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A couple more thoughts, DiAnna...
Let's try to keep things in perspective. I haven't read anyone saying, "Dead Americans - A-okay", nor anything approaching that. I have read comments discussing whether the attack could be described as a terrorist act, or an act of war. Whichever side of that discussion you fall on does not make the event any more or any less tragic or the act any more or less heinous.
My point in posting Big Tom's hideous comment from the thread about the innocent Afghan boys being killed by NATO helicopters was that if you are going to say, "Afghanistan is a warzone, so deaths there are to be expected and hence less regretted," then you are leaving yourself open to accusations of double standards.
It is true that the Afghan boys were not targetted, but mistaken for insurgent troops. That does not make one jot of difference to their families and yet those that made the mistake will not be held accountable for that mistake. Lack of intent does not exonerate anyone for a crime, if it did manslaughter would not be a recognised crime in most judiciaries.
As far as those poor soldiers in Germany are concerned, they may or may not have been the victims of terrorism, or the victims of retribution for perceived American acts elsewhere in the world. Of course, they may have been victims of a lone individual with mental health issues. Whatever the case, nothing is making their killing justifiable any more than the killing of the Aghan kids is justifiable. It is worth pointing out, however, that the killer of the soldiers is being brought to justice, unlike the killers of the Afghan boys.
Let's try to keep things in perspective. I haven't read anyone saying, "Dead Americans - A-okay", nor anything approaching that. I have read comments discussing whether the attack could be described as a terrorist act, or an act of war. Whichever side of that discussion you fall on does not make the event any more or any less tragic or the act any more or less heinous.
My point in posting Big Tom's hideous comment from the thread about the innocent Afghan boys being killed by NATO helicopters was that if you are going to say, "Afghanistan is a warzone, so deaths there are to be expected and hence less regretted," then you are leaving yourself open to accusations of double standards.
It is true that the Afghan boys were not targetted, but mistaken for insurgent troops. That does not make one jot of difference to their families and yet those that made the mistake will not be held accountable for that mistake. Lack of intent does not exonerate anyone for a crime, if it did manslaughter would not be a recognised crime in most judiciaries.
As far as those poor soldiers in Germany are concerned, they may or may not have been the victims of terrorism, or the victims of retribution for perceived American acts elsewhere in the world. Of course, they may have been victims of a lone individual with mental health issues. Whatever the case, nothing is making their killing justifiable any more than the killing of the Aghan kids is justifiable. It is worth pointing out, however, that the killer of the soldiers is being brought to justice, unlike the killers of the Afghan boys.