Was the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999 accidental as the US media would have it or deliberate as the press in other nations insisted? I have no idea. Against my reaction that doing such a thing would have been absurd, reports arose from the predetermined conclusion about reasons NATO had for doing so. I don’t think we will ever know for sure, but certainly the areas that believe it was deliberate are congruent with the areas where it’s traditional or a good strategy to be anti-American. The American Embassy in Beijing was attacked. America itself simply got on with sports and beer and big trucks and didn’t give enough of a damn what anyone in an inferior country thought to really care.
Was the bombing of UN observers in Lebanon by Israeli forces deliberate? I have no idea, but I doubt it. I think that I doubt it because it would have been such a stupid thing to do that only stupidity or poor communications could explain it, but then, like everyone I’m more likely to lean one way than another no matter how rational I claim to be. Others have no idea but believe it firmly. Once again, it runs along ethnic lines and perhaps, like a Rorschach ink blot, the ambiguity reveals much about the viewer and nothing about the object. Certainly whatever reasons one might think up to make it seem as though Israel did this strategically, it has to be admitted that it looks very bad even if, as a UN spokesman said this afternoon to Wolf Blitzer, Hizbullah is in violation of international law for putting offensive weapons in schools, mosques and apartment buildings. And Lebanon is in violation of a UN resolution demanding that they disarm Hizbullah.
History pivots on things just like this. Was there really a second deliberate attack on US warships in the gulf of Tonkin? Did the battleship Maine really blow up of her own accord or was it a Spanish torpedo? Did George Bush allow 9/11 to happen to give him an excuse for attacking Iraq, Did Roosevelt allow Pearl Harbor to happen to shut up the pacifists and let us get into the world war? It doesn’t matter. What matters is what side you’re on and sides, I fear, are taken and firmly held for reasons that don’t reflect well on the sentient nature of our variety of ape.
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6 comments:
If it was an accident, the Israelis must be the clumsiest soldiers in the world. Wasn't that the same excuse they offered for the bombing of the USS Liberty?
http://www.ussliberty.org/
The US must be clumsier, seeing the number of our own troops that have been killed by our own forces - along with British and Canadian troops. During WW II the percentage killed from "Friendly fire" was around 16% and I think it was higher in Viet Nam. In the early stages of the current Iraq conflict the figure was at least 11% and it may now be higher.
We've also accidently shot down civilian airliners, sunk a Japanese fishing boat and knocked down an Italian ski lift. Opinions regarding the accidental nature of such things have a very large correlation with one's nationality.
But this is what I was trying to illustrate. Opinions about Israel fall along ethnic/political lines and facts are used or ignored ad libidum, quod erat demonstrandem.
It's not about ethnic political lines. It's about credibility. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. How many times can any country "accidentally" kill people until you have to call bullshit?
Israel has one of the best militaries in the world and a historic disdain for the UN. It's not about Israel - it's about fairness. That would apply to any nation.
Prejudice is the ability to be sure of patterns in random events.
I find the pattern of attacking the weak and helpless while avoiding non-terrorist attempts at solutions to disputes to be the defining pattern of militias like Hizbullah. We both know they target ambulances and paramedics and hospitals deliberately. We both know that they store weapons in civilian facilities knowing civilians will be killed - yet we hear how some observers in a battle zone were hit on purpose and it's about fairness. I do respect your opinions, but this seems a bit precious.
As I said, we have killed hundreds and hundreds of our own soldiers in the last few years, smart bombs and guided missiles notwithstanding. Innocent bystanders are killed in large quantities in any war. No matter how good your army is, one guy pulling one trigger is all it takes.
I think Israel has made the mistake of relying heavily on the ability of Air Power to hit urban targets with minimal collateral damage. The US has made the same mistake. Perhaps some people would say there was so much collateral damage in Iraq because Americans hate Iraqis, but that might be as spurious as insisting that Israel hit the UN on purpose.
babe, in a fight, things get very confused. cool heads may ultimately prevail, but along way is much noise n tribulation. chickens running round w/ heads cut off is fitting image.
when it comes 2 truth, i'm of the rashomon school.
Truth is meaningless, what matters is what people believe.
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