Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Supporting the troops, Chron style

The Chronicle is fulfilling its newfound duty to support the troops by printing the following disgusting op-ed piece, lifted from last week's Los Angeles Times:

Few people have noticed that suicide bombing is merely a tactic used by those who lack other means of delivering explosives. Fewer still seem to notice that what happened in London is what occurs every time a U.S. or British warplane unloads its bombs on an Iraqi village. But, you may say, our forces don't deliberately target civilians. Perhaps not. But they have consistently shown themselves to be indifferent to the civilian casualties produced by their operations.
Because "our" way of killing is dressed up in smart uniforms and shiny weapons and cloaked in the language of grand causes, we place it on a different moral plane than "theirs." I read an article about a Marine sniper who was given a medal at a California ceremony for having shot dead 32 Iraqis during the battle for Fallujah last year -- young men who were defending their city from an invading army. A nod to their deaths was made by the sniper and a chaplain, but these are the sentiments that struck me: "He didn't kill 32 people," said a sergeant major. "He saved numerous lives. ... That's how Marines look at it." And his mother said, "It's difficult. You send off your little boy and he comes back a man who has protected everyone." Clearly, "our" lives are all that matter and "their" lives don't count.
By the way, subscriptions to the Chronicle are now half-price. Any takers?

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