IP: no comment

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 10:55:26 -0800
To: Recipient List Suppressed:;
From: an old IPer


> .
>
> we are all going to hell.
>
>
> > > > The following was taken from the Opinion page of the
> > > > Savannah Morning News, 23 December 1998.
> > > >
> > > > "In a move straight out of a "Saturday Night Live" skit,
> > > > the Department of Defense on Monday announced it was upset
> > > > with politically incorrect graffiti  scribbled on one of
> > > > the bombs dropped on Iraq last week. Pentagon officials
> > > > saw an Associated Press photo taken during the four-day
> > > > bombing campaign that showed a 2000-pound laser-guided
> > > > bomb on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the Persian
> > > > Gulf with an inscription that said, "Here's a Ramadan
> > > > present from Chad Rickenberg."
> > > >
> > > > The Clinton administration was not amused at this breach
> > > > of bombing etiquette. "Department of Defense officials
> > > > were distressed to learn of thoughtless graffiti mentioning the
> > > > holy month of Ramadan written on a piece of U.S. ordnance
> > > > during Operation Desert Fox" in Iraq, chief Pentagon
> > > > spokesman Kenneth Bacon said in a statement Monday.
> > > > "Religious intolerance is an anathema to Secretary of Defense William S.
> > > > Cohen and to all Americans who cherish the right to
> > > > worship freely," he added. "The United States deeply respects
> > > > Islam."
> > > >
> > > > Imagine the nerve of some sailor insulting Moslems right
> > > > before they're bombed, maimed and killed. It is irrelevant
> > > > whether the victims could read the graffiti as the bombs
> > > > plummeted toward their homes. Clearly what counts is the
> > > > expression of the offending thought, not the fact that
> > > > people are being blown to smithereens.
> > > >
> > > > Although the Geneva Convention is silent on this matter,
> > > > we salute the Pentagon for insisting on politically correct
> > > > bombings. We suggest in the future that all U.S. armed
> > > > forces paint yellow smiley faces on all ordnance and adopt
> > > > as its official wartime slogan: It's not personal,
> > > > it's just business."