Outrage is gathered.
The Prophet is quoted:
" There is a tree among the trees which is as blessed as a Muslim ... It is the date-palm tree. "
And I am reminded of the words of Joel (Joel 1: 6-7 and 12), when locusts - like an invading army - came upon the fields and a terrible famine followed.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. ... 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
and Joel 2:20, when God destroys the invading horde.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.Posted by Martial
Martial, while I would be outraged, too, if this story is true, I just don't think it is. It's too note-perfect a conflation of Israeli tactics and Vietnam-War cluelessness. Might US troops have cut down trees? Undoubtedly. But I sincerely doubt that the damage was done for the motives given.
Given that this story has been out there for three days and no one else has picked it up, doesn't it seem unlikely to be true?
Posted by: Mithras on October 14, 2003 06:51 PMWhat?! And miss the chance to quote from Joel?
Joel is one of the key texts of prophecy for American end-times fundamentalists. They misinterpret it rather wildly, so the opportunity to quote from it - and to quote well - was irresistible.
As for "cluelessness", it is clear to me that in Iraq the US military and the CPA wax rich in abundance. In truth, they do overflow with it, as the vats will with wine and oil.
Posted by: Martial on October 15, 2003 09:56 AM