What does “deep regret” mean to you?
To me it describes a feeling of awareness following an action which one now wishes they had never done and which they most certainly would never repeat. It’s a feeling within one’s conscience following commission of a serious mistake or wrong. Or it can indicate a sadness and seeking or hope an occurrence never happen again.
I do not believe deep regret can be experienced while the offense continues to be repeated, to do so is hypocrisy.
Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, is repeatedly expressing “regret” on behalf of the U.S. government when civilians die because of our military actions.
Take a look at the full transcript of the exclusive interview she gave Radio Free Afghanistan’s Director Akbar Ayazi on April 5, 2009 (at the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Prague headquarters) for expressions, on behalf of the U.S. government, of its “commitment” to Afghanistan.
During that excellent interview, when asked by a doctor from Kabul about “last year’s incident in which 110 innocent civilians died during the bombardment in the Shindand district” Clinton replied, “Well, Doctor, first of all, I deeply regret the loss of civilian life….” and proceeded to point the finger at the “Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and their allies” as being responsible for such incidents, reasoning that the United States would end its military attacks if only they stopped theirs.
Similarly, when asked by another caller about Obama’s sending of yet more troops, which the caller indicated would result in the killing of more civilians, Clinton said the troop surge is due to the administration’s “high respect” for the Afghans.
Again, I highly recommend the viewing or reading of the transcript of the Radio Free Afghanistan interview with Clinton.
Then fast forward to about one month to today.
What do we hear?
From Clinton’s May 6, 2009 meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in the Benjamin Franklin Room, Washington, DC (for the signing of a transit treaty):
“…Now, the presence of this distinguished group of U.S. officials from different federal agencies reflects President Obama’s and my strong belief that promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan must be an all-government effort….” (Those attending included Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI and CIA Director Leon Panetta.)
“…I wish to express my personal regret and certainly the sympathy of our Administration on the loss of civilian life in Afghanistan. We deeply regret it…” (and again in reference to civilian casualties): “And we deeply, deeply regret that loss.”
So, promoting “peace and stability” comes by such a U.S. bombing raid and the civilian death toll that has just occurred?
Just how deep is that “regret”? To truly be contrite necessitates an ending to the behavior one expresses remorse for, and if regret is to be interpreted as deep sadness for the loss of life, why not stop the loss of life by ending the unjust war? The rationales used defending the U.S. presence changes from fighting al Qaeda -the Taliban-or drugs to the final claim of helping an oppressed people have a better way of life - but one constant remains, our presence means continued needless death and destruction.
Clinton does her job well: In my opinion, she’s a propagandist for the U.S. government, and as such, no matter the continued loss of life be it in Afghanistan or Pakistan, she’ll keep a straight face as the words of “deep regret” will likely continue to be spoken by her time and again as the U.S. military continues its killing of innocent men, women and children to build its empire.
by Christine Smith; (Christine Smith is a writer from Colorado.)
