David Bromwich writes:
Thomas Friedman's column today, his first on the bombing and invasion of Gaza, enthusiastically supports Israel's actions as part of a Middle East strategy that Barak Obama ought to endorse. Friedman writes, he says, on behalf of the Palestinians. He sees their affliction as a necessary service to the ultimate stability of the region. He does not speak of the facts of the slaughter: the 100-to-1 ratio of Palestinian to Israeli dead; the bombing of institutions and private houses that were known to be entirely or almost entirely inhabited by civilians. Not one word of pity for the sufferings of Gaza, and not a hint of reproach to Israel. Friedman espouses the righteousness of these killings as a benefit to all parties, whether they realize it or not. If one were looking for evidence that Israel's special relationship to the U.S. has corroded the moral sense of both countries, one could hardly point to a more finished specimen of the corruption of heart in question. What is most striking, however, about the manner of the column is its efficiency and energy. A tone of paternal mastery that is itself an impersonal achievement–a tone that has not altered since the heyday of liberal empire between the Boer War and the British conquest of Iraq.
