« Who Are We Killing? And Is Anyone Counting? | Main | Unequal Lives »
January 15, 2006
It's a regrettable situation, but what else are we supposed to do
So, what are we to do if we killed some kids? ::shrug::
<Link>Senator Lott, a former Senate majority leader, and another member of the Intelligence Committee, Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana, did not shrink from the CNN interviewer's premise that the raid had been carried out by a C.I.A. Predator.While saying that more information was needed, Senator Lott said that "my information is that this strike was clearly justified by the intelligence."
Senator Bayh also expressed confidence on the CNN program that the attack had been carefully planned and based on "solid information."
"The standard of proof before an operation of that type is extraordinarily high," he said. Of the civilian casualties, he said, "It's a regrettable situation, but what else are we supposed to do?"
Here's Shah Zaman, looking at the rubble of his house, clutching to his two surviving kids. We killed the other three (but what else are we supposed to do?)
And, the moral questions aside, from a purely selfish standpoint, does it make sense to alienate millions of people in that part of the world? Even if we accept the premise that Al-Zawahiri was there, this method makes no sense -- morals aside. What is the point of killing one high level person, who will now be revered as a holy martyr, by a method that makes enemies of millions?
Here are some scene from today's protests in Pakistan which drew tens thousands of people:
Posted by zeynep at January 15, 2006 07:40 PM
Comments
"If an American is only concerned about his nation, he will not be concerned about the peoples of Asia, Africa, or South America. Is this not why nations engage in the madness of war without the slightest sense of penitence? Is this not why the murder of a citizen of your own nation is a crime, but the murder of citizens of another nation in war is an act of heroic virtue?" Martin Luther King Jr. 1963
Posted by: The Rambling Taoist at January 16, 2006 01:58 AM
In memory of an old chant: "Hey, Hey Senator Bayh, how many kids did you kill today!"
Posted by: Paul Lyon at January 16, 2006 11:16 PM