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.
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.
I consider all civilians to be equal, so I’m not going to separate children for the same reason I’m not going to separate Palestinian Christians, mothers, teachers, or retirees.
Okay, let me put it this way- are you so firm in your conviction that all the child deaths in Gaza so far have been justified that you would be willing to say that to the parents of a dead child? Because I’m willing to find some so that you can tell them that yourself. I bet they’d even be willing to get on video chat with you so you can tell them, to their faces, that their child’s death was justifiable.
So, are you willing to do that? Tell grieving parents that their child’s death was justifiable because Israel is accomplishing its military objectives?
Believing something is true does not mean that you should tell someone, especially someone in grief.
If someone’s husband just died, would you be willing to say, “You should know that he was cheating on you for years”?
If someone’s mother just died, would you be willing to say, “I really think you should have spent more time with her in her final days”?
If someone’s child commits suicide, would you be willing to say, “You could have prevented this if you had bothered to pay attention to the warning signs”?
Even if all these things are 100% true, I think it would be monstrous to blurt them out.
Sometimes compassion means respecting that people are not always ready to hear the truth.
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.
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.
There is no military goal that justifies killing “any amount” of civilians. All of them have limits, which are based on military capabilities.
Okay, what is the limit of children the IDF should be able to kill before it is no longer justified? Give me a number.
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.
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
I’ll save you the effort:
If there are 15,000 combatants among the 35,000 dead in Gaza, then this war stands at 1.3:1
I asked about children.
I consider all civilians to be equal, so I’m not going to separate children for the same reason I’m not going to separate Palestinian Christians, mothers, teachers, or retirees.
Okay, let me put it this way- are you so firm in your conviction that all the child deaths in Gaza so far have been justified that you would be willing to say that to the parents of a dead child? Because I’m willing to find some so that you can tell them that yourself. I bet they’d even be willing to get on video chat with you so you can tell them, to their faces, that their child’s death was justifiable.
So, are you willing to do that? Tell grieving parents that their child’s death was justifiable because Israel is accomplishing its military objectives?
Believing something is true does not mean that you should tell someone, especially someone in grief.
If someone’s husband just died, would you be willing to say, “You should know that he was cheating on you for years”?
If someone’s mother just died, would you be willing to say, “I really think you should have spent more time with her in her final days”?
If someone’s child commits suicide, would you be willing to say, “You could have prevented this if you had bothered to pay attention to the warning signs”?
Even if all these things are 100% true, I think it would be monstrous to blurt them out.
Sometimes compassion means respecting that people are not always ready to hear the truth.