Who cries for Iraq?

'Je suis Charlie' became a global crie de couer after the Charlie Hebdo killings; yet there was barely any noting of the grief of Muslims in Iraq after therecent bombings in Baghdad. We gave a collective sigh about how these sectarian quarrels are so beyond resolution. We had tried to bring them freedom after all.

In the wake of the Chilcot Inquiry and subsequent report, the lack of remorse of our body politic has been stunning. We still don't seem to comprehend the invasion of Iraq; it should be more correctly referred to, as the war on the Iraqi people. Chilcot found that the intelligence, upon which the invasion was based, was flawed. There was no adequate plan for post invasion. The ongoing chaos and disaster can be attributed to having no plan.

It found that Saddam Hussein did not pose an urgent threat to Britain or by implication, to Australia. Intelligence regarding weapons of mass destruction was given unwarranted certainty. Peaceful alternatives had not been exhausted. The Allies had undermined the authority of The United Nations Security Council, and that war in 2003 was unnecessary and its legal basis far from satisfactory.

Our blindness to Australia's culpability was made clear as I watched the panel react to the grief of Mr Terang Challah: a questioner who followed immediately after Youssef. The second questioner was an ambassador for the prevention of violence towards women. He spoke of the brutal murder of his 23-year-old sister. The panellists, led by journalist Van Badham, acknowledged his loss, directly addressing Mr Challah. Steve Price claimed that the now infamous commentary by Eddie McGuire was not acceptable but it was just blokes joking. The audience gasped. There is still much further to go but at least it got a direct response 'You're hysterical' Price accused Badham. The next day this was on social media and in the Guardian.

Fairfaxdeclared:

Terang Chowla asked a genuinely important and heart breaking question.

The Iraqi's question was not a news item.

The gender war and its violence captured the news.

The terrible violence of the war on Iraq and its people was invisible.

The response of the panel to the bereaved brother showed that they had the language and capacity to express sorrow for the grief of one man before them; but not to another.

Youssef had not made his personal grief clear. He had a less sophisticated grasp of English.

Michael Youssef asked,