Is Israel Using ‘Disproportionate Force’

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1208/disproportionate_dore.php3 ^ | Dore Gold

[ventanax5]

Moving beyond the question of international law, the charge that Israel is using a disproportionate amount of force in the Gaza Strip because of reports of Palestinian casualties has to be looked at critically. Israelis have often said among themselves over the last seven years that when a Hamas rocket makes a direct strike on a crowded school, killing many children, then Israel will finally act.

This scenario raises the question of whether the doctrine of proportionality requires that Israel wait for this horror to occur, or whether Israel could act on the basis of the destructive capability of the arsenal Hamas already possesses, the hostile declarations of intent of its leaders, and its readiness to use its rocket forces already. Alan Dershowitz noted two years ago: "Proportion must be defined by reference to the threat proposed by an enemy and not by the harm it has produced." Waiting for a Hamas rocket to fall on an Israeli school, he rightly notes, would put Israel in the position of allowing "its enemies to play Russian Roulette with its children."13

[Glenn]

Rules in war?

That’s how you lose wars.

There’s that pesky Geneva convention to worry about, however.

[Tallguy]

What’s the old saying? “The only ‘fair-fight’ is the one you lose”?

What the Media is hinting at is that the Israelis should cooperate in tit-for-tat small-scale violence. ‘Course even then the Israelis will be criticized anytime a civilian gets scratched by shrapnel, whereas the other side can actually target civilians with impunity.

[csmusaret]

It is time we had a President who says exactly that. He should also tell the little Prince to let his fellow Jordanians resettle anywhere they want in their native country of Jordan.

[Vermont Lt]

Disproportionate? You’re kidding right?

When I go to war, I want the biggest advantage I can get. Generally speaking, that insures victory for my side and the least amount of casualties in the long run for the other side.

Most recently, check out the Iran/Iraq war of the eighties. Two sides, niether with a disproportionate advantage fought a stalemate for years. Millions died.

Which war would you rather be in?

[BillT]

Is Israel using "Disproportionate Force"

"Disproportionate Force" is code for surrender monkeys.

Israel's job is to make the their country safe from attack as quickly and efficiently as possible. Tit for tat is not and has not ever worked.

[CodeToad]

Let’s see, Israel is hitting rockets with rockets. Doesn’t seem to be unfair at all.

[TexasCajun]

'Disproportionate Force’

Liberal Speak for killing too many enemies, not fighting fair.

[TexasRepublic]

Disproportion is what wins wars. “All is fair is love and war.” The kill ratio ought to be 10,000 to 1, not 100 to 1 as it is now.

[roaddog727]

“If that means it isn’t a fair fight, then they shouldn’t have engaged you in the first place, they were stupid.”

Precisely. And we all know that stupidity is a capital offense.

[Oldpuppymax]

“Doctrine of proportionality?” So I guess if a burglar breaks in, fires at you and misses, you should give him another shot before shooting back??!! Only the whacked out left could invent the doctrine of proportionality. On the other hand, I am definitely PRO turning Hamas members into small, separate PORTIONS.

[mulligan]

Only idiots would ask that question.

[TChris]

The very idea of supposed "rules of war" is absurd on its face. What enemy evil enough that the US would go to war with it is going to abide by "the rules" anyway?

The facts of history show that one side will do whatever the heck it wants anyway. As with gun control, rules/laws of war only serve to restrain one side.

[Rj Snows]

Win or Die, not this PC crap. When will we ever learn, fight to win, smash your enemy. Poof

[SmithL]

Have the rocket attacks stopped? If not, they haven’t used enough force.

[MathDoc]

I'd call it disproportionate:

A rocket apparently fired by Palestinians on Friday killed the two Palestinians aged five and 13, Palestinian medics said. None of Gaza's militant factions claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on the house in Beit Lahiya. Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moiaya Hassanain identified the two victims as 5-year-old Hanin Abu Khoussa and her 12-year-old cousin, Sabah Abu Khoussa. Three other young people were wounded, Hassanain said.

Israeli construction worker injured by random rocket attack

TEL AVIV, December 27 (RIA Novosti) - Rocket fire from Palestinian militants on Saturday killed one person and injured five in southern Israel, Israeli emergency services said.

"In the town of Netivot, a rocket hit a residential building. We have one dead, one critically wounded and another four or five people slightly injured," an emergency service spokesman said.

Prior to 2006, the number of Palestinian rocket attacks rarely reached 50 per month. By early 2008, Hamas displayed a capability of launching nearly 50 per day.

I'd say that Israel's response is disproportionately mild. I'm hoping they'll respond proportionately ... in the manner and to the degree that any responsible government other than Israel would be expected to respond to several years of random attacks against civilians ... before this is over.

[Logic n' Reason]

When dealing with terrorists, radical islamos, and those who would do anything to kill you, your family, and your nation, there is no such thing as "disproportionate force".

It is too bad American hasn't learned that important fact. Leave it up to our politicians to fail again and again to learn this??

[dbacks]

War is NOT a matter of, “If you kill one of mine, I can kill one of yours.”

War is, “If you kill one of mine, I will kill ALL of yours!”

[poindexter]

If a bank is being robbed by one gunman, you don’t sent in one cop to deal with the situation!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the "Chicago" way!"

[Lloyd227]

Irrelevant question. Once force is justified, there is no such thing as "disproportionate" The correct question might be whether force was (or is) justified. Once you answer that, the only thing that remains is "...to crush your enemy, to drive him before you and to hear the lamentation of his women"

Talk of such things as "disproportionate" is self defeating. Save that for the hippies