this post was submitted on 27 May 2024
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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (15 children)

In war, you are allowed to kill innocents if necessary to achieve a valid military objective.

In this war, the IDF's objective is to destroy Hamas.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"Allowed" by whom? "Necessary" by whose metric?

If their objective is to destroy Hamas and they determine that the only way to do that is wipe out the Palestinian people from the face of the Earth, you're saying that's justified because it's their necessary military objective?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Allowed by international law.

Necessary according to their military capabilities, which can be judged by observers.

Most observers don't think destroying Hamas requires wiping out all Palestinians, but at the same time it's impossible to destroy Hamas without civilian casualties.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Okay, well observers are saying Israel is committing genocide, so I'm not sure what your issue is.

Also, I'm not sure why you think what is legal is the same as what is moral.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Legal isn't the same as moral, but there is no consensus on the morality of war. Some people are pacifists and believe all war is immoral. Most people believe war is justified if it has a legitimate casus belli.

Whether or not Israel is committing genocide is a separate question from whether a military action is morally permissible, because genocide involves actions with no military purpose. In other words it's possible that strikes like these are morally permissible even if a government is also doing things that are illegal, like blocking aid delivery.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (21 children)

Once again- if Israel determines that wiping out every last Palestinian has a military purpose, that, according to you, is not genocide and is also justified.

You have a very strange idea about what is or is not justified in this world. You seem to think Dresden was justified and that killing thousands of children in Gaza is justified because things happen in war.

Please do contact the parents of dead Gazan children and let them know those deaths were justified. Let me know how it goes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Again, by definition genocide has no military purpose.

Israel's military objective is to destroy Hamas. According to Western military doctrine (which Israel is capable of using), this objective does not require wiping out every last Palestinian. So it doesn't matter what Israel "determines", wiping out every last Palestinian is not permissible.

I think if war is justified, then killing children is justified because children are always killed in war. Personally I'm ambivalent about whether war can ever be justified, but I certainly recognize that most people think it can.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think if war is justified

It isn't.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you're a pacifist, I can respect that.

But I don't agree with those who believe that (say) the US invasion of Normandy can be justified, but this invasion cannot be justified. Both involved immense civilian suffering.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The invasion of Normandy was not what started the war. The war started when the Nazis invaded Poland.

And the storming of Normandy beach did not involve the deaths of civilians.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This war started when Hamas invaded Israel.

And the invasion of Normandy did not end on the beach.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hamas did not invade Israel. What are you talking about? They didn't try to take over territory. They committed an act of terrorism, not an act of war.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Distinction without difference, it's a casus belli either way.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Of course there's a difference. An invasion is about seizing territory.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

An attack is a casus belli even without seizing territory.

For example, if Putin launched missiles at Warsaw or DC, he would start a war. It makes no difference if any territory is taken.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I see, and that will justify killing countless Russian children in your opinion?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A missile strike is a legitimate casus belli. If you're not a pacifist, that means it justifies force to achieve a military objective, which necessarily justifies killing civilians.

Whether that's "countless" or a few depends on the objective.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, I get that you think that as long as it fits the military goal, killing any amount of children is justified.

And I'm telling you that position is disgusting and abhorrent.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

There is no military goal that justifies killing "any amount" of civilians. All of them have limits, which are based on military capabilities.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Okay, what is the limit of children the IDF should be able to kill before it is no longer justified? Give me a number.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (48 children)

In general, civilian-combatant casualty ratios range from 1:1 to 5:1. They tend to be higher in urban settings like Gaza. The Chechen wars were closer to 7-10:1

The US estimates 15,000 combatants have been killed in Gaza. If so, we would consider 15,000 to 75,000 civilian deaths to be normal at this point.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Israel themselves said they would accept 15 dead civilians for low level Hamas staff and 100+ for higher ranking ones.

And they overshoot hard.

IDF count every male above 16 as Hamas by default. You're gonna get a lot of false positives that way

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Anyone reading along in this thread should probably check the veracity of these claimed ratios. Wikipedia has an okay overview.

It's also worth noting that the Russian wars in Chechnya were particularly notable for their brutal war crimes.

@FlyingSquid

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'll save you the effort:

  • Mexican American War, 1:1
  • WW1, 1:1
  • WW2, between 3:2 and 2:1
  • Korean War, 3:1
  • Vietnam War, between 1:3 and 2:1
  • Lebanon War, between 4:1 and 6:1
  • Chechen Wars, 10:1 (first), 4:1 (second), 7.6:1 (overall)
  • Yugoslav War: between 1:10 and 10:1
  • Iraq War: between 1:2 and 3:1
  • Mosul: between 0.7:1 and 1.5:1

If there are 15,000 combatants among the 35,000 dead in Gaza, then this war stands at 1.3:1

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yet everyone except Israelites can see that it is a cover up excuse to exterminate the people who they have been trying to get rid off for more than half a century

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