War is The Ugliest Expression of The Human Character

By Yoram East

SPECIAL REPORT (CAUTION: GRAPHIC IMAGES INCLUDED)

This report does not intend to defame NATO, which during 1999 carried an air war against the former Yugoslavia, nor is it intended to defame the 2001 and onwards air campaigns in Afghanistan and since 2003 in Iraq as well. The sole purpose of this report is to remind critics of Israel's air war in Lebanon "he who lives in a glass house should beware of throwing stones."

There is no doubt that war is the ugliest expression of the human character and every war has its share of what the media learned to describe as "collateral damage." However, images of such damage are often used, or rather abused, for distorted propaganda purposes. They cater to the need many have to witness from afar a terrible event. It is a cynical testament of some media outlets' craving for sensationalism and to their intentional or non-intentional lack of knowledge of similar previous historic lessons.

The unfortunate and tragic event in the south Lebanese village of Qana was immediately dubbed "the Qana massacre." A few days later media outlets in Europe began to doubt the described dimension of the "massacre." It was not intended to show one of the evils of war but rather to depict Israelis as criminals conducting massacres, a dangerous term because of its legal connotation.

Scanning through hundreds of articles dealing with past air attack blunders, various forms of "collateral damage" from Yugoslavia through Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, show an attitude of "holier than thou."

The same Xavier Solana rushing to condemn Israel was the NATO General Secretary who approved the air assault on Yugoslavia. Canadian fliers were part of this effort. Liberals in the U.S., who aligned with the Democratic Party and then President Bill Clinton, were to a large extent silent when the U.S. Air Force by mistake attacked civilian residential areas, foreign embassies such as the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and many other innocent targets.

One particular example was the 12 April 1999 attack on a bridge on the Morava River in Yugoslavia, which according to various sources ended by hitting a train with civilians killing and wounding many. Reports on "mistaken identities" in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to occur on a daily basis. One should go to the BBC archives or The New York Times archive, as well as to official websites, to learn that the Qana "massacre" is but one red stain, albeit a tragic one, in a sea of blood created by wars.

(CAUTION: GRAPHIC IMAGES Below Here)

14-year old boy from Jalalabad, a victim of US bombs in Dec. 2001

A 12-year old boy killed on 22 October 2002 due to an explosion caused by unexpected cluster bomblet in Jalalabad (rawa.org)

A man from Hilla-Iraq who lost 15 members of his family as his pickup was bombed by a helicopter throws up his hands as he grieves over his loss (AFP Arab News Feb. 2003)