War is insanity and brings about pain, death and misery. Peace equals life, prosperity and happiness. What do you choose?
War is hell. It is a blind exercise in mayhem, death and misery for generations to come. Wars and violence seems to be baked into our DNA and have been with humanity from the very beginning, most wars fought over religion and beliefs, real or perceived wrongs, tribal disputes, domination, land, resources and/or profit.
The Middle East (as most regions of the world at one time or another) has been in conflict for centuries (a combination of tribal, religious, ethnic, geographic, imperialist and countries issues and gripes) with wars and cycles of violence dominating the landscape, peppered with periods of “peaceful” grace.
At present, rockets are being launched from Gaza by Hamas to Israeli civilian targets, terrorizing the population in their homes and businesses, and an Israeli offensive, via air and artillery, is ongoing to try and stop the rockets and degrade the military capabilities of Hamas (Israel is mounting forces on the border and might launch a ground offensive if a cease fire is not established. That is a dangerous option for everyone and hopefully will not be deemed required to end the rocket attacks.)
Thanks to an Israeli “Iron Shield” rocket defense system, there were no Israeli casualties till today (one Israeli killed today July 15th) in spite of a barrage of Hamas (Iran made) rockets. However, since Hamas keeps rocket launchers and facilities in the middle of and surrounded by civilian population, there are around 170 Palestinian casualties reported as a result of Israel targeting those rocket and facilities. (Important to note that Israel is targeting the rockets and not the civilians and dropped leaflets warning of coming attacks, allowing time to evacuate, with Hamas telling civilians to stay put. For clarity, Hamas provides no warnings to Israelis before firing rockets directed specifically at civilians.)
This current round of deadly violence was sparked by the kidnaping and murder of 3 Israeli teens (Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16) while on their way home Thursday June 12th from “Yeshiva” (Jewish seminary) in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem (I have a 17 year old son and can’t begin to imagine the horror of loosing him that way).
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility (Hamas seems behind this crime), A senior Islamic Jihad official called, Friday June 13th, on Palestinians to kidnap Israeli citizens for use as bargaining chips to negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli citizen’s lives. Although Palestinian authority President condemned the kidnapping and the Israeli rescue response, his administration did not act to help locate the kidnapped teens. The 3 teens were found Monday June 30th shot to death in the West Bank, just north of Hebron, in a shallow grave in a field in the Palestinian village of Halhul. On July 2nd, the charred body of Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir, 17, a Palestinian teen, was found in a forest.
Israeli authorities launched an investigation and arrested and charged 3 Israelis, Monday July 14th, with the kidnapping and killing of the Palestinian teen and are investigating the involvement of 3 additional alleged Israeli participants. Police says the murder was motivated by revenge after the kidnapping and murder of the 3 Israeli teens. On July 8th a delegation of 350 Jewish Israelis made a condolence trip to east side of Jerusalem to the family of the killed Palestinian youth. No such visit was made to the families of the 3 Israelis killed by Palestinians. Instead there was joy by Hamas and even one mother of the Palestinian killer at the killing of the Israeli teens and no action to punish the guilty. Progress will ony come when Palestinians start punishing their own for crimes against Israelis the way Israel does.
Wars have been with us forever, and through the centuries we learned some lessons, and as insane as it is, established “Rules of war.”
The Geneva Convention agreements of 1949, negotiated in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939-1945), which updated the terms of the first 3 treaties (1864, 1906, 1929), established rights of wartime prisoners (military and civilians) and protections for civilians in and around war zones (other related conventions are: Hague Conventions dealing with use of weapons of war (1899 & 1907), and Geneva Protocol dealing with bio-chemical warfare (1925).
It is an established rule that certain groups enjoy immunity and protections in wartime. Those mainly include civilians, women and children. However, there are exceptions. A school can become a military target if soldiers are based there and civilian deaths are allowed if they happen as a result of military targets being hit, for the purpose of bringing a military advantage.
Although there is logic to these conventions and “Rules of War,” they flow from the false assumption that war itself is a valid tool to resolve disputes. These conventions also assume that all parties in the conflict will observe these rules and principals, limit war to the military and not use civilians as human shields, targets or bargaining chips (if that were true, these rules would minimize some of the damage and horror caused by war). If one analyses any war, you will always find claims of legitimacy from both sides for their actions, although not all will be valid and rooted in facts and objective reality. War, like most human activities, is mainly a subjective endeavor.
I would argue that stopping genocide is one clear example of a valid reason to go to war and even sacrifice your life. Obviously I would urge exhausting other measures first, like diplomacy and world community sanctions and pressure, but with genocide time is scarce luxury and immediate decisive action is required. Another good case for war is self defense. Where survival is being threatened, strong and often violent counter action is required and appropriate to save lives.
In the 1979 film Apocalypse Now Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), is the renegade Colonel who went insane and set himself up as a god among a local tribe in Cambodia Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent to assassinate. In a pivotal speech, Kurtz describes his war actions/crimes as follows:
I’ve seen horrors, horrors that you’ve seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that, but you have no right to judge me. It’s impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror! Horror has a face, and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies.
