Sam Harris Quote
Nothing in Chomsky's account acknowledges the difference between intending to kill a child, because of the effect you hope to produce on its parents (we call this terrorism), and inadvertently killing a child in an attempt to capture or kill an avowed child murderer (we call this collateral damage). In both cases a child has died, and in both cases it is a tragedy. But the ethical status of the perpetrators, be they individuals or states, could not be more distinct... For Chomsky, intentions do not seem to matter. Body count is all.
Sam Harris
Nothing in Chomsky's account acknowledges the difference between intending to kill a child, because of the effect you hope to produce on its parents (we call this terrorism), and inadvertently killing a child in an attempt to capture or kill an avowed child murderer (we call this collateral damage). In both cases a child has died, and in both cases it is a tragedy. But the ethical status of the perpetrators, be they individuals or states, could not be more distinct... For Chomsky, intentions do not seem to matter. Body count is all.
Related Quotes
Hitherto, the Palestinians had been relatively immune to this style. I thought this was a hugely retrograde development. I said as much to Edward. To reprint Nazi propaganda and to make a theocratic...
Christopher Hitchens
Tags:
fascism, islam, muslims, united states, leftists, theocracy, christians, israel, religious extremism, oil
Some readers may have noticed an icy little missive from Noam Chomsky ["Letters," December 3], repudiating the very idea that he and I had disagreed on the "roots" of September 11. I rush to agree. He...
Christopher Hitchens
Tags:
politics, war, morality, debate, genocide, afghanistan, terrorism, 2001, september 11 attacks, leftism
Suppose that we agree that the two atrocities can or may be mentioned in the same breath. Why should we do so? I wrote at the time (, October 5, 1998) that Osama bin Laden 'hopes to bring a judgmental...
Christopher Hitchens
Tags:
religion, war, emotion, islam, despotism, united states, theocracy, middle east, osama bin laden, war crimes