That's the one part of your post I'll agree with. By today's mealy-mouthed, 'I don't want to be judgmental' non-standards, I'm harsh as Hell. I'm unapologetically, in your face, no sh!t Sherlock, Harsh.
'You never know until you... yada, yada, yada, blah blah, woof woof'
Bullsh!t.
Normal parents instinctively protect their children. In this case 'protecting' that little sand flea would have taken the form of stuffing his little butt into that sweet spot corner that the 'father' has appropriated for himself, and then shielding him with your body. If you honestly doubt that, or don't know whether, you'd have taken such a measure to protect your little boy, then I pity him.
This isn't ambiguous. This is a failure to perform, plain and simple. The big arab protected himself as well as he could, and the little arab stopped (or slowed down) a bullet.
When it's life and death there is only one criterion for judging the players and that's bottom line results. "I tried", "I wanted to", "I dreamed and I schemed" are just a lot of crap in the absence of RESULTS.
I pity the kid. (even though he probably was a stone-thrower) I condemn the pathetic excuse for a father.
I'm Harsh that way.
'You never know until you... yada, yada, yada, blah blah, woof woof'Really kind of a nasty little jerk aren’t you? Does your acerbic style help prove your point somehow? More to the point, since you put this in quotes, can you show me where I said this? No, you can’t. My point is:
Normal parents instinctively protect their children.It looks to me like he was trying to protect his child. He may not have done it the way you would, but in the confusion of a gunfight people don’t always know for sure where the fire is coming from, as evidenced by how he acted. When the fire was coming from the Israeli position, he was between his child and the fire. Look at a map of the shooting, such as on AlamoGirl’s report, linked above somewhere. That is the first image I posted.
He then seems surprised to see the fire coming from the other side. In the confusion of a battle “Its hard to know for sure” but it appears to me he was trying to protect his kid, and when the fire suddenly shifted he was no longer in position to do so. Maybe you have great experience protecting your kid in the midst of gunmen firing from all different directions, but in a real fire fight shit happens, and people make mistakes, get caught out of position, and bad things happen.
When you look at the order of battle, it appears to me he thought he had the kid protected. Thus, your judgment is harsh, not because a parent should work to protect his kid- I agree he should - but because this man likely thought he stood between his kid and the bullets. In short, it is not your compassion I criticize, though it is pathetic, but your analysis of the tactical situation, which is also suspect.
I'm Harsh that way.
patent +AMDG