(Commentary) Evelyn Gordon - The New York Times tucked a remarkable statistic into an article on WikiLeaks' latest document dump, one with ramifications for the ongoing delegitimization campaign against Israel: for most of the last century, the normal civilian-to-combatant wartime fatality ratio has been 10:1. If civilians routinely account for 90% of all casualties in modern warfare, why is the world up in arms about the civilian casualty rate in last year's Israel-Hamas war in Gaza - which was markedly lower (39%, according to the IDF)? Judged against the global norm, the IDF has actually been unusually successful at minimizing civilian casualties.
2010-10-26 09:39:34Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive