Fresh Loaf

After President Obama’s Cairo speech, one of the more bizarre memes to emerge from the Magical Dungeon of Nonsensical Anti-Obama Talking Points was the notion that Obama’s words were somehow harshly critical of Israel.

The most popular criticism: Obama’s speech threw Israel “under the bus.” Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard said it. Former Bush One Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Jed Babbin said it. Best-selling professional Muslim-hater Robert Spencer said it, too.

Google — or, if you prefer, Bing — the phrase “Obama threw Israel under the bus” and you’ll find countless examples. By countless, I mean there were a lot, but I didn’t count them.

Rush Limbaugh didn’t use “under the bus.” Instead, he said Obama’s speech “threw Israel over the cliff.”

I’m not sure if getting thrown over a cliff is supposed to be better or worse than getting thrown under a bus. I suppose it depends on what’s at the bottom of the cliff. If there’s a giant trampoline or a nude beach with exceptionally bouncy sand at the bottom, then maybe the cliff ain’t so bad.

If, however, there are dragons at the bottom of the cliff, or a freaky modern art installation consisting of thousands of upward-facing pitchforks, then I’m taking the under-the-bus option.

(Click here to read the rest of this column. If you don’t, an angel holding a puppy will spontaneously combust.)

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On Dec. 27, Israel attacked the Gaza Strip — a small coastal enclave abutting Israel and the very crowded home of 1.5 million Palestinians.

As of Jan., 1,080 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, 765 of them were civilians. An additional 5,100 Palestinians have been wounded. Thirteen Israelis have been killed. Three of them were civilians. An additional 80 Israelis have been wounded.

The disparity in the number of casualties is largely the result of each side’s relative military strength. Hamas, the militant group exercising semi-control of Gaza, is a sloppy gang of militants and terrorist dicktards. Its arsenal consists of guns and homemade rockets. If it were capable of killing more Israelis, it certainly would.

Israel, however, has one of the world’s largest, most technologically abundant militaries. Its arsenal includes tanks, advanced fighter jets, precision-guided bombs and missiles, a modern navy with submarines, and nuclear weapons. A vast majority of the Palestinian dead have been killed by conventional Israeli bombs, missiles and shrapnel. Nevertheless, much attention has been paid in recent days to Palestinian victims of white phosphorous weapons.

White phosphorous, or WP, is a man-made derivative of the chemical element phosphorous. Phosphorous is found on the periodic table of elements, nudged between silicon and sulphur. WP is most commonly used to make phosphoric acid, a key ingredient in chemical cleansers, fertilizers, and, um, Coca-Cola. Phosphoric acid is what gives Coke its tanginess.

Unfortunately, white phosphorous also contains chemical properties that make it very useful to a military. It burns very brightly, allowing illumination of battle areas at night. It also generates a lot of smoke, obscuring troop movements during the day. Packed in a bomb, grenade, or artillery shell, it’s a powerful incendiary, part of a weapon intended to set things on fire (as opposed to regular weapons, which destroy targets with explosions and flying metal).

WP incendiaries devices work by disbursing a cloud of white phosphorous dust, which then ignites at 86 degrees Farenheit. It won’t stop burning until its oxygen supply is cut-off.

When WP dust comes into contact with the human body (which is approximately 98.6 degrees Farenheit), it burns. And burns. And burns. It doesn’t stop until it digs all the way down to the bone. People killed or wounded by WP look like they’ve been dipped in acid. (more…)

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(Photo by Sameh Habeeb)

Israel says it’s attacking Gaza to stop cross-border rocket attacks into southern Israel by Hamas militants. Because launching rockets at populated areas is an act of war, Israel says its bombings are justified.

Hamas is attacking Israel with rockets because Israel has enforced a devastating economic blockade against Gaza for the past year and a half. Additionally, Israel’s military has controlled Gaza’s borders, airspace, and sea access for 41 years. Because economic blockades are an act of war, Hamas says its rocket strikes are justified.

In other words, Israel is attacking Gaza because Gaza was attacking Israel because Israel was attacking Gaza. Ctrl-A. Ctrl-C. Ctrl-V. Repeat.

Instead of talking about which side is at fault, let’s focus for a minute on all the innocent people who are suffering.

The Gaza Strip is a tiny and crowded Arab enclave on the Mediterranean — as small as Little Rock, Ark., but with 1.5 million people jammed in. It’s as densely populated as Bangkok.

On Dec. 27 and 28, Israel dropped more than 100 tons of bombs and missiles on the place. Israel insists its weapons are aimed at Hamas combatants, not civilians.

Sadly, many innocent Gazan civilians have thus far failed to make the distinction between bombs intended for militants and bombs intended for them. It seems that when bombs land on the heads of Gazan civilians, they die regardless.

As of New Years Eve, the United Nations says 320 of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents have been killed by Israeli airstrikes. An additional 1,400 have been injured.

The U.N. claims that 62 of those killed are civilians. The U.N. also says its civilian death count includes only women and children. Either there’s no such thing as a civilian man in Gaza, or the U.N. is vastly undercounting the number of civilian dead. (more…)

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