The Immorality of “Moral Condemnation”Mike Rappaport

David Bernstein writes:

There are only two reasons to putmissle launchers in (when they are not in use) and next to (when theyare in use) apartment buildings, and, for that matter, to have yourlocal militia headquarters double as the local bomb shelter; the firstis the hope that it will dissuade the enemy from attacking you, and thesecond is the hope that if they do bomb you, many civilians will bekilled, leading to a propaganda victory.

Today, Israel leveled a building they were hiding in,which unfortunately also turned out to house many innocent children. Sothe Party of God gets a propaganda victory. Those who reflexivelycondemn Israel when the Party of God’s strategy works (and Israelinadvertantly kills civilians) are being worse than naive; they areencouraging not just the Party of God, but other terrorist groups, touse human shields in the future, as it proves to be an effectivestrategy.

The job of “reflexively comdemning Israel when the Party of God’s strategy works” is made all the easier by news reports which intentionally or negligently (knave or a fool?) report the story without explaining the use of human shields.  Consider Reuters’ story:

An Israeli air strike killed more than 60 Lebanese civilians,including at least 37 children, on Sunday, fuelling world pressure fora ceasefire.

The raid on the southern village of Qana — thebloodiest single attack during Israel’s 19-day-old war on Hizbollah –prompted Lebanon to tell U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shewas unwelcome in Beirut for talks.

Rescue workers dug through the rubble with their hands for hours, lifting out the twisted, dust-caked corpses of children.

ALebanese foreign ministry official told an urgent session of the U.N.Security Council that more than 60 people were killed, mostly women andchildren. Police earlier put the toll at 54, 37 of them children.

U.N.Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Security Council to condemn theattack and call for an immediate end to hostilities. “I am deeplydismayed that my earlier calls for an immediate cessation ofhostilities were not heeded,” Annan said.

Israeli Prime MinisterEhud Olmert expressed “deep sorrow” at the bombing, but vowed the waragainst Hizbollah would go on. He told Rice on Saturday the army neededanother 10 to 14 days to press its offensive, a spokesman at his officesaid.

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman told the SecurityCouncil that Qana was “a hub for Hizbollah” and said Israel hadbeseeched the residents of the village to leave.

As angerconvulsed Lebanon and the Arab world, protesters smashed their way intothe United Nations headquarters in downtown Beirut as thousands massedoutside chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America”.