If we learned anything from history, it’s that most wars we engage in are simply an exercise in mayhem and misery and do not resolve anything (only profit goes to weapons manufactures before, during and after, healthcare industry and those participating in the rebuilding effort after.) Just think what we could accomplish if we put all those resources to appropriate use? Just think what all that talent that is killed in wars and their lost offspring can accomplish? We could eradicate hunger and disease, solve our energy and climate change issues and provide assistance to those individuals, countries and regions who need a hand to achieve prosperity, with plenty to spare to explore the universe with all its wonders, to name but a few options.
Whether we admit it or not or like it or not, most humans on this small green/blue planet want exactly the same thing (I am carving out of this inclusive human category the small deranged and insane group, existing in every country, that is or should be institutionalized anyway), and that is to live in peace, fall in love, raise a family and grow old surrounded by grandchildren and/or family and friends. We all want a safe, healthy, comfortable life where we can pursue our passions, make a good living and enjoy the pleasures of being alive.
War destroys any hope of that while giving the “victor” a false sense of security and vindication, while at the same time, leaving the “looser” to fester in rage and a false sense of victimization and indignant entitlement for revenge. And that simply creates an endless cycle of mayhem (as of today July 15, 2014, Hamas turned down an Egyptian cease fire proposal and launched rockets that killed 1 Israeli).
Humanity is better than that and its time we put more effort into getting to a place of peaceful existence. One of many examples of success is Europe (after centuries of wars, a union and joint economic market) with Germany, where two world wars originated, is a meaningful, peaceful economic and political power.
We must do better and reach for the stars, cause if we don’t, we are nothing and we doom ourselves to this endless cycle of pain, death and misery!
Featured Photo: Jayel Aheram /Flicker
Photo1: Partnership2Gether Photo2: Reuters Photo3: Evan Bryant /csmonitor Photo4: Jose Vicente Salamero /Flicker
For more articles by Tsach Gilboa click on his name. Several related articles:
Syria: We Need Strong Multi-National Action to Stop the Killing
Noblesse Oblige = Being an Exceptional Human
Tomorrow’s Headline: Dude Found Unconscious and Bloody in Elevator
Mother Nature and Human Nuclear Arrogance
Propaganda has always been a very effective weapon of war. History mostly written by the victor, but in these times of social media, anything goes and misinformation is in the hands of anyone with a computer and cell phone. Interesting powerful interview with Bibi Netanyahoo (with whom I disagree on almost everything) on British TV: Interviewer: How do you explain that more Palestinian civilians have been killed than Israeli ones? BIbi: Do you really want to go there? Interviewer: Why not? Bibi: Because many more German civilians were killed in WWII than British and American put together, And there is… Read more »
well.
WRT carpet bombing. The ARCLIGHT, three B52s dropping max loads while flying parallel courses, was done against enemy troops, not built-up areas.
After accusations of same in Hanoi, a delegation including Joan Baez and Telford Taylor–once a Nuremberg prosecutor–visited and concluded there was no evidence of carpet bombing or indiscriminate bombing.
I don’t tell you this because I think you don’t know it. I tell you this because you think nobody else knows it.
Tsach,
That will depend on the other guy.
Thanks Richard.Tough subject and tragic part of human existence unfortunately. I am hopeful that we will eventually evolve out of the need for war and violence, maybe I’m an optimist fool!
Tsach
Good assembly of facts about the current Gaza situation
Tsach.
See St. Augustine. Roughly paraphrased, “What he calls peace may be death for us.” WRT the Just War Doctrine.
See also, Seabury and Codevilla, “War; Ends and Means.
Your reading into the title meaning not there. This is not about sexism. The title is a play on “first rule of fight club” and “to the life boats, women and children first”. This is an anti war as a concept and as a method of solving disputes piece. Looking for hidden meanings that are not there in the title simply avoids this critical issue. Do you have an opinion about war or are you simply looking for controversy where there is none? I think ALL human life is valuable, hence my stand against war!
First Rule of War: Don’t Target Civilians, Especially Women & Children
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Wait…explain to me again: Why ESPECIALLY women and children. Is it more OK to target civilian men? If so, why? Are men more expendable than women? Less valuable? Is killing and maiming civilian men somehow a lesser violation of some moral imperative than killing civilian women?
This strikes me as the worst sort of casual feminist sexism…the very thing that the Men’s Rights Movement is trying to redress.
Yeah, killing unarmed men, women and children is the job of the ATF and FBI.
Interesting timing … given the recent news of the downed passenger jet with almost 300 civilians, including 50+ Americans, murdered.
Let me briefly address Jonathan and wellokaythen: Jonathan, everything I wrote is factual and substantiated (there are hyperlinks to tons of material). You, on the other hand made a huge disparaging statement accusing me of lies and distortions with absolutely no backup facts or substantiation. I know it seems to work in our current lazy and mediocre politics, but if you are serious about a debate you have to do some work with specifics and facts. Wellokaythen, you have every right to think that civilians, women and children who are not a part of the military should be treated the… Read more »
No one can forget the women and children in war. Their casualties are usually specifically highlighted when talking about casualties. I remember a suggestion someone had. Mandatory military service for women. Because nations have an aversion to seeing women come back in body bags, it should make it a lot more difficult to go to war. I haven’t thought it through, but it sort of makes sense as long as there is no fighting otherwise it would probably end with you losing.
