airstrikes

I had one of those "how could I have missed this until now???" moments while listening to Wisconsin Public Radio in the car today. They were talking about the airstrike that killed a number of Pakistani civilians. Of course the target was a high Al Qaeda leader, however he was not killed.

We hear these reports on the radio and they are so far away. It's sad, but justified to catch the bad guys. Just remember September 11th.

Just remember September 11th. Remember how we felt when our civilians were killed. Just imagine how the Pakistanis must feel. Americans are angry at the Terrorists, because we have nowhere specific to channel our anger. The Pakistanis direct their anger towards the Americans, because it was American military planes that killed their innocents.

What right have we to kill civilians? Imagine if a foreign nation carried out a surgical strike in America and killed even one of our civilians, no matter how justified the attack. We would never stand for it. How can we expect the Pakistanis to not be outraged? What if there was a was a missle that landed on some Montana farm? We would demand revenge. What restraint the Pakistani's have shown! Depending on the point of view, it's good or bad fortune that they are not powerful enough to attack the American heartland (or even the border).