Thursday, August 10, 2006
Setting the bar lower
by Ken Houghton
I expect all of those still living in that building will be buying $2,000 worth of Israel Bonds in celebration of their good fortune.
We are told that "Israel stubbornly adheres to a more humane creed," after which Kay declares, "This is not a new policy that Israel adopted in response to the July 30 Qana bombing"—apparently without intent of irony. He soon follows that up by bemoaning the 23 Israeli soldiers who died destroying the city of Jenin.
But it gets even better:
Per Kay, 2,000 rockets have been launched. Most of which have been aimed at Safed (Tsfat), Haifa, and other Northern cities. They have caused much structural damage but less total loss of civilian life than the aforementioned (by Kay) Qana bombing. The Israeli civilian deaths to date are in the mid-tens—not insignificant, but hardly justifying the FUD of "can kill dozens or hundreds in a single volley."
But Kay wants to believe—and presumably his readers want to believe—that the damage inflicted by Israel is "proportionate." Note especially his careful use of "arguably"; even he knows that few other than John Yoo or Alberto Gonzales would try to support the argument.
Kay then piles it on:
Check out the map below (the same one used in the Charity Redux post), noting Tyre's location. Given the bombings and their timings, where, precisely, were the members of that royal city of yore supposed to go, even if they could? Into the sea?
My morning radio listening today included Nachum reading this article by Jonathan Kay, which is another of those "the MSM doesn't tell you the good news pieces." Here's the good news:
But the truly amazing part of it is that the mission happened at all. Instead of risking the lives of its most elite soldiers, Israel easily could have dropped a bomb on the building and taken out their targets while they slept.
I expect all of those still living in that building will be buying $2,000 worth of Israel Bonds in celebration of their good fortune.
We are told that "Israel stubbornly adheres to a more humane creed," after which Kay declares, "This is not a new policy that Israel adopted in response to the July 30 Qana bombing"—apparently without intent of irony. He soon follows that up by bemoaning the 23 Israeli soldiers who died destroying the city of Jenin.
But it gets even better:
Nor is Israel simply following the letter of international law. A Hezbollah rocket crew can kills [sic] dozens, or even hundreds, of Israelis with a single volley. Demolishing that apartment building in Tyre arguably would have been a proportionate, and entirely legal, Israeli response to the threat posed by its occupants.
Per Kay, 2,000 rockets have been launched. Most of which have been aimed at Safed (Tsfat), Haifa, and other Northern cities. They have caused much structural damage but less total loss of civilian life than the aforementioned (by Kay) Qana bombing. The Israeli civilian deaths to date are in the mid-tens—not insignificant, but hardly justifying the FUD of "can kill dozens or hundreds in a single volley."
But Kay wants to believe—and presumably his readers want to believe—that the damage inflicted by Israel is "proportionate." Note especially his careful use of "arguably"; even he knows that few other than John Yoo or Alberto Gonzales would try to support the argument.
Kay then piles it on:
Moreover, Israel had warned the residents of Tyre to evacuate many times. Most of those who remain in the city are Hezbollah supporters. Last week, Haidar Fayadh, a Tyre cafe owner, told The New York Times: "Everyone has a weapon in his house. There are doctors, teachers and farmers. Hezbollah is people. People are Hezbollah." Luckily for Fayadh, Israel doesn't take him at his word, or he'd be dead and all of Tyre would be a smoking ruin.
Check out the map below (the same one used in the Charity Redux post), noting Tyre's location. Given the bombings and their timings, where, precisely, were the members of that royal city of yore supposed to go, even if they could? Into the sea?
So the people who remain are Hezbollah supporters, even as those who stayed in New Orleans Just Didn't Listen. And we know this because they have weapons. (Really? People who live in a country that was occupied by outsiders for 18 years have accumulated weapons to protect themselves? Next thing you know, Kay will describe Red Dawn as a "terrorist wet dream.")
Might as well just wipe out the whole lot of them, I guess. There's a word for that...I'm certain it will come to me...heard it once or twice when we were visiting a place in Israel.
