Reply #78: Hyperbole Does Not Help You, Mr. Resistance [View All]

[The Magistrate]

"Mass Killing", as most people would understand the term, is in fact not going on in Iraq, unless you wish to count some of the attacks of the resistance fighters that have killed large numbers at once, such as at the United Nations headquarters. Incidents of combat, in which more than a few persons are killed, are a different concept: death in battle may be of massive quantity, but the term has a perjorative and criminal meaning in general usage and understanding, denoting the killing of a great number all at once, in close physical proximity, and usually for no purpose but cruel sport. It is a common propagandist's technique to attempt such semantic blendings; it is one of the pug-marks by which they can be recognized.

An assasination team, by definition, does not engage in mass killing, but in attempts to kill a single person, in theory at least selected as an important element of an enemy force, whether military or political. Such actions are wholly legitimate in a state of war, amounting to nothing more than sniper fire deployed more widely. The training involved, in this instance, will amount to nothing more than cultural familiarization, for the Israeli services have a good deal more practical knowledge of Arab situ than those of the U.S. do. The idea U.S. forces need instruction in killing itself is humorous in the extreme; they probably can use some coaching in insertion in this particular venue.

We may leave for later consideration what need there is to see a particular and egregious evil in "Israeli training", for that would tread onto interesting ground indeed. Israel is, after all, hardly synonomous with Satan and his legions....