scientist and am accordingly intrinsically optimistic. The above "interim peace plan" could deliver "interim peace" in the Holy Land immediately - and hopefully there may be even better plans for immediate peace.

Unfortunately "high tech war" is immensely profitable - thus the EXTRA profit to the US military-industrial complex since 9/11 already totals about $500 billion. There is accordingly an enormous impetus for "endless war" among racist militarists in both the US and Israel [15].

Mainstream media will simply not report the horrendous human cost of the global US Empire. Media non-reportage of the horrendous, US-complicit avoidable mortality and infant mortality in the Occupied Iraqi and Afghan Territories - and indeed throughout the Third World  - amounts to egregious holocaust denial. In the face of horrendous avoidable mass mortality,
silence kills and silence is complicity - decent people are obliged to inform everyone.

References

[1]   United Nations, Department of Economic & Social Affairs, Population Division, "World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision Population Database" (for the latest 2004 Revision update see: http://esa.un.org/unpp/index.asp?panel=1 )
[2]   For detailed links to writings by Gideon Polya on avoidable global mortality consult his website (see: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gpolya/links.html)
[3]   UNICEF report, 2005 (see: http://www.unicef.org/index2.html)
[4]   Gideon Polya, News Central Asia, May 2005, "Orwellian Anglo-American War on Muslim women and children" in News Central Asia: (see: http://www.newscentralasia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1299)
[5]   Gideon Polya, Countercurrents, 11 March 2005, "Passive genocide in Iraq" (see:  http://www.countercurrents.org/iraq-polya110305.htm)
[6]   Global Policy Forum, September 2002, "US bases around the world" (see: http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/intervention/2003/0710imperialmap.htm)
[7]   Richard Curtiss, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 1998, "The cost of Israel to U.S. taxpayers: True lies about U.S. aid to Israel" (see: http://www.washington-report.org/us_aid_to_israel/index.htm)
[8]   Gideon Polya, Media Monitors Network, 27 June 2005, "The economic and human cost of Israel and US Empire" (see: http://world.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/16112).
[9]   David Francis, Christian Science Monitor, 9 December 2002, "Economist tallies swelling cost of Israel to US" (see: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1209/p16s01-wmgn.html )
[10]  Thomas Stauffer, Middle East Policy Council, Journal vol X, Spring 2003, no 1,"The cost of conflict in the Middle East, 1956-2002: What the U.S. Has Spent" (see:http://www.mepc.org/public_asp/journal_vol10/0303_stauffer.asp)
[11]  Holman Jenkins, Wall Street Journal, 8 October 2003, "Getting to know our new buddy: OPEC" (see: http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x_nameinnews=133&x_article=596)
[12]  Tamar Sternthal, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, 12 December 2003, "WSJ journalist overstates U.S. aid to Israel by almost $1 trillion (see: http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x_nameinnews=133&x_article=596)
[13]  Council on Foreign Relations, 2004 (see: http://cfrterrorism.org/policy/foreignaid_print.html)
[14]  Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, 2005 (see: http://icasualties.org/oif/)
[15]  Gideon Polya, Countercurrents, 19 November 2004, "US Profits From Jihadist Terrorism" (see: http://www.countercurrents.org/us-polya191104.htm)

Dr Gideon Polya published some 130 works in a 4 decade scientific career, most recently a huge pharmacological reference text "Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds" (CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, New York & London, 2003), and is currently writing a book on global mortality - numerous articles on this matter can be found by a simple Google search for "Gideon Polya" and on his website: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gpolya/links.html

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