http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0726-27.htmThe bloodied faces of the Shaito family, decimated when an American-made helicopter gunship fired a missile into their minivan, has become the symbol of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. "Don't go to sleep, mama!" Ali Shaito shouted through a torrent of tears mixing with his own blood. "Don't die! Please don't die!" A widely distributed photograph caught the sad-eyed Muntaha Saito's last moments. A mother to her dying breath, she used her last ounce of strength to reach out to comfort her frantic son. Muntaha's sister, mother Nazira and uncle Mohammad were also killed in the attack. Eleven other members of the Shaito family, who had evacuated their village after they were ordered to do so by the Israeli military, suffered severe injuries.
The Israeli military said that the Shaito van was hit as part of a barrage of 20 missiles fired at vehicles "suspected of serving the terror organization
in the launching of missiles at Israel, and were recognized fleeing from or staying at missile-launching areas." The Israelis were thousands of feet away. How could they have "recognized" anything? Obviously, they couldn't.
Accidental killings of civilians are inevitable in war, but casualty rates have soared in wars waged by the United States and other wealthy nations that unleash high-tech air forces against defenseless enemies. Western militaries increasingly rely upon aerial bombardment in lieu of deploying infantry troops on the ground, who can see what's what and who's who--but expose themselves to greater risk. The result of this bombing-oriented policy is the reverse of what one should expect from civilized countries, and it's why the United States has killed more innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq--about 200,000--than enemy troops.
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For one thing, bombs--or more accurately, bomb makers--are stocks. Politically connected defense contractors are paid handsomely to replace the billions of dollars worth of bombs we drop on Muslims--the vast majority of whom we have nothing against. But there's a second, even more disturbing reason the American people lend their tacit consent to the cult of Bomb 'em All, Let God Sort Them Out: We value the lives of our troops a lot more than those of civilians in other countries. We're willing to slaughter them en masse in order to minimize casualties among our own.
Think about it: 200,000 dead Afghans and Iraqis, but no one--not even the left--really cares. 2,500 dead American soldiers, and Bush's popularity sinks to those of cable companies and month-old liver. As far as we are concerned, a foreigner's life is worth a thousandth of an American's...maybe less. Perhaps our transparent disregard for foreigners' lives is why they take us less than seriously when we come to "liberate" them.
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