No Roots: The First Victim of War

The First Victim of War

We're a week into this and already besieged with war dreariness. Saddam has kept his head - that much is clear. But there is little else the news has to offer other.

The first few days looked promising... Iraqi soldiers would just walk out of the desert with their hands up and this would all be over shortly without bloodshed. However to the shock horror of the marines, apparently the Iraqis are just not sticking to the script or sticking to the rules.

In two episodes Sunday near An Nasiriyah, Iraqi forces deceived Americans into believing they were surrendering or otherwise welcoming them, U.S. officials said.

The officials said one unit indicated it was giving up but as Marines approached the Iraqis opened fire, killing nine Americans. U.S. military sources said about 40 were wounded.

"Some liken these acts to terrorism," Clarke said. "Such acts involve the enemy wilfully violating the laws of war, while simultaneously taking advantage of the coalition forces' compliance with that law."

Yet another definition of terrorism which now broadly means "bad stuff you do to me" whereas a "just war" means "bad stuff I do to you."

Another excellent example of skewed perspective came from a BBC report yesterday:

The US military has confirmed that a bus carrying Syrian civilians was hit by an American missile, killing five people and wounding at least 10.

A statement from a US spokesman at the coalition's Central Command headquarters in Qatar said that the US-led forces "regretted" the loss of life, saying the bus was destroyed while coalition forces were targeting a bridge in Rutba, a western Iraqi town near the Syrian border. [...]

However blame for the incident was ultimately placed on the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. "We regret the loss of innocent life brought on by this regime's non-compliance of UN resolutions," the statement added.

What about the US's non-compliance with the UN? That seems equally regrettable.

Labels: twicenamed