Friedman's an asshole, simple as that and not too bright. But what should we expect, the NYT is not some consistent bastion of journalistic integrity, and when it comes to all things involving Israel or America's "wars" they come down squarely on the side of propoganda/hasbara. Not shocking in any way.

My only hope is that what comes around goes around for people who stand on the sidelines and cheerlead injustice. Broken souls and broken minds. Seems to be a lot of that going around. You'd think people would have had enough of war already and taken Ike's advice.

Debating whether or not phosphorous, cluster, or atomic bombs have legitimate uses is like debating whether or not torture is moral or justifiable. Amoral counterproductive madness.

Next he'll trot out the Arthur Goldberg theory of political legitimacy "if an advanced military bombs the living shit out of infrastructure, civilians, and their duly elected political representatives who are resisting your anti-nationalist anti-territorial expansionist aims with sticks, stones, and Kalishnakovs, then the resisters are necessarily politically illegitimate and we have liberated them". As a jerk coworker of mine told me about torture "the way I see it we gave them the opportunity to tell us what we wanted to know (i.e. lay down arms and submit). Most people just don't get it.

I think we need to start money bombing J-Street and hope they work tirelessly to reconstruct the narrative.

The civilians are the target here, because they hold ultimate responsibility for their situation.

You better start praying that chicken doesn't come home to roost you fricking psychopathic nutbag.

I'm going to say this in my best Rev. Wright intonation because I know I'm never running for political office:

--for aiding and abetting the killing of civilians for no justifiable or proportional end, "God will damn America, God will damn its client states like Israel, and God will damn the Shooters and Elephantman's of the world".--

Better start reading your bibles boys, cause you've got a long road in Hell in front of you.

Yes I'm saying exactly that: Palestinian "civilians" had no more power to control Hamas than I have to control George Bush et al empowered by people like you to bomb Iraq. Yeah that's exactly what I'm saying. For once you got it. Not until George Bush's lies became such public knowledge that even people like you started to doubt him. Do I believe that means that you and I or Palestinians should succumb to violent deaths because of their leadership? Of course not. Only an amoral douche like you would draw that equivalency.

No one here has ever "defended" indiscriminate home made rocket attacks against Israel by Hamas.

No one here has ever "defended" the reckless endangerment of Palestinian civilians when subjected to American made "smart" bombs and an Israeli policy of "infrastructure" demolition or "anti-Palestinian nationalism" (also known as "nationalism for Palestinians but only on Israels terms which incidentally have been demonstrably historically "rejectionist" as have the Palestinians--plenty of blame to go around).

Do you think all of the infrastructure destroyed belonged to Hamas?

How is bombing deaths of children/non-combatants by either Hamas or Israel ever going to yield an environment conducive to peace?

Most around here aren't the ones "enabling" more war. If I could selectively choose not to pay one more penny, ever, if it went to producing American made military hardware or appropriate one more dime for another nation to be given that hardware as "aid", I'd do it tomorrow. And I predict the world would be an infinitely safer place.

There are two legitimate moral uses for the American war machine--defend our borders (and those of our allies if asked or by treaty obligation) by repelling imminent or actual attacks specifically those presenting an existential threat and to stop a genocide/cleansing in the world (Israeli or otherwise). Lesser attacks should be treated proportionally and/or as a criminal matter. That's why all this "balance of power" "America's interest" bullshit theory is simply rubbish. It's propoganda perpetrated against the people (not for the people) to execute the economic and hegemonic agendas of the powerful. Nothing more nothing less. That anyone buys into it makes them a fool.

America's proved that once you've lost the "moral" high ground you lose the "war". Israel lost this one a week ago. That doesn't mean they won't stop bombing what little bit of humanity is left in Palestine, then will come the "camps" for some and "settlements" for others.

I'm curious about everyone's definition of "aggressor" here. People who have consistently been occupied, harrassed, bombed, arrested, herded into "camps", OR the "civilians" sitting on hillsides sipping Pepsi watching bombs drop onto what's left of peoples homes, places of work, hospitals, civil institutions, children, journalists, Red Cross workers, and doctors.