Surely we are not the only two people on earth who feel ashamed of Caroline's column each and every week. Last week she excused the murder, by an American soldier, of a man who was doing nothing but kneeling in prayer.
Freelance journalist Kevin Sites was just another guy trying to make his way in the business until the battle of Fallujah. While accompanying US marines into a mosque, Sites filmed a marine shooting a prostrate terrorist lying in the mosque, then crassly pronouncing him dead. As the pictures made their way around the world, millions of anti-US voices rang up angrily denouncing the Marines for committing "war crimes." Overnight, Sites became an international star. Everyone wanted to read the Left's dazzling Johnny-on-the-Spot and all "right-thinking"
people pronounced him a professional upholding the highest standards of journalism. Heady stuff for a reporter on the make and a powerful message for all aspiring players of the trade.In Israel, our TV news broadcast Sites's footage over and over as wizened anchors shook their heads with revulsion over the inhumanity of US armed forces in Iraq. The newspapers played up coverage of the event to make certain that all of us knew just how awful American forces
really are. No one bothered to make mention of the fact that marines and soldiers fighting in Fallujah had been repeatedly attacked by terrorists playing possum. No one bothered to make mention of the numerous instances of terrorists raising the white flag of surrender only to fire at forces coming to take them into custody. What does the context of the battle matter when a case can be made for vilifying US marines as war criminals on the basis of Sites's isolated,deconstructionist footage rather than praising them as battle-trained warriors?
It is hard to begin to imagine how hard it must be to go into war and face potential enemy. But surely there MUST be some guidelines. Is it enough to just generalize all acts as "defense" without thought for the innocent people that may be killed? What of the reporter she attacks in her column, is he wrong to tell the world what he saw?
Caroline always seems to border on the hysterical. As much as it is not nice, suffice to say embarrassing, to hear about some of the behaviour of our own Israeli soldiers out in the fields. It IS important to know about it, because we are all human and war is attrocious and unfortuantely necessary. But that does not mean everything is excusable.
