An Israeli jet attacked the home of a Hamas politician because five Hamas militants were nearby. That the attack killed seven members of the politician’s family didn’t even rate an explanation or apology from Israel.
Israel also said all Hamas leaders should be killed , an outrageous statement which was received with thunderous silence by US media. Were Hamas to say Israeli leaders should die, you can be sure our media would be screaming for blood.
Killing civilians, either deliberately or through studied neglect, is a war crime and morally loathsome. Period. Regardless of who is doing it or why. Whether by jet or car bomb.
And in practical terms, it’s a self-defeating tactic because it’ll inflame the other side, cause you to lose some of your own supporters, and create a continuing spiral of violence.
Actually, depending on your motives, bombing civilians can be an excellent tactic. (Just look at BOTH sides in Sri Lanka.) If your goal is to inflame the situation so you can implement and extremist agenda, bombing civilians is just the thing. It will ensure a response from the other side, make the other side stronger as its constituency gives it more support, and gain you more support in your own constituency when the other side DOES respond.
Just because you and I believe wars should be ended doesn’t mean everyone else does. There are plenty of leaders out there (and in this country) who will use war for one of its most effective purposes: the internal power grab. War is an excellent vehicle for it– especially if you can provoke more extremism from “the enemy.”
And when, as in so many post-modern wars, neither side can win a military victory, well, why not exacerbate the war? As an extremist leader, if they can’t win, you can’t lose! Which may be an oversimplification, but that’s the general theory in so many halls of leadership around the world.
“Killing civilians, either deliberately or through studied neglect, is a war crime and morally loathsome. Period. Regardless of who is doing it or why. Whether by jet or car bomb.”
Hey, I said all along that killing civilians was loathsome and immoral. With that thought in mind, I would hope most people would support giving the land they stole from my people back to us here in America. After all, you killed our women and children, which is immoral and loathsome.
The sad truth is: before the Euro-man came to this country, there was no taxes, no debt, everyone had a place to put their tepee. Euro-man thought he could improve on this system.