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Who Says War Has to Be Proportional?

[Los Angeles Times] Jonathan Chait - The criticism that Israel is using "disproportionate force" is just silly. No country operates on the principle of responding to aggression with no more force than was originally used against it. During World War II, Germany sunk a lot of American ships and declared war on us, and in return we flattened its cities, killed, or captured hundreds of thousands of its solders, and occupied its land. That was hardly a proportionate response. Hizballah places its rockets in homes, knowing that Israel cannot hit back without creating collateral damage. If Israel has to operate under a code of ethics that renders civilian deaths unacceptable, then it automatically loses. Israel says attacks on Lebanon's civilian infrastructure are an attempt to prevent Hizballah from transporting the captured soldiers to Iran and to prevent Iran and Syria from resupplying Hizballah. Where Israel has bombed civilian areas, it has been in an attempt to strike Hizballah's rockets.
2006-07-28 01:00:00
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