Earlier, Anne Linehan called attention to the Chronicle editorial urging the killing of people who become so inconvenient they can’t feed themselves.
However, we do have to concede that there was indeed balance on the editorial page and even among the house editorials today.
That pro-death editorial was matched with a pro-life editorial of sorts:
Last week’s tragic killing of an Italian intelligence officer and the wounding of the captive journalist he had freed was but the latest in a series of fatal encounters between U.S. troops and vehicles carrying innocent passengers, including Iraqi civilians and security personnel. The suggestion by freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena that her shooting might have been deliberate is absurd. Lack of communication and the fog of war are almost certainly the culprits. But the U.S. forces at an impromptu checkpoint fired in error.
The latest bloodshed provides a dispiriting reminder that two years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the main artery between downtown Baghdad and the airport remains unsecured and one of the most dangerous places in the world. However, following the success of the Iraqi elections, and with the resultant air of imminent self-government, the terrorists seem to be losing the all-important battle for hearts and minds. To make sure the insurgents continue to lose the sympathy of the Iraqi people, U.S. forces must use extreme caution in engaging unidentified moving targets.
According to this report in Newsday, the troops in queston claim they did not fire in error, but fired in complete accord with established rules of engagement, and shot to disable the vehicle by targeting the engine block. The Chron editorial effectively asserts they are lying.
The broader point of the Chron editorialists seems to be that innocent journalists must be spared at almost any cost, even if the vehicle of a given journalist speeds recklessly to a checkpoint in a country that still suffers from car and other bombs intended to kill U.S. soldiers.
It’s revealing what life the Chron editorial board values (potential terrorists, death row killer guys) and what life it does not (U.S. soldiers, impaired people who cannot feed themselves, babies in the womb).
RELATED: Italy didn’t plan safe escape for hostage (Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times), Run a well-marked checkpoint with armed troops, get shot (Laurence Simon).
