[richlevy]

Unfortunately, the battle lines have been drawn here and will not disappear anytime soon. Part of this is the fact that we have a President who is openly devout and who has pledged to wage a crusade against terrorism. While we have forgotten those words, the Middle East is no more likely to forget them than we are Ahmadinejad's use of the word jihad.

Of course, in this kind of war there are fewer and fewer bystanders. The clinic was part of a 'hearts and mind' effort, so it was in part a military operation. A NGO clinic run by missionaries would also be seen as a threat considering that part of their goal would be proselytization.

This leaves the only non-threatening presence a secular NGO clinic, and they would just be threatened because they didn't have military or church backing.

BTW, if Hamas wanted to open a clinic in the USA in a poor Muslim neighborhood, it would be shut down within a few hours. The only difference is that the ambush would be by goverment lawyers. Who you are connected to does make a difference on both sides of the Atlantic.

Remember that these people do not watch Fox News and understand that all soldiers are apple pie loving kids from Wisconsin (or Toronto) who just want to help. Many of them listen to Al-Jazeera and consider anyone with a uniform an unlawful occupier at best.