War as a mill of irony

Surely there are many who must recognise the irony that the United States Marine Corps is leading an evacuation effort in Lebanon and trying to secure American citizens' safety, while US-made bombs rain down upon those same said American citizens (among many others, of course). Does it bother Canadians that US weaponry killed their compatriots? Maybe not. After all, it has happened before.

That, though, was what is pleasantly called "friendly fire." The American-made bombs dropping on Americans who have, on some level, bought and paid for those bombs, are not friendly so much as purely indiscriminate. Or maybe Israel has discovered a passle of home-grown American-haters. Could be. Why else would they be in Lebanon gettin' all friendly with those swarthy Middle Easterners?

Or maybe that just the price one pays for being "strong on national security," supporting the attendant weapons industry and shipping armaments around the world. Eventually, they come back to bite you on the ass -- or blow off a leg -- one way or another.