IDF generals, not just soldiers, must answer questions on human shields

[Tripmann]

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/idf-generals-not-just-soldiers-must-answer-questions-on-human-shields-1.326495


The Givati Brigade soldiers who were tried and convicted of risking the life of a non-combatant Palestinian child are entitled to feel like victims. But why shouldn't they feel patriotic pride? Their conviction essentially handed the post of chief of staff to Yoav Galant and bestowed legal immunity on political figures, in particular Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak.

They were just small cogs who were brainwashed about the might of the enemy. Look at the statements other soldiers made to the organization Breaking the Silence; some of them quickly realized their commanders had filled them with lies before the ground offensive on the Gaza Strip on January 3, 2009. But even if the two convicted Givati soldiers had the maturity and judgment to realize this wasn't the heroic struggle for which they had been prepared, it's clear they acted out of fear when they ordered a 9-year-old boy to open bags. They grew up in an atmosphere that one could do anything to the Palestinians in Gaza. They didn't come up with that approach - they're the lower rank soldiers that the system put under the spotlight.

Unlike a soldier who stole a credit card and went to jail, these two did not have to serve time. Their peers, who demonstrated on their behalf, must know: They weren't the only ones who at gunpoint used civilians for military purposes. This practice was prevalent in the Golani Brigade. Civilians were bound, blindfolded and exposed to the cold so they could serve as human shields for soldiers in huge trenches and in houses that were turned into lookout points and from which soldiers opened fire. This was not the whim of an isolated few. There were soldiers who fired directly on civilians bearing white flags. On their commanders' orders, soldiers prevented Palestinian rescue teams from reaching the wounded, so an unknown number of people, including children, bled to death. The multiplicity of similar incidents shows that the soldiers were acting in accordance with uniform guidelines.

[oberliner]

1. It's always the grunts, isn't it?

Higher-ups generally get off scot free.

[Tripmann]

2. Why not, if its the grunts committing the war crime?

The line 'I was just following orders' cannot be used to excuse breaches of the Geneva convention.

[oberliner]

3. It would be nice if those higher up the food chain were called to the carpet as well

The person giving the orders, I think you would agree, ought to be punished as well as those who follow them. More severely, in fact, I would suggest.