It is as glaring a double standard as that of the Islamic law that mandates that one who kills a dhimmi is not punished with the same penalties as is one who kills a Muslim. It is a double standard that runs through all of Islamic theology, culture, and history: the sharpest of all sharp distinctions: that between believer and unbeliever. The idea of an unbeliever killing a Muslim — that is intolerable! But a Muslim killing an unbeliever — so there’s a problem?
From the incomparable Jane Novak in the Arab News:
What a glaring double standard. The Arab world is enraged over the shooting of a wounded, unarmed Iraqi insurgent by a uniformed US soldier.
There is no similar outrage for Margaret Hassan. Is it because she was an Anglo, a woman, or because a Muslim killed her?
The video of the soldier shooting is proof, we are told, of America’s evil. And the kidnapping, torture and murder of Mrs. Hassan is then proof of what? That America is evil! Muslims wouldn’t do that unless evil America forced their hand.
Bombing children, defiling mosques, kidnapping civilians, executing poor workers and cleaning out women “” these are not discussed or broadcast with frequency, or invoke much anger. Videos where a masked man shakes a bloody head while the curtains flutter do not evoke such fury. Why? The identity of the victim or the perpetrator?
All tactics of the insurgents are excused. Hide among civilians. Justified. Wear civilian clothes. Justified. Shoot from a mosque. Justified. Feign death to draw soldiers in (the way one Marine died the day before the incident). Justified. Wave a white flag as a ploy. Justified. Booby-trap dead bodies. Justified. That’s just Fallujah.
Moving outward “” Deliberately killing Iraqi civilians daily. Justified. Bombing churches. Justified. Bombing cafes. Justified. Using schools and mosques as arsenals. Justified. Attacking the police. Just fine.
The rules of war don’t apply to the insurgents, only the Americans. And if one horrible act occurs at the hands of one American soldier, the world howls.
The insurgents” constant inhumane tactics are acceptable. The American rules of engagement prohibited shooting unarmed combatants. This prohibition was followed by thousands of soldiers, thousands of times. After the shootout at the mosque in which the man was wounded, a call went to headquarters to send a medical team out to pick him up. It is American policy that wounded fighters are given good medical attention. Many are being treated now. A wounded American soldier found by the enemy fighters would be tortured to death after being paraded on Al-Jazeera. And that would be fine.
Read it all.