The only way to stop civilians from being killed in war today is to stop war altogether. Because for the last century or so - since armies stopped fighting in tidy formations on battlefields - war means cities being bombed. One sobering figure I saw recently - 50,000 French were killed by Allied bombing in WW2. And they weren’t even the enemy. A more recent example is Mosul, where 3-5k civilians were killed retaking the city from ISIS.
Unless you’re a pacifist, the morality of bombing built-up areas today is assessed by the effort made to avoid casualties and let the civilians evacuate the area. And there’s scope for reasonable disagreement on how much effort Israel is making to reduce civilian casualties.
Having said that, it’s still baffling to me that so many people appalled at the deaths of civilians in Gaza can’t bring themselves to assign any portion of the blame (let alone the lion’s share that they deserve) to Hamas - who not only deliberately provoked this retaliation in the hopes of getting lots of Palestinians killed, but are actively trying to prevent civilians getting out of harm’s way.
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Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
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Last edited by CliffFletcher; 10-14-2023 at 04:35 PM.
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