Wednesday 18 September 2024

War vs peace, and the mass casualty event in Lebanon

One of the key aspects of war in the modern era (say ... the last couple of centuries - it probably goes back to some of the philosophers [particularly Scottish] I have recently studied), is that wars are officially declared. 

If not, they are acts of t_rr_r_sm.  

There may also be what are considered de facto wars - wars that have grown, out of escalating attrition perhaps, and may be for survival of groups or nations, but have not been formally/officially declared. 

However, one of the key aspects that distinguishes those from acts of t_rr_r_sm is that non-combatants are able to avoid involvement - perhaps through official travel advisories/warnings or unofficial reports in mainstream (possibly social - if genuine, credible, reports) media. 

I am less concerned about military personnel (formal combatants - I’ll use the term “troops”) - I have read articles expressing opinions that troops outside of active war zones should be entitled to a sense of peace, but I was not convinced by the arguments used, which were valid in terms of the humanitarian wellbeing of troops, but ignore the militarily valid use of attacks “behind enemy lines” (including any genuinely strategic bombing - which has been difficult to acheive). 

I suspect those writing those articles were taking advantage of a situation to advocate for their pro-peace/anti-war values - which, in a rhetorical sense, could also be considered a surprise attack or an attack in rear, perhaps. 

I also consider the arguments that officers and leaders should be spared to be spurious at best, and self sabotaging at worst. 

Officers are supposed to manage their troops and prevent abuses, but the troops are also supposed to know not to commit atrocities - and leaders can have major roles. 

Consider what would have happened in the English Civil War if either the King or Cromwell had been killed early on, or in the US Civil War if Lee/Grant/Lincoln had been killed early on - or if Lincoln had NOT been assassinated, or if H_tl_r had been killed by one of the many attempts on his life in the 20s and 30s? 

No, for better or worse, officers and leaders are valid targets of war. 

Of war. 

That brings me to what has happened in Lebanon, which is widely considered likely to be an act committed by Israel.  

I will add more links on that as I get them, but for now my key points are: 

  • there were highly likely third parties and other nations involved, which likely raises issues of neutrality; 
  • where the injured or killed were part of H_______h, there is an argument to consider that they were t_rr_r_sts or part of a de facto war, and thus valid targets; 
  • the civilians who were injured or killed (including children of members of H_______h), were NOT valid targets - even if war had been declared (in which case the Geneva Conventions would apply);
  • the impacts of this attack will be global, as absolutely every person anywhere in the world with a pager will possibly be concerned about the risks of their device exploding - including, for instance, emergency services personnel in Africa, India, etc, and that creates a serious risk that functions in those other places (especially medical) may be harmed as people stop using these communication devices (mobile phones will probably be OK, but those are not supported absolutely everywhere).

Quite apart from the possibly counter-productive effects of this in West Asia, this runs a serious risk of having global impacts that are NOT in Israel’s interest ... 

PS - it is also apparent that the scale of this event makes a response inevitable. The world, not just West Asia, is on the edge of catastrophe ... Right now, we need people of good will everywhere to do what they can for justice and peace - sustainable, equitable peace for ALL.   In the future, we need politicians with courage to stand up to despots BEFORE they have so much power they can cause this sort of harm - and that includes the Trumps and Bushes and their ilk  

My first batch of links are: 

A second round of attacks inside Lebanon has occurred, and, while this has the same human rights problems as the first, I consider it reduces (it does not eliminate) the chances that H_______h will be capable of doing anything - and the official Lebanese army have always been unlikely to do anything (if anything, they may appreciate the opportunity to regain control the southern part of their nation), but the unofficial backers of H_______h (Iran) are still a risk, notwithstanding the restraint they have shown recently, as are those Israelis who want to occupy and annex southern Lebanon.

The need for a sustainable peace, and leaders who will prevent these situations developing in the first place (everywhere, not only in West Asia), and for a fair, equitable, and sustainable resolution of the similar crises elsewhere in the world, remains.

What also remains is that times and episodes like these are a test of whether nations - and people - care or not. Actions under real life situations show and mean a great deal about character.

The next batch of links are: 

  • “‘Sophisticated evil’: Beirut medics and civilians horrified by pager attacks | Lebanon | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/18/lebanon-beirut-medics-civilians-horrified-pager-attacks   ““Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday that the attack could be a violation of international humanitarian law, through its use of pagers as booby traps, and that it had put civilians at risk.   “The use of an explosive device whose exact location could not be reliably known would be unlawfully indiscriminate … and as a result would strike military targets and civilians without distinction,” Lama Fakih, the Middle East and north Africa director at HRW, said.””      “‘We are isolated, tired, scared’: pager attack leaves Lebanon in shock”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/20/we-are-isolated-tired-scared-pager-attack-leaves-lebanon-in-shock   “Anger and nervousness abound on the Lebanese-Israeli border as uncertainty surrounds Hezbollah’s next move”      “The device bombs were in our living rooms, in our pockets, in our faces. Beirut is terrified | Naji Bakhti | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/20/device-bombs-beirut-lebanon-israel-hezbollah   “Doctors tossed away their pagers, wedding planners dispensed with their walkie-talkies, and parents disconnected their baby monitors. Misinformation soon followed the explosions. Wifi routers, it was erroneously claimed, presented an immediate danger. In our living rooms”   There also were a massive number of eye injuries, with many eyes being removed     
  • “Israel’s True Objectives in Gaza and why it will Fail”   https://www.juancole.com/2024/09/israels-true-objectives.html   “Never in its history of war and military occupation has Israel been so incapable of developing a coherent plan for its future and the future of its victims.”   Note: this is a strongly partisan viewpoint, but I am of the view that it should be at least noted, and considered     
  • “Gambling firm appears to trivialise Lebanon pager blasts in social media post | William Hill | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/19/gambling-firm-appears-to-trivialise-lebanon-pager-blasts-in-social-media-post   “Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said: “It’s just tasteless but it points to a broader issue. It plays into the dehumanisation that underpins these conflicts, where the death and injuries of others is not in any way respected. Until people start understanding how each other are suffering, it’s going to be really hard to move forward.””     

This is probably the best summary-analysis I have read on this, I have chosen it as my final link:   

 

By the way, I do NOT NAME violent extremists - nor give them the satisfaction of describing them as t_r_rr_sts, as I written about elsewhere. I am a secondary news source, and have no desire to give them the oxygen of publicity.

 

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

  • this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

  • there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  • I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.

 

 

If they are of any use or interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post.  

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below. 

Note that, as with my main blog [see here], I am cutting back on aspects of my posts.

Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.

Copyright © Kayleen White 2016-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/  

 

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