Friday, April 20, 2012
George Zimmerman's "apology"
George Zimmerman "apologized" today for killing Trayvon Martin. That's how the media treated the story. None seemed to notice the content of the apology: "I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. I did not know if he was armed or not." What is he saying there? He's sorry he killed a 17-year old, but wouldn't be if Trayvon were 25? It's ok to kill someone in "self-defense" if you don't know if they're armed, and therefore are justified to assume that they are?
Interestingly, the last assumption would put Zimmerman right in line both with U.S. foreign policy and with U.S. military tactics. Because both use the assumption that if there is some finite, albeit minuscule, chance that some "enemy" will do "us" harm, then "we" are justified in killing them.
