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July 13, 2006

Keep the Peace!

For weeks now, Israel has been bombing, shelling, firing into Gaza, killing untold numbers of people (oops, I meant Palestinians. Not the same thing, right?). Now it's doing the same to southern Lebanon, after Hezbullah has captured two of its soldiers. Airports, bridges, and cities have been bombed, killing perhaps dozens, perhaps more.

And yet, of course, that's just self-defense. We have a right to kill untold numbers of their civilians if they don't behave, period.

Bush criticized Hezbollah, whose guerrillas mounted a cross-border raid earlier in the week and captured the two soldiers, for thwarting efforts for peace in the Middle East.

"If you really want the situation to settle down, the soldiers need to be returned," the president said. "It's really sad where people are willing to take innocent life in order to stop that progress. As a matter of fact, it's pathetic."

Pressed on whether Israel's military assaults could trigger a wider war, Bush said he was concerned about any activity that would weaken or topple the Lebanese government. "Having said that, people need to protect themselves," he said of Israel.

Doesn't it sound eerily like the reasoning by the London subway bombers?

Speaking English with a distinct Yorkshire accent, the bomber identified as Mohammad Sidique Khan said he had forsaken "everything for what we believe" and went on to accuse Western civilians of being directly responsible for the terror attacks that befall them.

"Your democratically elected governments continuously perpetuate injustice against my people all over the world, and your support of them makes you directly responsible, just as I am directly responsible for protecting and avenging my Muslim brothers and sisters," Khan said.

Naah. If they think like that, they're terrorists. We have a right to kill their civilians, that's just self-defense.

Posted by zeynep at July 13, 2006 07:33 AM

Comments

This Saturday will mark the 60'th anniversary of a "Middle Eastern" style terror bombing. Curiously, the perpetrators--coyly called 'militants' here who went on to garner Prime Ministerships, Nobel prize, etc.--are regarded as heroes in the fight against terror by everyone from secular humanists to Zionist Christians here.

Posted by: sk at July 19, 2006 01:48 AM

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