Courtesy of FOXNews.com
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Bombs exploded near a U.S. convoy in western Baghdad on Thursday, killing 35 children and seven adults, a hospital official said. Hours earlier, a homicide car bomb killed a U.S. soldier and two Iraqis on the capital's outskirts.
The bombs in Baghdad's al-Amel neighborhood caused the largest death toll of children in any insurgent attack since the conflict began 17 months ago.
In case anyone is wondering, this is one of the many reasons we are in a war.
There is a large group of misinformed liberals who repeatedly claim the Bush Administration is using terrorism as an excuse to fight a war which is really over oil rights. They even have slogans such as, "How many dead children per gallon?" To those people, I say look at this headline. Do thirty-five dead children sound like oil rights to you? And for your information, just for you who like to argue, these children were killed by terrorists, not by U.S. soldiers.
On September 11, 2001 the United States lost 3,000 citizens in just two hours. Can you imagine the losses we will face in the future if we do not fight against terrorism? The Bush Administration has outlined a clear strategy which includes not only the development of Homeland Security and intelligence reform as a defense, but also includes an offense. The President has vowed that we will fight terrorists where we find them, and we will fight any nation which harbors or provides aid to them.
Yes, this is a war. Yes, men, women and children die in war. Yes, it is a tragedy.
It was a tragedy on September 7th, when 10-year-old Raghda Adnan al-Assar was hit by an Israeli Defense Force bullet while sitting at her desk at the UNRWA Elementary School in Khan Younis. Could this particular death have been prevented? Officials at the United Nations certainly think so.
"I am horrified by this death, and I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the victim's family. It was the result of military violence which is completely unnecessary and simply cannot be justified: schools are supposed to be havens of safety for the children. They are specifically protected under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a party. On countless occasions I have called upon the Israeli authorities to respect their obligations under the CRC and under International Humanitarian Law in general, and to stop firing on the schools, fearing that innocent schoolchildren would inevitably be killed. Now it has happened. It is a tragic and senseless death. We have all failed to protect this child. Such killings must stop," said Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of UNRWA.
Does this incident mean we should stop fighting against terrorism? Absolutely not. It means we're human. We're not perfect, and we make mistakes. It means we should learn from our mistakes, and continue to fight for freedom from the fear of terrorism.
On September 1st, militants backed by al-Qaeda seized a Beslan school, taking some 1,200 schoolchildren, teachers, and parents hostage.
Three hundred and thirty-one people were killed in the terrorist act in Beslan, including 172 children (26 of them died from injuries at hospitals afterwards), the informational department of the Russian Emergency Ministry told Interfax. "Two hundred and forty people, including 157 children are currently staying at hospitals in Moscow, Vladikavkaz, Beslan, Rostov-on-Don and Oryol," a message from the ministry said.
If you still don't understand why we're at war, you probably never will.
For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:4 (NIV)
