Not all of OUR allies kill Americans, although I'm sure they want to, and those that do are PAID to.

Thanks to Obama, americans no longer need to go to other countries to be assassinated by a government, now the united states government will do it themselves!

To be fair, the killing of the Turkish American gets more straight to the point given the nature of American historical memory. Why dig up years-old skeletons when you can fry fresh meat?

I think Haig suggested those nuns were trying to run a blockade--or rather, a road barrier, but maybe the US only ignores killing of its citizens when they're doing something really bad like trying to help poor people when our allies want them to be miserable. Or it could be this whole blockade-running thing that drives them nuts.

En Ming Hee: EXACTLY! I can see the Young Turks being upset, but NOT any other American. Why I know STATES here where that young man could have gotten shot 5 times in the head by the authorities, just for looking Mexican. (which he looks Mexican to me and I hear that he's JUST an anchor baby)

Seriously, you've been killing me all week, especially the tweet about the need to increase foreign aid to Israel .

Jonathan:

If you are a Jew - I pity you.

Jonathan, also, if you are an El Salvadoran general or Iraqi Baathist, I pity you.

[not actually Nathan]

Ok, not actually Nathan was me.

I realized my satire fell flat on its face. Partly because, to follow Nathan's logic, I should have merely said if you were El Salvadoran or Iraqi, I pity you. But then, that doesn't make sense, because there is not the kind of rank tribalism in those cases, when discussing it here in the United States, that there is when it comes to Israel.

If I were not an atheist, I would thank Allah that I was born the son of a Southern Baptist from Pikeville, Kentucky, USA and a Hindu from Calcutta, India and got mistaken for Hispanic much of my life. Occasionally, people would pity me for not getting with the whole tribalism thing (Southern Baptist grandma, particularly), but it was pretty easy to get over it, given my background. Tribalism was nonsense to me at a very young age.

Jonathan, also, if you are an El Salvadoran general or Iraqi Baathist, I pity you.

Yes, in the long history of point-missing, few people have missed the point quite as well as Nathan.

Our host writes paragraphs like that so effortlessly that one would think anyone can do it, yet no one does.

Donald Johnson

You seem to have them pegged.

En Hing Me

Lorraine Adams does write beautifully, with style lacking in those early John Rain thrillers Barry Eisler wrote, so I appreciate your pointing her out. But it seems like Eisler is maturing. Based on the plugs for his last book Inside Out by numerous people, including Andy Worthington, I get the feeling that book is special. And Juan Cole also liked the book before it. Of course, it would be even better if more people would read Andy Worthington and Juan Cole.

What, no mention of the USS Liberty?

Not to justify the Iraqi attack on the Stark, but I think this was at a time when Iraq and Iran were engaging in a massive "tanker war' all across the Persian Gulf. Completely different than this situation.

Also, unlike the Israeli attack on the Liberty where the Israelis could clearly se the US flag on the ship, the Iraqi pilots attacked from far up with jets.

As to the Stark, see Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf, 1987-1988 by Harold Lee Wise. It's a military account, not political, so all you get is battles and stuff, but what happened as to the Stark and the later naval battles between the US and Iran (including the largest air-sea battle since WWII) shows why the Pentagon at the end of the 80s didn't consider the situation in the Gulf satisfactory.

It does look like what happened to the Stark wasn't intentional, unlike what happened to the Liberty in 67.

Justin, that is what the it was only 34 parenthetical expression concerned

Last time an American was killed by Middle Eastern hijackers on a civilian ship in the Eastern Mediterranean, the reaction from Washington was slightly different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Klinghoffer