Foreign news sources such as Reuters and BBC, not generally known for their pro-Israel views, dryly noted this week an apparent "double standard" in U.S. policy towards Israel. The issue came to the fore after an unmanned U.S. drone successfully fired a bomb at a car in Yemen on Sunday, killing six suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists, including one of the main suspects in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole two years ago.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called the attack on the car "a very successful tactical operation" that was designed not only to get "rid of somebody dangerous, but to impose changes in [the enemy's] tactics and operations." Concerned reporters asked State Department spokesman Richard Boucher how the attack squares with American objections to Israeli targeted killings of known murderous Palestinian terrorists.
Boucher replied that it was a question of "different circumstances," including "the [Middle East's] prospects of peace and the prospects of negotiation and the prospects of the need to create an atmosphere for progress." Reuters described the answer as giving "the United States room to try to justify the killing of six men in a car in Yemen," while BBC reported that US officials "now face some awkward questions about their opposition to Israeli actions."
Boucher said again that the U.S. policy of objecting to Israel's "targeted killings in the Israeli-Palestinian context has not changed." The difficult position facing Boucher notwithstanding, American officials praised the Yemeni attack.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called the attack on the car "a very successful tactical operation" that was designed not only to get "rid of somebody dangerous, but to impose changes in [the enemy's] tactics and operations." Concerned reporters asked State Department spokesman Richard Boucher how the attack squares with American objections to Israeli targeted killings of known murderous Palestinian terrorists.
Boucher replied that it was a question of "different circumstances," including "the [Middle East's] prospects of peace and the prospects of negotiation and the prospects of the need to create an atmosphere for progress." Reuters described the answer as giving "the United States room to try to justify the killing of six men in a car in Yemen," while BBC reported that US officials "now face some awkward questions about their opposition to Israeli actions."
Boucher said again that the U.S. policy of objecting to Israel's "targeted killings in the Israeli-Palestinian context has not changed." The difficult position facing Boucher notwithstanding, American officials praised the Yemeni attack.