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[2006 flashback LA Times piece] Who Says War Has to Be Proportional?
L.A. Times Archives ^ | July 23, 2006 | L.A. Times Archives

Posted on 09/29/2024 4:53:40 PM PDT by Freeleesy

But the brutal fact is that civilian deaths are Hezbollah’s strongest weapon. As Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, once said: “We have discovered how to hit the Jews where they are the most vulnerable. The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win because they love life and we love death.” [...] First of all, Israel is responding not just to those recent killings but to a long string of attacks since it withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. The kidnapping was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Second, as the Israeli government rightly points out, 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...

Thus Hezbollah places its rockets and other potential targets in homes, knowing that Israel cannot hit back without creating collateral damage. This does not relieve Israel of the burden of minimizing civilian casualties as best it can. The point is that if Israel has to operate under a code of ethics that renders civilian deaths unacceptable, then it automatically loses. The ramifications would be dire and ultimately aid the cause of Islamic radicals in such a way as to bring about many more innocent deaths over the long run.

The real question, then, is not whether Israel’s counteroffensive is disproportionate but whether it’s working.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 09/29/2024 4:53:40 PM PDT by Freeleesy
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To: Freeleesy
"The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win because they love life and we love death.”

He was a Democratic too? Huh. A Democratic head chopper. Who knew?

2 posted on 09/29/2024 4:59:36 PM PDT by Kudsman (Cat lives matter.)
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To: Freeleesy

The proportion of concern is: harm to the innocent/harm to the harmful.

Sleep with dogs, get fleas.

Hang with terrorists, get put in pine box.


3 posted on 09/29/2024 5:07:07 PM PDT by Brian Griffin (Kamala: "understand that some people need more, so we all end up in the same place, right?”)
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To: Freeleesy

Interesting.

So applicable still today almost 20 years later.


4 posted on 09/29/2024 5:13:52 PM PDT by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus”)
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To: Kudsman

” they love life and we love death.”

Why killing them should be consequence free.


5 posted on 09/29/2024 5:18:11 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (I don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. i don't think he knows what he said either)
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To: Freeleesy

Who says that?

The ones not on your side.


6 posted on 09/29/2024 5:26:47 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (.You will suffer from one: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. )
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To: Kudsman

islam is a totalitarian death cult founded by a child rapist:

“The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win because they love life and we love death.”


7 posted on 09/29/2024 5:27:30 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie ("Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I am! Send me." )
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To: Freeleesy
Robert Strange McNamara's overarching plan for Vietnam was a little ditty called "Flexible Response," which was an exercise in proportionality, as opposed to Ike's principle of massive/maximum retaliation.



And how did that work out?

8 posted on 09/29/2024 7:33:21 PM PDT by Paal Gulli
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To: Freeleesy

“The real question, then, is not whether Israel’s counteroffensive is disproportionate but whether it’s working.”

The other side can easily stop the killing of its civilians by surrendering.

The only thing that matters in a war is winning. If you win you are right, by default.


9 posted on 09/29/2024 11:45:18 PM PDT by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how they control you. )
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