Sometimes, it really appears that people have an unending capacity for unintentional satire. Take for example the Guardian (UK) on a new, non-lethal Israeli tactic against the Palestinians. The newspaper reports on the UN's disapproval of sonic attacks on Palestinian strongholds in Gaza during the engagements caused by Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel in recent weeks after the Israeli disengagement:

Israel is deploying a terrifying new tactic against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip by letting loose deafening "sound bombs" that cause widespread fear, induce miscarriages and traumatise children.

The removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip opened the way for the military to use air force jets to create dozens of sonic booms by breaking the sound barrier at low altitude, sending shockwaves across the territory, often at night. Palestinians liken the sound to an earthquake or huge bomb. They describe the effect as being hit by a wall of air that is painful on the ears, sometimes causing nosebleeds and "leaving you shaking inside".

The Palestinian health ministry says the sonic booms have led to miscarriages and heart problems. The United Nations has demanded an end to the tactic, saying it causes panic attacks in children. The shockwaves have also damaged buildings by cracking walls and smashing thousands of windows.

Does it really take a genius to see what the UN and the Guardian have missed here? The Israelis tried to dissuade the Palestinians from attacking them through non-violent means -- the use of sonic booms to confuse and disrupt them, make them stressed out, but leave them alive. The Palestinians, on the other hand, toss bombs indiscriminately over the border and in restaurants and buses, killing whomever happens to be around at the the wrong place and time. And what do the Israelis get in return? A scolding from the UN and fifteen paragraphs in the Guardian about how damaging this tactic is to the Palestinian collective psyche.

Let's try to get this right, shall we? A review.

When the Israelis use sonic weapons, the sounds "cause widespread fear, induce miscarriages and traumatise children." When the Palestinians use real bombs, they cause widespread fear, kill pregnant women, and their born and unborn children.

When Israelis use sonic weapons, the shock of the bang is like "being hit by a wall of air that is painful on the ears, sometimes causing nosebleeds and 'leaving you shaking inside'." When the Palestinians toss rockets over the border and explode them in Israeli cities, Israelis get hit by a wall of sharpnel that causes full-body bleedouts and leaving pieces of human meat shaking on the broken walls all around the blast area.

When Israelis use their non-lethal tactic, it "damage[s] buildings by cracking walls and smashing thousands of windows ... causes panic attacks in children [the UN says] ... have led to miscarriages and heart problems." Palestinian bombing of pizzerias, bars, and buses damage buildings by driving nails through the windows and walls, usually still along with the human flesh of its victims still stuck to them. They cause spontaneous abortions by killing the mothers and heart problems by blowing the innards out of Israelis whose mistake was going out to enjoy a meal or a bus ride.

On the plus side, the Palestinian bombs cure panic attacks in children ... permanently.

Does the UN really need this kind of publicity at a time when we already question their integrity and judgment? Do they want to pick this moment in their organization's history to show that they are this irretrievably stupid as well? And as for the Guardian, the paper has long had a problem with balance when it comes to Israel or just about any other subject, but in this case its intellectual dishonesty has gone so far as to make a case for utter hopelessness of ever walking it back.

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