Syria's civil strife spilled over two borders today, drawing the predictable outraged condemnation from the usual American and NATO suspects.
In Lebanon a news cameraman was shot as he stood at the border. In Turkey, at least two Syrian rebels died when they were pursued into Turkish territory after staging an ambush on a Syrian Army checkpoint.
Contrast that to the outraged condemnation that ensued when thousands of Turkish commandos spilled over the Iraq border last October after Kurdish rebels had launched an attack on a Turkish Army checkpoint.
There wasn't any.
Oh, there was condemnation alright - of the rebels!
NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen, British PM David Cameron, and President Obama spoke as one in condemning the rebel attack.
Not even the hint of a scolding for Turkey for those thousands of troops violating Iraqi sovereignty.
And that's not new. Turkey has sent its troops into neighboring countries dozens of times since the latest round of the Kurdish uprising started in the middle eighties.
They have been every bit as ruthless with their own Kurdish population as Syria has been with these foreign funded "peaceful protesters" we've been organizing, paying, and provisioning with weapons.
Don't let that confuse you. Not all dead victims of cross-border incursions are equal.
Turkey is a NATO member and our erstwhile ally. They buy lots of weapons from us. Everything they do is perfectly understandable. When they kill their rebels and violate the territorial integrity of their neighbors it's a good thing.
In fact, we applaud their restraint.
Syria is friendly with Iran and buys weapons from Russia. Obviously they are bad guys. Their rebels are peaceful protesters, freedom fighters, and martyrs.
We condemn the brutality of the Syrian regime and demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice.
Business as usual.
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