Proportional?

Hugh Hewitt played audio of an interview last night (originally on CNN) with someone from Lebanon, crying out on behalf of the "innocent civilians" who were being injured and killed by the Israeli attack. His question was approximately, "where is the US, where is the UN Security Council, where is the public outrage when ordinary people are losing their lives?"

I'm not positive, but I might have heard him say "Oh, the humanity!".

Sir, I will tell you where they are. They are counting the 1500 Israeli deaths at the hands of terrorists since 9/11. They are thinking about the 241 U.S. servicemen killed October 23, 1983 by an Iran-funded suicide bomber from Hezbollah.

Let's just do the math. Israel is a nation of 7 million people, and the U.S. is 300 million. 1500 deaths in Israel is like 64,000 U.S. deaths, and keep in mind these are in their homeland. People commuting to work, going to school, shopping, trying to catch a movie or get together with friends. And yes, some soldiers and policemen, but mostly by coincidence.

How many civilian deaths in our homeland would it take in the U.S. before we were launching all-out war? Hmm, I think we know the answer to this one. About 3000 American civilians were killed 9/11. People commuting to work, going to school, shopping, trying to catch a movie or get together with friends. And yes, some soldiers and policemen, but mostly by coincidence.

Even the definition of "civilian" needs to be examined. Many civilians in Lebanon willingly harbor and assist Hezbollah. I have heard that many Lebanese civilians sleep with a rocket under their bed, cached away in case Hezbollah needs it. This isn't an innocent bystander - it is a willing human shield.

And keep in mind, however "over the top" Israel's response is, the rockets are still coming. 25% of Israel is living in bomb shelters. How would we feel if every state with a Canadian border was living out of bomb shelters in protection from an ongoing rocket barrage from Canada?

Proportion, my hiney. The only way Israel's response is out of proportion is that it isn't big enough yet, because they haven't disabled Hezbollah.

And could someone please tell me what CNN's Nic Robertson is doing going on a Hezbollah-guided tour of southern Lebanon, interviewing Dr. Ali Fayyad of the Hezbollah Central Committee to hear how well they're doing? This is like interviewing Hitler to hear how well they think their doing at bombing Great Britain.

[via Hugh Hewitt]