'the algebra of infinite justice'

according to the u.s military
an al-qaeda operative
known only by the generic alias abu islam
was among the numeorus occupants of two houses
in a small village called qusayba
close the the iraq-syria border

so at 2am local time yesterday
they dropped (or 'guided') four bombs onto one of the houses

and just after 6am
they dropped two bombs on the other

they soon proudly proclaimed that they had killed abu islam
and several of his associates

the 'associates' that were killed numbered at least 46
and of course included numerous women and children

a military spokesman said
"coalition forces take all precautions
to minimize collateral damage
and prevent the loss of civilian life"

even if we pretend for a moment
that this was a tragic accident
surely dropping bombs on houses doesn't count
as "tak[ing] all precautions ... to prevent the loss of civilian life"

what ratio, i wonder, would be acceptable to the military planners?
if osama bin laden was somewhere in a crowd of 100,000
would they just bomb the lot?

here's hoping you or i aren't in that crowd

as arundhati roy wrote in her essay "war is peace",

"Each innocent person that is killed must be added to, not set off against, the grisly toll of civilians who died in New York and Washington"

indeed, despite what we might be led to believe
the killing of innocent civilians by allied forces
is neither morally nor even strategically different
from civilian deaths at the hands of other 'terrorists'.

source