Revolutionary Moderation

Blogger's been down



Sorry I've not written... Blogger's been down all morning. And now, sadly, I have to run off. Tomorrow is another day, Fiddle-Dee-Dee and all that rot.



One quick note, however, and I think it taps into my discomfort with the Levant column: Is it called terrorism when you target an invading military? I'm far from the first to ask this question, and to be frank, I was a little afraid to be the first to ask it. I guess in that sense, the American and British forces are Israelis now, as Levant claimed. They are Israeli in the sense that they are frustrated that their occupation is resented instead of embraced, that they would like their opponents to come at them openly with guns so they can execute them from a mile off with the advantage of money and technology, and that they will begin to blur the line between combatants and non-combatants out of fear.

"The Iraqis are sick people and we are the chemotherapy," said Corporal Ryan Dupre. "I am starting to hate this country. Wait till I get hold of a friggin' Iraqi. No, I won't get hold of one. I'll just kill him."

I don't want to vilify every American in uniform over this quote. I think it's an example of what can happen when you occupy a people who don't want to be occupied. I think it's what Israeli soldiers tend toward in the occupied territories, because they don't know where death might come from, and they don't like the looks they get on the street in Gaza. American soldiers have to be feeling the same way: "Hey, weren't these people supposed to be thanking us and celebrating? We're bringing them water. We're their liberators. Why don't they understand that? Well, screw them!"



I'm going to put aside Levant's "We're" all Israeli (hey, it's not my war, and it's not Canada's war, you cock), and say yes, the American military is facing what the Israeli military faces, and it will become worse when the official, CNN part of the war is over and the so-called peace begins. Do you think the rest of the Arab world isn't going to draw the same conclusion? "We're all Palestinian, now" Which leaves a whole lot of people ready to ask Osama where to sign up. Hey, I think I found the link between Osama and Saddam! I knew it was there somewhere.



I have a better idea. Why don't we learn from the Israeli experience indstead of just repeating it?