THE TRUTH HAS AN AMERICA-HATING, JIHADIST BIAS

Pam Geller has allegedly shocking video of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf speaking and taking questions in Australia in 2005. National Review's Jim Geraghty identifies what he regards as the worst of the statements, which he presents with a (thoroughly unearned) flourish of triumph:

'The United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al-Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims.'

In light of this ...

... everyone who lectured us about how moderate and sensible Imam Rauf is is invited to eat their words with the sauce of their choice.

Sorry, Jim. I'm not hungry.

The full quote is:

We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al Qaida has on its hands of innocent non Muslims. You may remember that the US-led sanctions against Iraq led to the death of over half a million Iraqi children. This has been documented by the United Nations. And when Madeleine Albright, who has become a friend of mine over the last couple of years, when she was Secretary of State and was asked whether this was worth it, said it was worth it.

To which Geraghty replies, in effect: And if that's true, so freaking what? They're just half a million wogs, aren't they?

If someone wants to argue that the sanctions regime on Iraq was counterproductive, because Saddam's regime simply seized the resources they needed and let the Iraqi people suffer and starve, that's a fair point. Madeline Albright’s comment that containing Saddam was "worth it" -- i.e., the death of Iraqi children -- was idiotic. But to suggest that the indirect effects of a U.S. sanctions regime is remotely morally comparable to al-Qaeda's deliberate mass murder -- much less to suggest that they are morally worse -- is to eviscerate one's claim to be moderate, pro-American, or sensible....

Right, because half a million Iraqi kids couldn't possibly even add up to even one regular person.

And I suppose we should also ignore the tens of thousands of noncombatant men, women and children killed in the first Gulf War. And ignore the tens of thousands of dead noncombatants of the Iraq War. And on and on.

I have no desire to downplay the viciousness, brutality, and cold-bloodedness of 9/11. But the imam is talking about numbers. He's trying to get Westerners to understand that it hurts Muslims when their innocent family members die, too, and that the number of deaths of that kind exceeds the number -- yes, the very high number -- of 9/11 dead.

I'm sorry that objective reality, and the mathematical process of addition, are America-hating traitors, but that's the way it is.