![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
piranhais the environmental destruction that comes with it. people talk up modern precision munitions, but hitting a set of oil tanks precisely does not convey an actual advantage to the environment:
An oil leak from the recently bombed Jiyeh power station has covered Lebanon's coastline in 15,000 tons of fuel oil reaching Chekka in the north (meaning that the spill has spread up to 100 kilometers in length).
the original article is in arabic; i have not seen a mention of this in any of my regular news sources. i am hoping that they're exaggerating (see, here's my negative prejudice again, expecting arabic news sources to exaggerate, *sigh*).
oil spills are so destructive, for a long time. 17 years after the exxon valdez disaster, we now know that populations and habitat within the oil spill area have suffered substantial and unanticipated injuries.
if it were up to me i'd do nearly anything to avoid a war. i think i might even concede living under occupation; war is just too costly IMO. it depends on the circumstances, of course. i remember hearing "better dead than red", and thinking "not i"; i'd rather live in east germany or the soviet union than be dead. because as long as i live, things can change; once i am dead, that's that. i am unlikely to be willing to die for any cause; no longer believing in a glorious afterlife puts a decided damper on any heroic notions i might have once had; though some protective instincts might make me throw myself in front of the paramour. i am not a pacifist; i consider direct self-defense ethical -- if somebody tries to shoot me with a gun, i'll view myself justified in killing the person. but not the person's family, not even if they knew zie had a gun and didn't take it away from zir -- only if they egged zir on, pushed zir into attacking me, and reloaded for zir. it ties into my beliefs about personal responsibility.
i know it's not that simple when one group of people shoots missiles at another in an impersonal manner (ie. they don't care what they destroy and whom they kill). but i would not be comfortable shooting missiles back, unless that group were clearly isolatable. because the "collateral damage" is not responsible for what this group did. and i am, dammit, not sinking to the same level, even when in fear of my life.
An oil leak from the recently bombed Jiyeh power station has covered Lebanon's coastline in 15,000 tons of fuel oil reaching Chekka in the north (meaning that the spill has spread up to 100 kilometers in length).
the original article is in arabic; i have not seen a mention of this in any of my regular news sources. i am hoping that they're exaggerating (see, here's my negative prejudice again, expecting arabic news sources to exaggerate, *sigh*).
oil spills are so destructive, for a long time. 17 years after the exxon valdez disaster, we now know that populations and habitat within the oil spill area have suffered substantial and unanticipated injuries.
if it were up to me i'd do nearly anything to avoid a war. i think i might even concede living under occupation; war is just too costly IMO. it depends on the circumstances, of course. i remember hearing "better dead than red", and thinking "not i"; i'd rather live in east germany or the soviet union than be dead. because as long as i live, things can change; once i am dead, that's that. i am unlikely to be willing to die for any cause; no longer believing in a glorious afterlife puts a decided damper on any heroic notions i might have once had; though some protective instincts might make me throw myself in front of the paramour. i am not a pacifist; i consider direct self-defense ethical -- if somebody tries to shoot me with a gun, i'll view myself justified in killing the person. but not the person's family, not even if they knew zie had a gun and didn't take it away from zir -- only if they egged zir on, pushed zir into attacking me, and reloaded for zir. it ties into my beliefs about personal responsibility.
i know it's not that simple when one group of people shoots missiles at another in an impersonal manner (ie. they don't care what they destroy and whom they kill). but i would not be comfortable shooting missiles back, unless that group were clearly isolatable. because the "collateral damage" is not responsible for what this group did. and i am, dammit, not sinking to the same level, even when in fear of my life.
no subject
on 2006-07-26 22:08 (UTC)no subject
on 2006-07-26 22:59 (UTC)here, i'll recommend you somebody who is very thoughtful all the time:
oh ghod, i just saw the pictures on your LJ of the israeli girls signing the artillery shells. that's ... horrific. what kind of parent thinks that is a good idea? this is the very thing that makes me despondent.
no subject
on 2006-07-26 23:02 (UTC)still, iwas told your LJ is good :)
and thanks for your recommenation
no subject
on 2006-07-26 23:03 (UTC)no subject
on 2006-07-27 01:56 (UTC)no subject
on 2006-07-27 04:34 (UTC)i've now found an english-speaking news site in lebanon referring to it: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=74287, but nobody else seems to be saying a peep about it.
no subject
on 2006-07-27 03:04 (UTC)no subject
on 2006-07-27 05:56 (UTC)I hear ya. This is the reason I'd rather fight on the ground, where I can isolate my target clearly even though it puts me at much greater risk.