Alan Dershowitz: United States Attack in Syria Parallels Israel’s in Gaza

[Purveyor]

September 23, 2014 4:58 pm

The air attack by American and Arab forces against ISIS and other terrorist targets parallels Israel’s air attacks against Hamas terrorist targets in Gaza. According to retired General Wesley Clark, the United States air attacks are designed to degrade and destroy the infrastructure of the terrorist groups, including the electric grid, the sources of their finance and other mixed military-civilian targets.

When Israel attacked Hamas military targets, including some that had mixed uses, it was condemned by the same Arab nations that participated in the joint United States-Arab attack in Syria. The difference of course is that the threat posed by ISIS is not nearly as imminent as the threats posed by Hamas. This is certainly true in relation to the United States and may also be true in relation to its Arab partners.

Among the most hypocritical nations participating in the US attack is, of course, Qatar, which not only condemned Israel for defending its civilians against Hamas rockets and tunnels, but actually funded the Hamas attacks and provided asylum for the Hamas terrorist leaders who ordered them. Hypocrisy is nothing new when it comes to the double standard applied by the international community against Israel. The United States and its Arab partners have the right to take preemptive action against terrorist groups without fear of UN condemnation, a Goldstone report, or threats to bring its leaders before the International Criminal Court. Yet everything Israel does, regardless of how careful it is to minimize civilian casualties, becomes the basis for international condemnation.

If the US attacks in Syria continue, there are likely to be civilian casualties, because ISIS will embed its fighters among civilians and the many hostages it has taken. When that happens, American and Arab rockets will kill some civilians. It will be interesting to compare the world’s reaction to those civilian deaths with its reaction to deaths caused by Israeli rockets hitting human shields deliberately employed by Hamas. If the past is any predictor of the future, the ratio of civilian to terrorist deaths may be considerably higher in the American lead air attacks than it was in the Israeli air attacks. In past wars, such as those in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the former Yugoslavia, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths was far higher than the ratio brought about by Israeli rockets firing into Gaza where human shields are Hamas’s tactic of choice.

It will also be interesting to see the reaction of the international community and various NGOs to US led attacks on mixed military-civilian targets, such as electric grids and sources of financing. The international law on these subjects is vague, open ended and thus subject to selective application. Doubts are always resolved against Israel and in favor of other nations engaging in similar military actions.

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http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/09/23/united-states-attack-in-syria-parallels-israel%E2%80%99s-in-gaza/

[indepat]

1. The U.S. is compelled to teach evil-doers a good lesson in this new American century: it's

part of the PNAC doctrine junior introduced and implemented with full-speed-ahead vengeance.

[Warpy]

2. Not quite, Al

We won't tell people what buildings to gather in and then bomb those buildings.

We also won't level the entire country. Much of that has already been done by the Syrians, themselves.

[Scootaloo]

3. Dershowitz is a liar, as usual.

If the past is any predictor of the future, the ratio of civilian to terrorist deaths may be considerably higher in the American lead air attacks than it was in the Israeli air attacks. In past wars, such as those in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the former Yugoslavia, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths was far higher than the ratio brought about by Israeli rockets firing into Gaza where human shields are Hamas’s tactic of choice.

The NATO actions in former yugoslavia had a civilian:combatant kill ratio of 4:1
The US war in Iraq had a ratio of 3:2, as did the action in Afghanistan.
US drone attacks in Pakistan have an unknown exact ratio, but it's estimated to be 3:1
Israel's Operation Protective Edge had a ratio of somewhere between 7:2 and 4:1
Cast Lead had a ratio of 3:2

Dershy is probably citing statistics from back when Israel still kept Jews in Zoos in Gaza, and was extra-careful with its military actions which resulted in admittedly great numbers like 1:10 and all the way up to 1:37, in 2005!

The moment the settlers were out though Israel dumped all considerations and went balls to the wall with the bombings, getting statistics that wobble between World War 2 and the Chechen Wars (Putin or Yeltsin, take your pick, Israel's hit both scores.)

So yes, Israel does avoid hitting civilians. Jewish civilians. Take them out of the picture and Israel looks like it's being run by Russians. Which, I guess it is, come to think of it.

It will also be interesting to see the reaction of the international community and various NGOs to US led attacks on mixed military-civilian targets, such as electric grids and sources of financing.

No one's ever complained about cutting into funding pipelines (unless it's Dershy bitching about people talking about not buying stuff from the new state of Landgrabbia emerging in the former west bank). And there's something of a difference between bombing power infrastructure in a place where there are still options and people can leave... and bombing the only power plant that powers the only water plant (also bombed) for a captive population in the millions who do not lave the luxury of running like hell.

he goes have a point on the hypocrisy of these arab states though. Not becuse of hteir condemnation of israel, but because of their direct funding to the very people they are now participating in attacks against.

[geek tragedy]

4. Doucheowitz can have himself a nice big can of shutthefuckup. nt

[Purveyor]

5. Uncomfortable with whom you are aligned in this situation, eh? I would be too.

[geek tragedy]

7. Um, no. This is like how Bibi compared Arafat to

bin Laden.

[JI7]

6. Hamas is a Threat to Israel as much as ISIS is to the people in Syria and Iraq ?

[cali]

8. Are Syria and Iraq U.S. territiory?

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. +1000