“Especially women and children”? I can’t believe people are still using that expression. (Such mindless adherence to tradition is another cause of wars.) Think about what that phrase means. Really think about what its implications are. It means that a man’s life is less valuable than a woman’s life. It means that a woman’s death is more tragic than a man’s death. It means that we should try to protect women from harm more than we should try to protect men from harm. And whether feminism recognizes it or not, this phrase is also patronizing to women, lumping them in… Read more »
Thanks for all the comments. A few points: 1. The title of the piece is a play on “first rule of fight club” and intended to generate interest and debate (of course civilians count but women and children are always intended to be in a separate category in war and disasters (“to the life boats, women and children first”). 2. The concept here is the get a conversation going about where we are going with WAR as a an accepted means of resolving our issues and disputes. 3. The point made that not all sides observe rules of war is… Read more »
Perhaps I am taking an extreme angle here, but this suggests that treating men and women equally in warfare is in the uncivilized category, whereas protecting women more than men is in the civilized category. In the case of Israel, of course, you make a very good point in distinguishing between “women civilians” and “women,” because there are a lot of women in the Israeli military. Some of them are no doubt responsible for killing men, women, and children. I suggest that if women are just as capable of warfare as men (and I think they are), then men and… Read more »
Tsach, they say that the first casualty of war is the truth. In spreading lies and distortions about the Gaza conflict, you’re helping to perpetuate war, in some small way.
Yes, war is indeed deeply embedded in our nature.
War decides who’s in charge in a given area. This could be important to the folks living there. Kuwait, running their own show or under Saddaam? France, running their own show or under whatever the Nazis morphed to? Cambodia. Lon Nol or Pol Pot? Generally, one side starts a war and the other side defends itself. The moral issue is not symmetrical. You may not be interested in war, Lenin once said, but war may be interested in you. Then what? BTW, WRT the title: (“…especially women and children.”) Civilian men don’t count? Figures. The US military has been getting… Read more »
You mean like the carpet bombing sorties over Viet Nam? I’m guessing those killed more than just actual Viet Cong or NV Army personnel. Perhaps you’re referring to the none-too-surgical use of napalm?
Even McNamara was fond of saying that surgical air strikes are not very surgical. He said it’s the kind of surgery where you go in to have your appendix taken out and they leave your appendix untouched but take out your liver, stomach, and kidneys.
No bill, win is the first goal, not a rule to play by. Which is almost drummed into everyone from little on. Whether that be sinking ships, burning buildings or war. Which is why it pains me so to see American left protesters against Israel, or maybe better said, supporting Palestine. The islamic terrorists have no issue storing rockets in schools and hospitals routinely using women, children and innocent men as human shields. Seems like they understood the god of deuteronomy beyter than one would think. Hypocrites in my opinion.
Thanks Mark, you are correct and your reply to Bill. (it helps if a person actually reads the article and not just the title). In addition, in war everyone looses and anyone that ever thought in one (i have) or experienced one knows that as a basic truth.
Thanks for your thoughts, tsach. You’re right about no winners who engaged in the conflict, and as you said, only the war materials manufacturers and other industries supporting the actual conflict win, and win big they do. In fact if you really look at the reasons for conflict it was said so well in the movie All the President’s Men long ago, “follow the money”.
Sorry guys, you’re wrong. War is famously and correctly defined as the continuation of diplomacy by other means. And the first rule is to WIN. That’s the rule everyone agrees upon, even if they disagree on everything else. And really, no one who plays the game really believes this stuff about not killing women and children. In this case, the Palestinians don’t believe it, and neither do the Israelis. In WW2 the Axis powers didn’t believe it, and neither did the Allies. (Dresden? Hiroshima? Nagasaki?). This rule is bullshit, pure and simple. Do you really need someone to make you… Read more »
I’m not that ignorant and I’m agree with you, Bill. The rules have been violated since, forever.
[This is a response to multiple people] If there’s such a thing as the first rule of war, it was never written down, because humans were going to war with each other for tens of thousands of years before anyone ever developed a written language. The first writings on war predate the writing of the Bible by many centuries, so whatever you find in the Old Testament is not even the first *written* words on war. I don’t know when this Golden Age was when warring states scrupulously avoided harming civilians and focused exclusively on military targets. I must have… Read more »
First Rule of War: Don’t Target Civilians, Especially Women & Children — Don’t be silly. That’s not the first rule of war at all. For example, here’s the rule of war (supposedly) given to Israel by Jehovah as they came into Palestine – a subject very much in the news today, btw: Deuteronomy 20:16-18 However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them–the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites–as the LORD your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you… Read more »
Unfortunately that is true of many places on our planet on an ongoing basis. As long as war is seen as a valid method to achieve goals and resolve grievances and disputes, real, imagined or believed, we will continue to kills each other and create misery and pain for generations.
At this point, there’s a lot of blood of innocents on both sides of this ongoing conflict. I’m sick and tired of it, as is the world.