Terrorist Chickens

October 24, 2005
R. D. Kushner

In the near future, we can imagine that arms sales among terrorists in the Middle East may include the black market sale of chickens from mainland China. As the American military death toll approaches 2,000 soldiers killed in operations in Iraq and another 15,000 wounded, another less discriminate threat is mutating as it spreads across Europe: the bird flu.

And as we consider the potential swath of devastation that may be caused by a future bird flu pandemic it will be interesting to examine the American government’s planned response to this hypothetical scenario. Remember, the bird flu pandemic is only a theory; and for an administration that shuns science on issues of Global Warming, stem cell research, and Darwinian Evolution, it may appear that killer chickens have ushered in a new age of reason.

Of course we will have to look past the press conference posturing to see how the President of the United States plans to protect us from a virus which may soon evolve to kill more indiscriminately and destructively than any terrorist. For a President that has morphed an eradication of nonexistent WMD into a convenient excuse to usher Democracy into the Middle East we have to pay particular attention to the means and the ends; and unfortunately we may not be told the ends until they fit the means.

Since protecting Americans from the bird flu is the explicitly stated intention of the American Government there should be very little confusion about the goals of their policies in this matter. However, the means to this end deserve at least a modicum of examination, since tens of millions of American lives may hang in the balance. Although the bird flu will strike without discrimination or prejudice, just like a tropical storm, the response to it will reveal at least as much about the distribution of wealth and power in America as Katrina unveiled in New Orleans.

As for now, there’s every reason to think that the poor and underprivileged will suffer disproportionately from the bird flu. This is due only in part to the relative lack of education and resources in this population. In an America where the threat of terrorism from abroad has overshadowed all serious efforts to eradicate poverty and social injustice at home, the poor will continue to pay a premium. The administration may give a lot of lip service to its “No Child Left Behind Act,” and the main stream media may not confront the fallacies behind this sound-byte moniker, but the administration is also making conscious choices to cut social services for those who need them most. This kind of “tough love” is the hallmark of the conservative mind: social programs are a burden on Americans, and the poor get what they deserve. But when tough love results in a disproportionate death toll to the poor, it isn’t much fun to say “I told you so.”

When the bird flu strikes, it is not an exaggeration to say that everyone in America will know someone who died. It will ravage cities and suburbs alike, and a proportionate and organized government response will be crucial to limiting its impact on human lives. This administration talks a lot about protecting Americans from terrorists abroad, but let’s make sure that their preparations for a pandemic bird flu protect all Americans here at home, no matter what their religion, ethnic group, or annual salary. Hurricane Katrina revealed that an inept response to a natural disaster can be just as deadly as the disaster itself. The bird flu will be responsible for millions of deaths in America, and if those in the federal government aren’t held accountable for their role in emergency management failures, then the deaths in Iraq won’t be the only blood on their hands.