coral100cor
11-17-2004, 01:49 PM
By Ze'ev Schiff
Even before the bloody battle in Falluja, when the Americans began using combat aircraft in Baghdad, a city that bustles with civilian life, I had the opportunity to deliver a lecture at an American university. During the lecture, I asked if anyone knew how many people were killed or injured in the previous day's bombing. No one knew. Nor did they know about the casualties in another bombing. The American press does not draw as much attention to certain aspects of this conflict as it does to certain aspects of other people's conflicts.
Since then, the bombing and shelling of population centers in Iraq has taken on larger proportions. It should be hoped that after the tough battle in Falluja is over, and the Americans have a chance to draw lessons, they will reach the conclusion that it would be best to end the practice of preaching morality to the whole world, for instance through practices like the release of an annual report on the human rights situation in the occupied territories.
These reports long ago became detached from reality, and are powerful evidence of the hypocrisy that makes it permissible for the Americans, and other strong nations, to do that that is forbidden to others. If the war on international terror means that they will be engaging in hard-hitting combat, they should at least not be preaching morality to others.
This same conclusion is relevant regarding actions taken by the French in the Ivory Coast in recent days. They came to rescue citizens of France and other states from the fury of a wild mob and, in the course of their mission, killed local civilians without restraint. The extensive harm done to civilians in both instances did not even come in response to an attack - neither by Iraqis nor Africans - against population centers in the U.S. or France. Neither case may be compared to the Palestinians, who intentionally strike at civilians, which they began to do even before the occupation in 1967.
As the Americans were announcing that they had occupied approximately 80 percent of Falluja, representatives of the Red Crescent were reporting that a humanitarian catastrophe was unfolding among the city's civilians. Many of the wounded, including children, are bleeding to death because it is impossible to evacuate them to hospitals. No one is even talking about the destroyed homes and property damage.
The method employed by the Americans calls for using warplanes and artillery in urban areas. This did not start in Falluja. The American armored division that was deployed in Baghdad used the same method. The Americans found themselves in trouble after failing to quell the insurgents in several cities as the date of Iraqi elections drew nearer. Their answer: using an "iron fist" in populated areas. When the Russians did this in Chechnya, President Clinton sharply criticized them. The Iraqi insurgents, who include many foreigners, also show little compassion for the civilians. They have killed more Iraqi civilians than have the Americans.
The strong do not generally torment themselves with moral quandaries during wartime, apparently because they do not feel that they have to gain the legitimization of the international public opinion. An intense dispute broke out in Israel following the deaths of 13 civilians from a bomb dropped by an Israel Air Force jet with the aim of liquidating arch-murderer Salah Shehada, who was responsible for the deaths of many Israeli civilians. The Shehada case became a formative event for the IDF, especially its air force.
In its wake, numerous technical and procedural actions were taken. There has been increased recognition of the fact that this is not World War II and not the War of Independence, that the State of Israel requires legitimacy in Israeli public opinion, too, for its military actions, even when it feels that it is facing an existential war.
This quiet quest for legitimacy led the defense industries in Israel to develop special warheads for missiles fired from helicopters - mainly in "targeted assassinations" - which cause a minimum of collateral damage outside the vehicles. The Israel Air Force graphs show a steady decline in the number of casualties not involved in terrorism. Indeed, the majority of Palestinian civilians that have been killed or wounded in recent months were hit by gunfire from ground troops. Israel is at least trying to correct the situation and does not preach to others how to behave on the battlefield.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/502510.html
Opinions?
Even before the bloody battle in Falluja, when the Americans began using combat aircraft in Baghdad, a city that bustles with civilian life, I had the opportunity to deliver a lecture at an American university. During the lecture, I asked if anyone knew how many people were killed or injured in the previous day's bombing. No one knew. Nor did they know about the casualties in another bombing. The American press does not draw as much attention to certain aspects of this conflict as it does to certain aspects of other people's conflicts.
Since then, the bombing and shelling of population centers in Iraq has taken on larger proportions. It should be hoped that after the tough battle in Falluja is over, and the Americans have a chance to draw lessons, they will reach the conclusion that it would be best to end the practice of preaching morality to the whole world, for instance through practices like the release of an annual report on the human rights situation in the occupied territories.
These reports long ago became detached from reality, and are powerful evidence of the hypocrisy that makes it permissible for the Americans, and other strong nations, to do that that is forbidden to others. If the war on international terror means that they will be engaging in hard-hitting combat, they should at least not be preaching morality to others.
This same conclusion is relevant regarding actions taken by the French in the Ivory Coast in recent days. They came to rescue citizens of France and other states from the fury of a wild mob and, in the course of their mission, killed local civilians without restraint. The extensive harm done to civilians in both instances did not even come in response to an attack - neither by Iraqis nor Africans - against population centers in the U.S. or France. Neither case may be compared to the Palestinians, who intentionally strike at civilians, which they began to do even before the occupation in 1967.
As the Americans were announcing that they had occupied approximately 80 percent of Falluja, representatives of the Red Crescent were reporting that a humanitarian catastrophe was unfolding among the city's civilians. Many of the wounded, including children, are bleeding to death because it is impossible to evacuate them to hospitals. No one is even talking about the destroyed homes and property damage.
The method employed by the Americans calls for using warplanes and artillery in urban areas. This did not start in Falluja. The American armored division that was deployed in Baghdad used the same method. The Americans found themselves in trouble after failing to quell the insurgents in several cities as the date of Iraqi elections drew nearer. Their answer: using an "iron fist" in populated areas. When the Russians did this in Chechnya, President Clinton sharply criticized them. The Iraqi insurgents, who include many foreigners, also show little compassion for the civilians. They have killed more Iraqi civilians than have the Americans.
The strong do not generally torment themselves with moral quandaries during wartime, apparently because they do not feel that they have to gain the legitimization of the international public opinion. An intense dispute broke out in Israel following the deaths of 13 civilians from a bomb dropped by an Israel Air Force jet with the aim of liquidating arch-murderer Salah Shehada, who was responsible for the deaths of many Israeli civilians. The Shehada case became a formative event for the IDF, especially its air force.
In its wake, numerous technical and procedural actions were taken. There has been increased recognition of the fact that this is not World War II and not the War of Independence, that the State of Israel requires legitimacy in Israeli public opinion, too, for its military actions, even when it feels that it is facing an existential war.
This quiet quest for legitimacy led the defense industries in Israel to develop special warheads for missiles fired from helicopters - mainly in "targeted assassinations" - which cause a minimum of collateral damage outside the vehicles. The Israel Air Force graphs show a steady decline in the number of casualties not involved in terrorism. Indeed, the majority of Palestinian civilians that have been killed or wounded in recent months were hit by gunfire from ground troops. Israel is at least trying to correct the situation and does not preach to others how to behave on the battlefield.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/502510.html
Opinions?