The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

McVeigh Learned His Trade in the Persian Gulf

Apr 23, 2001

In a recent interview, Timothy McVeigh declared that the deaths of 19 children in the bombing of the federal office building in Oklahoma City were unintended "collateral damage."

Commentators expressed outrage at McVeigh’s words. And, of course, his attitude is outrageous. But where did he learn it? Who uses that term "collateral damage," when they mean the deaths of civilians, including children–who, but the U.S. military.

McVeigh was in that military–a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, the horrendous attack by the U.S. armed forces on Iraq and its people. Counting the casualties of the U.S. bombing, which continues to this day, the "collateral damage" of this war has amounted to over a million people, including more than a half million children.

Disgusting, inhumane, barbaric–yes, McVeigh is all of those things–and he learned it from his masters.