Month: July 2004

Thank goodness — the American Library Association just last week adopted a resolution permanently forswearing torture. As the title of the resolution puts it,

Resolution Against the Use of Torture as a Violation of the American Library Association’s Basic Values

Whew — now I can return those books without fear of being put on the rack.

Source:

Resolution Against the Use of Torture as a Violation of the American Library Association’s Basic Values.

Browsing RSS feeds, I came upon this headline from the BBC,

Many dead in US Iraq air strike

I assumed, based on the headline, that this was some sort of major air strike that had likely killed dozens of people, and so immediately opened up the story in my browser where the opening paragraphs informed me that,

At least eight people have been killed in a US air strike on the restive Iraqi city of Falluja.

The US military confirmed that it dropped six bombs in what it described as a “co-ordinated air strike against a mujahideen safe house”.

It was the fifth US air raid on the area since 19 June.

The US says it has been targeting houses used by militants linked to al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been blamed for several attacks.

Maybe eight people is “many”, but I don’t remember the BBC use such language when covering much more severe Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. For example, consider this BBC headline on a story reporting a Palestinian terrorist blowing himself up and killing dozens of Israeli civilians in Natanya,

Deadly suicide bomb hits Israeli hotel

Following the BBC convention in the bombing in Iraq, I’d have went with “Palestinian Terrorist Kills Many in Israel” or — using the BBC’s term — “Palestinian Militant Kills Many In Israel.” Don’t hold your breath, though, to see those sort of headlines at the BBC.