Nat'l Geog.

I was reading National Geographic this morning. Then I began to wonder how it got its name. Regardless of that, it really is a great magazine. It had been quite some time since I took the time to enjoy it, but really, quite stimulating.

This particular issue featured an article about genocide. This subject is quite disturbing to me. Generally speaking, I would say that I am better informed about the genocides of the last century then the average American. This, I feel is a shame, because there is so much I don't know. Did you know that because of its genocides, the 20th century is the bloodiest period in human history?

I cannot begin to express how this makes me feel. We say we live in civilization. We are refined and educated. Yet, hatred for mankind has grown to an extremity that has never existed in the past.

The author and holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel speaks of their being no distinction between the bystanders and the murderers, those who are indifferent are as guilty as the murderers, "How can you be a bystander? We Jews suffered not just from what was inflicted on us by the perpetrators but also by the indifference of our friends. If those of us in the camps had known at the time that our friends were not ignorant, but indifferent, we'd have gone beyond despair."

Mass killings began in Iraq in 1987. Iraq had been fighting Iran for eight years, and as the war was dying down, Saddam Hussein ordered the death of the Kurdish population. A year later, over 100,000 Kurds had been murdered. Around this same time, reports of the mass murders became available to the public eye. However, Reagan's administration and the State Department choose to ignore the truth. Reason being, the United State had backed Iraq in its fight against Iran.

The U.S. government was concerned only with not offending Hussein. Nothing was done. The only response was that of former President, LBJ... He may have been a mass murderer, but at least he was our murderer.

What will our response be? Will we stand idly by and watch, or will we do something? The future can be changed, but what is to be done about the past?