The announcement of Madeleine Albright's death at the age of 84 on Wednesday resulted in an outpouring of tributes and fond remembrances, but some sharp criticism also arose on social media in regards to comments she made in 1996 about the deaths of Iraqi children.
Albright, the first female secretary of state in United States history, made the remarks during a 60 Minutes interview. Correspondent Lesley Stahl discussed with the then-United Nations ambassador how Iraq had been suffering from the sanctions placed on the country following 1991's Gulf War.
"We have heard that half a million [Iraqi] children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima," Stahl said. "And, you know, is the price worth it?"
"I think that is a very hard choice," Albright answered, "but the price, we think, the price is worth it."
Clips of the segment were shared around on social media following the news of Albright's passing.
The death of 500,000 dead Iraqi children was "a very hard choice, but the price-we think the price is worth it" ~Madeleine Albright pic.twitter.com/gOA3KkZv44
— The Serfs (@theserfstv) March 23, 2022
Dima Khatib, managing director of the Al Jazeera news service AJ+, said, "Please before you shower us with stuff about how great Madeleine Albright was, go dig what she thought of half a million Iraqi children killed by US sanctions on Iraq. Once you have heard her say: 'it was worth it' then come back and rewrite about her 'greatness!'"
"Madeline Albright, another butcher of the Middle East has joined John McCain in hell, purgatory, or whatever afterlife place of punishment you believe in," the Libertarian Party of Minnesota wrote. "Don't forget the 500k Iraqi dead she deemed worth it to die."
Madeline Albright, another butcher of the Middle East has joined John McCain in hell, purgatory, or whatever afterlife place of punishment you believe in.
— Libertarian Party of Minnesota (@LPofMN) March 23, 2022
Don't forget the 500k Iraqi dead she deemed worth it to diehttps://t.co/qyjtCqoxpP
Journalist Jon Schwarz also added to the criticism of the decades-old comments. He said, "Some people remember Madeleine Albright said in 1996 it was 'worth it' for sanctions to kill 500,000 Iraqi children. No one remembers the sanctions were legally supposed to be lifted when Iraq had no WMD, which, of course, it didn't."
Some people remember Madeleine Albright said in 1996 it was "worth it" for sanctions to kill 500,000 Iraqi children. No one remembers the sanctions were legally supposed to be lifted when Iraq had no WMD, which, of course, it didn't. pic.twitter.com/xr7CiKxJ7l
— Jon Schwarz (@schwarz) March 23, 2022
"Still makes my blood boil," Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab British Understanding (Caabu), tweeted about Albright's answer.
"I would like Madeleine Albright to be remembered by her callous comment about the mass murder of Iraqi children by the United States sanctions regime," Vijay Prashad, historian and executive director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, wrote.
Elsewhere, writer Rania Khalek posted a clip of the 60 Minutes segment and said she's "[w]atching on loop," while another journalist, Ajit Singh, claimed Albright "intentionally helped enact sanctions against Iraq which killed over half a million children in the 1990s. It is shameful that she and her fellow war criminals were never brought to justice."

About the writer
Jon Jackson is a News Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more