[Washington Times] Editorial - In the rush to blame Israel, a number of relevant facts are ignored: 1) no matter how much is done to minimize the risk to civilians, civilians inevitably die in wars; 2) Israel has placed its soldiers at risk in order to minimize civilian casualties in Lebanon, while Hizballah, in flagrant violation of international law, including the Geneva Conventions, deliberately behaves in ways to maximize harm to Israeli and Lebanese civilians; 3) in Qana there were indisputable military targets, including locations from which Hizballah has been firing rockets into Israel; 4) there is no way to tell whether all of those killed in the airstrike were "civilians." Video footage shows Hizballah fighters firing rockets at Israeli targets and then darting into nearby buildings. Article 58 of Protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention requires parties to a conflict to "Avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas." Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: "The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations." In sum, Hizballah - along with its enablers in Tehran and Damascus - bears full responsibility for the carnage in both Israel and Lebanon.
2006-07-31 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive