All Hank, all the time.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
Ty misread my comment then. I didn't say he was using government troops. I said his effourts were part of a civil war.

Huh. You think, maybe, that this could be why I told Ty that he misunderstood you?

Nah. That was just a coincidence.

I think Arafat is probably responsible for more civilian deaths that occured outside any field of battle. UNITA and renamo killed civilians but they were also fighting a war. Arafat hijacked cruise ships that had nothing to do with anything political and were not in Israel or even the ME and then killed civilians aboard the same. Not effect direct or immediatre change within his "country" but to black mail the international community into forcing Israel to capitulate to his demands.

There is a huge difference.

Unita planted landmines around wells to disrupt village life. Renamo targetted rural health clinics and schools, and focused in particular on killing teachers and medical workers. Renamo in particular was well known for cutting off arms, legs, hands of farmers and villagers who might support the government.

Renamo, morever, rarely targeted soldiers or military installations. This sets them apart even from Hamas or Hezbollah. Personally, I would not have wanted to travel in Gaza during the height of the intifada with a truckload of soldiers -- it would be like wearing a bullseye on your back. I would, however, travel with a truckload of soldiers through Mozambique, in places where Renamo was particularly active. In fact, I did.

Did Renamo and Unita blow up planes? No. How many international commercial flights do you think there were into Angola and Mozambique in the 1980s? And in any event, blowing up planes would have alienated their right-wing backers. This was not a marvel of restraint or regard for civilian life. It was a tactical choice.

How were those actions any more or less part of a war than Arafat's actions? They were not -- unless you take the position that hacking off children's arms and shooting teachers is okay so long as you claim to be fighting a civil war.

Penske, it would be pretty easy for you to acknowledge that these people were terrorists, and that they should all burn on the same plane of hell as Arafat. I don't know why you refuse to do so.