There can be absolutley no illusion that this is a just way to handle Hezbollah.The overall toll now comprises 199 civilians and 12 soldiers killed in Lebanon since Wednesday, medics and police said. Nine of the 12 soldiers were killed today. More than 440 people have been wounded.
Separately, Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters, bringing to four the Shi'ite militant group's losses since the start of hostilities. [my emphasis]
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The Middle East is now very definitely embroiled in a massive Fourth Generation War*.
In terms of generational modern warfare, the fourth generation signifies the nation states' loss of their monopoly on combat forces, returning in a sense to the uncontrolled combat of pre-modern times. The simplest definition includes any war in which one of the major participants is not a state but rather a violent ideological network. Fourth Generation wars are characterized by a blurring of the lines between war and politics, soldier and civilian, peace and conflict, battlefield and safety. While this term is similar to terrorism and asymmetric warfare, it is much narrower.We have States acting against ad-hoc networks of insurgents, terrorists and freedom fighters, depending on your particular point of view. Caught in between is the civilian population.
In this kind of war, combatants aren't necessarily protected by the Geneva Convention and other Laws of War.
Also worth brushing up on the Nuremberg Principles:
Principle VIThe crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:
- (a) Crimes against peace:
- (i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;
- (ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i).
- (b) War Crimes:
- Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation of slave labor or for any other purpose of the civilian population of or in occupied territory; murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the Seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity.
- Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.
Bush and Blair (their new nickname: The Killer B's) prove they are both actually idiots in unscripted "reality" tape:
What about Kofi Annan - he seems alright. I don't like his ceasefire plan. His attitude is basically ceasefire and everything sorts out.... But I think...Ah, George, ever the Hawk.
You see George, stopping a War is a lot like quitting smoking. The thing with quitting smoking is you have to stop smoking the cigarettes. Lots of people try to quit without ever actually giving up the, you know, smoking of the cigarettes. Somking less, different brands, lower tar, only on weekends. All still smoking.
War is much the same. You have to stop, you know, bombing the cities and shooting rockets at civilians. You can't really decide we're only going to bomb at night or bomb a little less. You have to stop.
The whole thing reminds me of my brothers and I fighting. Only stops when a parent comes in and stops it ... "I don't care who started it, go to your room!".
And on Who Started? (From an Israeli Newspaper):
... the argument about who started is Israel's winning moral argument to justify every injustice ...It's the wrong question, and this is why this sort of thing is so hard.
What would have happened if the Palestinians had not fired Qassams? Would Israel have lifted the economic siege that it imposed on Gaza? Would it open the border to Palestinian laborers? Free prisoners? Meet with the elected leadership and conduct negotiations? Encourage investment in Gaza? Nonsense. If the Gazans were sitting quietly, as Israel expects them to do, their case would disappear from the agenda - here and around the world. Israel would continue with the convergence, which is solely meant to serve its goals, ignoring their needs. Nobody would have given any thought to the fate of the people of Gaza if they did not behave violently. That is a very bitter truth, but the first 20 years of the occupation passed quietly and we did not lift a finger to end it.
As Clauswitz said: War is a mere continuation of policy by other means.
But what happends when War becomes Policy?
From The Guardian:
In the midst of last Friday's onslaught, in which Israeli bombers killed dozens of Lebanese civilians, the Pentagon announced the export of $210m of aviation fuel to help Israel "keep peace and security in the region."Yes.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
* See also: First generation warfare, Second generation warfare, Third generation warfare
5 comments:
notice that fourth generation warfare was defined by a team of american analysts in 1989.
1989.
how many years after vietnam?
Yes. And the Hawks don't beleive their own analysis.
Recently the US military conducted some
Rigged War Games:
"The most elaborate war game the U.S. military has ever held was rigged so that it appeared to validate the modern, joint-service war-fighting concepts it was supposed to be testing, according to the retired Marine lieutenant general who commanded the game’s Opposing Force.
That general, Paul Van Riper, said he worries the United States will send troops into combat using doctrine and weapons systems based on false conclusions from the recently concluded Millennium Challenge 02. He was so frustrated with the rigged exercise that he said he quit midway through the game."
Not wanting to try and get simplistic but
Israel is currently in breach of the following UN resolutions, 242, 252, 262, 267, 271, 298, 446, 452, 465, 471, 484, 487, 497, 573, 592, 605, 607, 608, 636, 641, 672, 673, 726, 799, 904, 1073, 1322, 1402, 1403, and 1435.
How many was Iraq in breach of?
And another thing, can you imagine what would have happened if this was the UK's response to the IRA bombing the mainland in the 80's. I think the pro-irish lobby in the states would have had something to say about it.
I had to listen to a whole bunch of John Howard talking about how Hezbollah started it right after I heard about how 15 civilians, families, were bombed while fleeing southern Lebanon. I nearly threw my keyboard across the room.
Ghassan Hage has choice words to say about this. To boil them down horribly: Israel is a colonial state. If you're going to learn anything from history it's that colonial states don't work.
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