In the U.S. and Europe, American forces kidnap terrorists so as not to kill bystanders:<\/p>\n\n
Before a CIA paramilitary team was deployed to snatch a radical Islamic cleric off the streets of Milan in February 2003, the CIA station chief in Rome briefed and sought approval from his counterpart in Italy… \n<\/p>\n
In Sweden, an inquiry discovered that Swedish ministers had agreed to apprehend and expel two Egyptian terrorism suspects in 2002 but called the CIA for help in flying them out of the country… [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n
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p>But in less-developed countries, we just blow up houses:<\/p>\n\n
The provincial government said Tuesday that in addition to 18 civilians, four or five foreign militants were killed by the American airstrikes on the village of Damadola on Friday… The deaths of 18 civilians, among them 6 children<\/font>, have stirred anger among the population in Pakistan and put pressure on the government to explain what happened in Bajaur. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n<<\/p>\n\n
p>I don’t particularly care for national sovereignty when a country won’t take out its trash, as in Afghanistan, the NWFP and the Kashmiri militant training camps. We should’ve put troops on the ground in Pakistan long ago, no matter what the political sensitivities, and bin Laden should have been caught within months of 9\/11. That he hasn’t been killed yet is an ongoing embarrassment.<\/p>\n\n
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p>But killing innocent bystanders is not only deeply immoral, it unnecessarily creates enemies and a host population which supports terrorists. One month we distribute quake aid and win public sympathy<\/a>; the next we kill women and children and say, ‘Oops, but we’ll do it again.’ It’s the very definition of ineffectiveness.<\/p>\n\n
Look at the rank hypocrisy of U.S. lawmakers in defending this missile attack:<\/p>\n\n
U.S. politicians have expressed regret over the weekend killings of 18 civilians along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, but said the airstrike was justified by the erroneous belief that a top al Qaeda leader was among the group, which included women and children. “Now, it’s a regrettable situation, but what else are we supposed to do?” Sen. Evan Bayh [D-IN] asked rhetorically… Senator John McCain, also concurred… “We apologize, but I can’t tell you that we wouldn’t do the same thing again…” [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\nGee, Sen. Bayh, would we have launched a missile at a house in London? Would we have killed 18 innocent Brits, shrugged and said, ‘What else are we supposed to do?’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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No, we would’ve sent in special ops to secure the house, ID the targets and kill them. We wouldn’t have used airborne munitions because they’re too imprecise. The FBI does not blow up houses in the U.S. for the same reason we shouldn’t blow up houses in Pakistan: the risk of killing bystanders. And in fact, we’ve used ground-based raids<\/a> rather than missiles to catch terrorists in Pakistan in the past.<\/p>\n\n
But last week, imprecise was good enough. Life is cheap in the third world.<\/p>\n\n
Related post: Guess who’s NOT coming to dinner<\/a>, The best weapon in the war against terror<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the U.S. and Europe, American forces kidnap terrorists so as not to kill bystanders: Before a CIA paramilitary team was deployed to snatch a radical Islamic cleric off the streets of Milan in February 2003, the CIA station chief … Continue reading