John Darkin: Grieving victims of tragedy deserve end to suffering

COMMENT

The 19th anniversary of the chemical plant disaster in the Indian city of Bhopal has passed and a just resolution still evades its victims.

A carpet was lifted all those years ago to allow the dirt of denial and connivance to be hastily brushed underneath. The carpet, with its secrets, remains nailed to the floor.

Nearly 15,000 people died as a consequence of the appalling work practices of a wealthy American company, and the individual deemed responsible is still wanted by the Bhopal District Court to face charges of multiple homicides. He is an American named Warren M. Anderson, last known to be living on Long Island, New York.

Successive United States Governments have, for reasons unclear, ignored the issue and not helped with Anderson's extradition. The Americans are fully aware that the Indian Government is nervous about pushing the matter too hard for fear of jeopardising investment. There appears no doubt that the US would not hand over the wanted man voluntarily.

Anderson, a high-profile citizen, has for 19 years avoided standing trial. The all-powerful US authorities, who could so easily have ensured that justice was done, have chosen not to act. The 15,000 dead and their families have been denied an outcome. Their grief has been long and painful. There has been no closure.

And painful, too, are the grief and suffering of the families of the 3310 victims from the September 11 attacks. They also are still waiting for the accused in their case to be brought to justice. For more than two years, Osama bin Laden has evaded all efforts to catch him, despite being the subject of the biggest manhunt in history.

The search involved a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan that has to date failed in its main objective. Bin Laden is still out there.

Afghanistan was followed by what seemed like a knee-jerk reaction to the initial failure, the invasion of Iraq. This former ally would pay the price for having a nasty leader who apparently possessed weapons of mass destruction and was a threat to the free world.

But weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden have all proved elusive and an embarrassment for the US Government. It has been argued that if the vast sum of money spent on American military campaigns were used to foster better ties and understanding, the world would have fewer terrorists and less hatred.

Between two concurrent wars in the Middle East and countless terrorist attacks in other places, thousands of innocent people and soldiers have died. The original purpose of bringing Osama bin Laden to justice appears to have been lost. The US and its Coalition of the Willing are, instead, hellbent on wiping out anyone they believe may do them harm.

How does this help soothe the pain of the September 11 survivors? Every strike by the Coalition against a so-called enemy target on foreign soil gives birth to more suicide bombers. The US is not fighting a war against nations, but against unseen individuals. It is a fight it cannot win. Pretending it can win will not provide justice or closure for the folks back home; an honest admission that it is impossible might.

President George W. Bush may never find bin Laden or bring him to trial. But he could win back a few friends by recognising the lamentable suffering of the poor people of Bhopal and help in achieving a rightful justice and closure for the families of the 15,000 civilians whose deaths were avoidable, and for which Anderson is deemed culpable.

Grieving Americans and Indians deserve an end to their suffering. Does President Bush have the honesty, ability and courage to bring that about?

* John Darkin is a Gisborne writer.