Strategery

George W. Bush waxes ignorant upon the topic of genocide:

On July 11, we remember the tragic loss of lives in Srebrenica ten years ago. The mass murder of nearly eight thousand men and boys was Europe's worst massacre of civilians since World War II and a grim reminder that there are evil people who will kill the innocent without conscience or mercy. This horrific event remains a source of pain for people in the Balkan region and for all those who believe in freedom and the dignity of human life. I join all Americans in sending our deepest condolences and expressions of sympathy on this solemn occasion.

Evidently, it isn't enough for Bush and friends to seize any opportunity to exploit the memory of the lives extinguished on September 11, 2001; with his commemorative message on the 10-year anniversary of the grotesque massacre in Srebrenica, Our Savior has officially distinguished himself as the chief exploiter of pointless atrocities around the globe. I wonder if the president, as he offered his bewildered assent to these words, recalled his interview with TV's Sam Donaldson during the 2000 campaign, when he announced to the world that "We should not send our troops to stop ethnic cleansing and genocide outside our strategic interests" (as quoted on page 68 of my copy of The War Over Iraq, by presidential taint-tasters Lawrence Kaplan and William Kristol).

Specifically the governor was referring here to the Rwandan genocide and the million-plus hacked and bloated corpses for whom he continues to care not a gingersnap — unless, that is, he finds room to mention them while scolding the UN Security Council, or while reminding the "international community" of its failures to discern the proper degrees of evil in its midst, or while fluffing himself over the moral necessity of raining cluster bombs down upon Iraq. As for the Muslims evicted from their homes, herded onto buses, scattered into the woods and shot by the truckload, it's worth noting that the word "Srebrenica" has not stumbled past the lips of George W. Bush since August 6, 2001.