XPost: sci.med.cardiology, soc.culture.usa, soc.culture.israel   
   XPost: uk.legal, alt.christnet.christianlife   
   From: MEjercit@HotMail.com   
      
   HeartDoc Andrew wrote:   
   > Michael Ejercito wrote:   
   >   
   >> https://reason.com/2024/10/07/october-7-offered-a-stark-choic   
   -between-good-and-evil/?comments=true#comments   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> October 7 Offered a Stark Choice Between Good and Evil   
   >> When civilians are the targets, terrorists’ grievances don’t matter;   
   >> it’s time to hunt the perpetrators.   
   >> J.D. Tuccille | 10.7.2024 7:00 AM   
   >>   
   >> Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly   
   >> versionCopy page URL   
   >> A tank with Israeli soldiers on the country's border with Gaza. | Ilia   
   >> Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom   
   >> (Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom)   
   >> One year ago, on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists swarmed across the   
   >> border from Gaza in a stunning and bloody attack on southern Israel.   
   >> Roughly 1,200 people were killed, the vast majority civilians. The   
   >> attack set off a still-escalating conflict that raises questions about   
   >> how far people can go to defend themselves and what constitutes   
   >> legitimate targets for military strikes. But it also posed a stark   
   >> choice between good and evil, innocents and terrorists—and some people   
   >> around the world are picking the wrong side.   
   >>   
   >> That murderous attacks on unsuspecting civilians and the kidnapping of   
   >> hundreds of them—some still in captivity—constitute unjustifiable acts   
   >> of terrorism is beyond question. Surprisingly, though, there's no   
   >> generally accepted definition of terrorism, because governments like to   
   >> keep the term vague so it doesn't encompass their own actions and   
   >> perhaps so it can be applied to domestic political opponents.   
   >>   
   >> The Rattler is a weekly newsletter from J.D. Tuccille. If you care about   
   >> government overreach and tangible threats to everyday liberty, this is   
   >> for you.   
   >>   
   >> Email(Required)   
   >> Email Address   
   >> Submit   
   >> Terrorism Means Targeting Civilians   
   >> Decades ago, in a class taught by a retired U.S diplomat who worked for   
   >> years in the Middle East, I was told the best way to distinguish   
   >> terrorism from military action is that terrorism deliberately targets   
   >> civilians rather than government officials or military personnel. That   
   >> squares with a 2004 report by the office of the U.N. Secretary General   
   >> that framed terrorism as "any action 'intended to cause death or serious   
   >> bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of   
   >> intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international   
   >> organization to do or abstain from doing any act.'"   
   >>   
   >> This doesn't mean that purely military action is necessarily   
   >> justified—whether it's right or wrong depends on the rationale. But when   
   >> civilians are the main target, there's no need to consider the cause;   
   >> that's terrorism, it's evil, and it's time to hunt down the perpetrators   
   >> and bring them to justice.   
   >>   
   >> October 7, When Mostly Civilians Suffered   
   >> On October 7, the attack began with a barrage of thousands of rockets   
   >> launched from Gaza into Israel. Then approximately 1,500 terrorists in   
   >> the employ of Hamas, an Iran proxy which runs Gaza, and its allies   
   >> breached the border wall or bypassed it by paraglider and motorboat.   
   >> About 1,200 people died at the hands of the terrorists by guns, bombs,   
   >> rape and sexual torture, blades, and fire, especially among residents of   
   >> nearby kibbutzes and attendees at the Supernova music festival.   
   >>   
   >> "Authorities have identified a total of 274 soldiers and 859   
   >> non-soldiers killed during the brutal assault," the Times of Israel   
   >> reported last December. Removing police and security guards from the   
   >> total still "leaves a figure of 764 civilians," the Times added.   
   >>   
   >> "The assault dwarfs all other mass murders of Israeli civilians," The   
   >> Economist noted. "The last time before October 7th that this many Jews   
   >> were murdered on a single day was during the Holocaust."   
   >>   
   >> Not immediately killed were hundreds of hostages seized by Hamas and its   
   >> partners. Some have since been released in exchange for concessions, and   
   >> some have been rescued. Others have been murdered in captivity. A few   
   >> have been held for a year and are hopefully still alive, including four   
   >> Americans.   
   >>   
   >> The correct reaction is to recognize that terrorists who target   
   >> civilians for murder, rape, and kidnapping deserve contempt. They should   
   >> be on the receiving end of efforts to make sure they're apprehended,   
   >> killed, or otherwise rendered incapable of again committing such acts.   
   >> Terrorism isn't an act that might be justified if you have a   
   >> sufficiently strong grievance; it's slaughter and brutalization of the   
   >> innocent to spread fear while bypassing those who might fight back. It   
   >> deserves an equally brutal response.   
   >>   
   >> The Limits of a Just Response   
   >> That doesn't mean anything goes in punishing terrorists. There's room   
   >> for debate about the tactics that can be used to target Hamas and the   
   >> degree to which civilians can be put at risk as Israeli forces search   
   >> for those responsible for October 7. It's a dilemma amplified by the   
   >> fact that Hamas, like many terrorist organizations, embeds itself among   
   >> civilians in schools, medical centers, and residential neighborhoods to   
   >> make punishing its members impossible without putting the innocent at   
   >> some degree of risk.   
   >>   
   >> "With Hamas locating themselves alongside important places like   
   >> hospitals, Hamas has actually made Israel fight them in places Israel   
   >> wouldn't want to target them, because of the potential loss of civilian   
   >> life," American University School of International Service Professor   
   >> Benjamin Jensen observed last November. "And in doing so, look at how   
   >> fast Israel lost momentum in its information war. Israel is taking a   
   >> huge amount of criticism for its killing of civilians as it goes after   
   >> Hamas."   
   >>   
   >> Risks can be mitigated. As the conflict expanded to include Hezbollah,   
   >> which has rendered much of Israel near the Lebanese border uninhabitable   
   >> with rocket attacks and violent incursions, Israel planted bombs in   
   >> pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah personnel to hit the guilty   
   >> and reduce danger to innocent people. Inevitably, though, a few   
   >> civilians were killed and wounded. Conventional attacks on Hezbollah's   
   >> leadership have been very effective, but also killed and wounded   
   >> civilians located near the targets.   
   >>   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)