There is probably no historic observation that continues to be reaffirmed, twenty-six centuries after it was first uttered by the Greek Aeschylus, than this: “In war, truth is the first casualty.” Modern society has improved greatly on the capacity for inflicting such wounds by the media, academia, and other skilled propagandists. As the numbers of dead and wounded continue to pile up in the Gaza-Israeli abattoir, Israeli spokesmen tell of the “indiscriminate missile firings” from Gazans. The Western media provides a running scorecard of casualties: “67 dead Israelis, 64 of whom are soldiers and 3 civilians.” At the same time, we are told of “1,800 dead Palestinians, most of whom are civilians and children.” If 95% of the Israeli dead are from the ranks of military combatants, while “most” or the dead in Gaza are from non-combatants, which side can more accurately be said to be making “indiscriminate” attacks on the other?

The Best of Butler Shaffer