[Nettime-bold] Combative recontextualization

[Phil Duncan <PDuncan@aggregatestudio.com>]

The following is from: 
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=YDL4XZ1WDJ3ZECRBAEZSFEY?type=worldNews&storyID=2294634

A senior defense official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, 
also said foreigners who have arrived in Baghdad to volunteer as "human 
shields" at key Iraqi sites may be considered war combatants rather than 
innocent civilians.

...

Foreign "volunteers," including some from Europe who drove from London, 
arrived in Baghdad this month and have begun to take their places at Iraqi 
installations to serve as human shields in the hope of warding off attacks.

The senior defense official said, "I'm not a legal expert, but you 
certainly could argue that since they're working in the service of the 
Iraqi government, they may in fact have crossed the line between combatant 
and noncombatant."

-end quote-

It seems the US senior leadership is facing up to the challenge posed by 
the international peaceful protesters, offering the war mongering corporate 
coalition an opportunity to think twice about bombing the shit out Baghdad, 
in typical form.  By declaring humanitarian efforts "combatant," the US 
Hawks have posited any kind of relief aid as "enemy" and therefore  fair 
game as cannon fodder.  What's next?  Does this precedent mean that the Red 
Cross and Crescent are also fair targets?

Why is it not surprising that this tactic comes out of the same end of the 
machine that also accuses the Iraqi administration of, "violation of the 
fundamental principle that civilians and civilian objects must be protected 
in wartime."

Perhaps it is true that we despise in others those things about which we 
hold ourselves in contempt...

-pause rant-

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