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When is an accidental civilian death not an accident?
When the Air Force asks permission first. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military has rules for killing civilians. But do the rules actually save lives?
By Mark Benjamin [2007-07-30]

  • 2 points:

    1. The United States is a participatory democracy; we, the citizens, voters, and taxpayers, approve and enable what our elected representatives do in our name. In a government "by the people," there is no such thing as an "innocent civilian."

    2. The United States is confused about its hyphenated religious loyalties. The US increasingly refers to its

    "Judeo-hyphen-Christian" groundings. But those traditions, Judeo and Christian, are very different.

    Jesus not only did not advocate but taught against war.

    The Judaic tradition is based on war--by war and genocide the Jews claimed the land of Canaan and by war and genocide the same peoples seek to reclaim that land.

    So Americans need to choose: Are they a Christian nation or a Judeo-Christian nation?

    The choice is important, because in a government by the people, there's no such thing as an innocent civilian.

    -- bughouse1
    [Read bughouse1's other letters]
    Monday, July 30, 2007 09:24 AM
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