06 January 2009

Humane Actions and the Art of War Porn

... courtesy of the Israel Defence Force.

Following an onslaught of viewer complaints, YouTube yanked one of the IDF's videos that ... ostensibly showed their "humane actions" ...

Then, YouTube put it back after still more pressure from viewers. That day the IDF posted a response on their channel profile: "We were saddened earlier today that YouTube took down some of our exclusive footage showing the IDF's operational success in operation Cast Lead against Hamas extremists in the Gaza Strip. Fortunately, due to blogger and viewer support, YouTube has put back up some of the footage they removed."

YouTube's attempts to censor the videos seemed to spur the IDF to post even more extreme footage. Last week, ... 20 or so [new videos] show the army's precision strikes using smart bombs purportedly destroying the Hamas government's offices, and bombs "neutralizing mosques" ... So far, these "precision strikes" have been responsible for 540 deaths in Gaza, including at least 200 civilians. The Associated Press reported that 14 children died on Monday alone.


The Tyee reporter supposes that a fascination by YouTubers for wartime snuff is behind their demand for more from the IDF. I disagree. More likely, it's the hypocrisy. Like Dubya's cluelessness as his utterances indict him, so these videos indict Israel's malefactors.

Recommend this post