Qana Qana Qana Qana Qana Qameleon
I'm awfully hesitant to call Qana a warcrime - at current moment I suspect it would if anything be a tragic mistake, and intent, as I understand, makes the crime.
But the retraction is what makes this really embarrassing. And not embarrassing for Ignatieff - it's embarrassing for me just to watch.
No one needs "political experience" to understand how not to make a total asshole of yourself. Any junior boxboy at my grocery store knows how to carry yourself with some class and dignity. It's shocking that people are on this guy's bandwagon.
Cabinet or US Senate, fine. Party Leader? Give me a break.
But the retraction is what makes this really embarrassing. And not embarrassing for Ignatieff - it's embarrassing for me just to watch.
No one needs "political experience" to understand how not to make a total asshole of yourself. Any junior boxboy at my grocery store knows how to carry yourself with some class and dignity. It's shocking that people are on this guy's bandwagon.
Cabinet or US Senate, fine. Party Leader? Give me a break.
posted by Jacques Beau Vert at 2:11 PM
12 Comments:
That's a very clever title Jason... almost too clever.
By the way, I hat tipped you on the use of the word nonplussed in my latest salvo...
No kidding. Agree with you completely.
that is a great title! now I'm going to sing it all night. plus - he is a GD chameleon!
The title works on so many levels. Iggy could be short for iguana, which is sort of like a chameleon. Or am I grasping?
Havril, the most important thing is that I am made to look indispensably clever.
Absolutely indispensable.
Also, intent does make the crime. But intent is a slippier fish than might be imagined. For example, if I knew Osama bin Laden was hiding in the empire state building, so I blew the whole thing up, I might argue (as Israel did in Qana) that I did not intend to kill the civilians, they were just collateral damage in my attack on a legitimate target, and besides we should blame the target for hiding among the civilians.
None of that would change the fact that I had intentionally blown up a building full of civilians, thereby making myself arguably as evil as Osama, whose evil supposedly justified my act.
Or, to put it another way, I would have in fact intentionally murdered all of those civilians, and all I could say was that the murder of thousands was justified because of my righteous desire to kill the one.
Frankly, I think anyone who buys either of those lines of argument is basically supporting terrorism and war crimes.
G
ah, but gavin, if you first dropped leaflets warning the civilians of an eminent attack in the area, does that not prove the intent to avoid harming civilians?
brilliant title, now I, too will be singing that awful song in my head.
Jason, you've been tagged. Where's the six-word news story?
nice little mutual admiration club you got going on over here.
the clear intent of the qana airstrikes were to demolish any targets that israeli forces beleived were preparing to launch attacks against their positions.
there was NO mistake. intent,as you understand, makes the crime.
i'm not sure where you buy your groceries but it sounds great. i bet your "junior boxboy" even calls you sir. since you enjoy word play over here, try this one.. an eleven letter word that describes the creation of an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction.
mens rhea is the term, right?
you intended to drive down the street when you stuck the jaywalker down - so you have intention?
don't think so, buddy. intent to kill the civilians is the intention required.
I'd be VERY happy to see an investigation launched into Qana to determine what happened, sure -- but it is far too premature to call it a warcrime. I wouldn't want a politican to call Picton guilty til after his trial, either.
I have no firm knowledge of Qana so am very hesitant to call a possible spade a definite spade.
Couldn't one, if one is a very smart fella on this sort of thing, state an opinion based on what one knows that something was a war crime?
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