Republican Candidates Defend Killing Civilians to Fight Terrorism—and So Do Democrats

[JEB]

There's a bipartisan effort to justify the killing of civilians in the "war on terrorism."
by
Stephen Zunes

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/12/24/republican-candidates-defend-killing-civilians-fight-terrorism-and-so-do-democrats

There has been a lot of consternation expressed in the media at a series of statements by Republican presidential candidates during their most recent debate and elsewhere in which a number of them appeared to be advocating the large-scale killing of civilians through aerial bombardment as a legitimate means of defeating the so-called “Islamic State.” (ISIS or IS)

These statements did not simply rationalize military operations that result in large numbers of civilian deaths, which politicians in both parties have supported for decades, but actually advocate the killing of civilians as a legitimate tactic in counter-terrorism warfare.

Let’s put aside for a moment the irony of killing innocent people as a means of fighting a terrorist group that kills innocent people and the fact that it would result in blowback that would almost certainly increase the threat of terrorist attacks against the United States. Such operations would constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and other principles of international law to which the United States, like all governments and armed groups, is legally bound.

<snip>

What neither Republican nor Democratic leaders have acknowledged, however, is that even if a terrorist group was using human shields in the narrower legal definition of the term, it still does not absolve armed forces from their obligation to avoid civilian casualties. Protocol I of the Fourth Geneva Convention makes clear that even if one side is shielding itself behind civilians, such a violation “shall not release the Parties to the conflict from their legal obligations with respect to the civilian population and civilians.”

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I think everybody shoukd give this a careful and thoughtful read.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/12/24/republican-candidates-defend-killing-civilians-fight-terrorism-and-so-do-democrats

[Octafish]

1. Article spells out the problem: We don't have a RIGHT to kill innocent people.

Whether to justify the merciless tactics of the war on terror or to protect Israel from the open air concentration camp called the Gaza Strip, "Money trumps peace" is Buy Partisan as all hell.

Zunes is prescient regarding what this portends. The record shows that "what we do over there, we do at home."

[JEB]

4. When we cheapen the lives of others,

we cheapen our own lives.

[Octafish]

5. Absolutely.

And those who "go along to get along" are in for a big surprise when it's their turn to get shoveled into the furnace.

[ViseGrip]

2. That is why we must elect Bernie Sanders, or the carnage will continue with a prez and congress in

on the killing. "we're on the right path", and "we're where we need to be"....blah blah.

[msongs]

6. the bernie sanders who continuously votes to approve military appropriations bills? nt

[JEB]

3. War always comes home.

Our inhumane and lawless actions will taint our national conscience for at least a generation. Sad to see our country's morals and reputation fall so completely apart.