Bombing Iraqi Troops

The headline on the front page (Feb. 27) “Fleeing Iraqis a ‘Jackpot’ for Navy’s Pilots� was deeply disturbing. Describing the massive killing of retreating soldiers as “hitting the jackpot� was probably the most repulsive, callous remark anyone could possibly make about human lives. Isn’t it enough that we have already consistently dehumanized Iraqi civilian casualties as “collateral damages�?

While we downgrade and dehumanize our “enemies,� we must have forgotten that these “collateral damages� and human “jackpots� are also human beings with flesh and blood, with dreams, hopes and sorrows, with loving families, just like our soldiers. The only difference is the vast majority of Iraqi soldiers, and indeed the entire Iraqi population, were dragged into this conflict involuntarily, whereas every single American soldier had volunteered to fight.

Indeed, victory is sweet. But while we celebrate the liberation of Kuwait and the defeat of Saddam Hussein, let us not lose our compassion and humanity, and let us not celebrate the suffering of the innocent. Comments which equate killing with “jackpot� might come from Saddam Hussein or from Hitler, but it should not come from soldiers who allegedly fight for freedom.

Y. HUI CHEN, Los Angeles