Time for reflection

Americans are devastated, and rightly so, about 32 (and counting) innocent victims of one very pathetic yet extremely sociopathic murderer. Yet we don't even flinch when we hear that 30, or 50, or as yesterday, 120! innocent Iraqis are blown to smithereens, not to mention the other 50-or-so who died the same day...across town. Forget about the other 20,000 Iraqis, thousands upon thousands of whom are just as innocent as your average Virginia Tech sophomore. Such horrific numbers pale in comparison to say, Laker's stats, here in the land of peaceful abundance.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not callous with regards to the VT disaster. It has no doubt ruined more than a few lives, many more than were actually taken. Having known personal disaster first-hand, I feel deeply for the parents, brothers & sisters, lovers, friends and everyone else who lost people to the sick little punk. But are Iraqi lives---the lives of innocent women, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, vegetable salesmen, letter carriers, policemen, barbers, homeless folks, grandmothers, etc, etc.---any less valuable than American's lives? Do they love any less passionately? Do their families and friends and lovers suffer any less miserably?

I doubt it.