Self-Interest: Surgeons and Ministers

Three excerpts from a well-written article from the Times of London:

"In the emergency room of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Dr Raed al-Arayni was entering his 12th day of nonstop work and was preparing for yet another operation when his worst nightmare came true.

The bloodied little boy being carried into the room by a neighbour was screaming at him. “Baba, baba [daddy, daddy],” the child cried."

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'“Israel has acted, is acting and will act only according to its considerations, the security needs of its citizens and its right to self-defence,” Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister and the ruling Kadima party’s candidate for prime minister, said on Friday.'

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And perhaps, what the purpose of all this is:

"Likud is still leading the race with an expected 32 seats and Kadima is likely to win 27 or so seats, but the centre-left block is closing fast."

On Killing and Guilt

I cannot look a child in the eye and tell them that down the street, or even next door, a murderer lives and I am going to kill him but in doing so I might kill the child. I cannot say this to the child's mother or father.

But if I allow someone else to take this risk, am I not guilty in some way?

Beyond what the murderer deserves or the need to stop the person, this child's life would be taken as a calculated risk, but a risk that was accepted. By accepting the risk, one accepts the responsibility for it.

We have to move on in our own lives but we are party to the actions of the leaders we elect. When Harper says he accepts the risk that a child will be killed in order to murder a murderer, then he accepts it on my behalf. I am guilty as a Canadian in the child's death.

I cannot support this. As a Liberal, I do not like Mr. Ignatieff, as the party leader, accepting the risks of manslaughter in Israel and Gaza on my behalf. I am now guilty in the killing of humans.

Are inactive shareholders not responsible for the demise of a company? Maybe not but they lose their shirts.

Liberals Kill 40 At School

Is there any question that fighting should be stopped through international intervention if necessary:

"A single Israeli strike kills at least 40 at a school, the third involving UN-run schools on the same day."

Here.

Another few days is unacceptable. We are guilty already and worse if we continue just standby. It's time for leadership, Mr. Ignatieff, at the least from you; we can expect nothing from our Prime Minister.

To continue with some moral leadership...

"UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it "totally unacceptable" that Israeli bombardments would strike near four UN facilities - three schools and a health centre - where Palestinians had sought refuge in Gaza.

Some 15,000 Palestinians have packed the UN's 23 Gaza schools because their homes were destroyed or to flee the violence. The UN provided the Israeli military with GPS co-ordinates for all of them."