Collateral Damage
Euphemisms allow us to tacitly permit wars waged with our money, paid for with the blood of our friends and family members. I’ve commented on the verbal semantics, the euphemistic treatment before, what used to be terrorism is now “insurgency,” what used to be civil war is now “sectarian violence,” – I don’t think it needs much more discussion. So, it comes as no surprise to me, to see that the recent “accident” in Lebanon is barely making waves in the Washington Post and the New York Times.
It ought not be difficult to call a spade a spade. Instead, both articles are pretty much doing their best to bury the story, although the Washington Post did give it a little more coverage than the NYT. However, had it not been for my brother who saw the news while I was gone for a walk this evening, I might’ve missed it entirely. Our friends allies Israeli partners in the war on terror have used some of the high-tech, well-trained tools at their disposal to take out – are you ready for this – a United Nations observation post, killing 4 UN observers in the process.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on Israel to investigate the “apparently deliberate targeting” of the UNIFIL post by Israeli defense forces…UNIFIL spokesman Milos Struger said in Lebanon Tuesday that Israeli forces continued firing close to the U.N. post even during a rescue operation.
Then again, this is not atypical for the Israelis. They have a track record of disregarding the positions of neutral or peacekeeping forces that goes back at least as far as the Lebanese civil war in the early 1980s – if I had my copy of “Pity the Nation” right now, I’d source it, but I don’t. In that particular situation, even when adivsed that they were firing on friendlies, the Israeli response was something to the effect of “No, we’re not. You must be mistaken. This conversation is over.”
Mirrorring my established sentiments, Dahr Jamail (website) describes Israel’s response to Lebanon thusly:
“It’s called collective punishment. It is a war crime. It is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.An entire country is being collectively punished while the world sits by and watches”
Israel can try to make the case that the Lebanese ought to revolt against their Hizbollah oppressors, and rationalize the deaths of Lebanese civilians as “collateral damage.” They should not be allowed to rationalize the deaths of UN observers in such a manner. I don’t think it’s an accident, Israel. Your track-record says otherwise. But prove me wrong – start allowing journalists to follow your soldiers into battle, instead of only allowing them in after you’ve whitewashed the fields. Conduct some honest investigations, and hold someone accountable for this.
Tags: Lebanon, Israel, United Nations
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