In response to reports that Israeli soldiers shot unarmed civilians in Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said:
The Israeli Army is the most moral in the world, and I know what I’m talking about because I know what took place in the former Yugoslavia, in Iraq.
Now, he might be referencing the former regimes of Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein. But isn't it more likely to be a not-so-subtle dig at the United States military's human rights record? After all, why would he bother to favorably compare the IDF to the armies of two ruthless dictators? On the other hand, at this particular moment in time, why on earth would he needlessly go after the army of Israel's strongest ally? Maybe he figures, with his job almost over and a right-wing government coming in, he's got nothing to lose.
--Clay Risen