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"Proportionality" Does Not Mean a Proportionate Number Has to Die
(Telegraph-UK) Gabriel Sassoon - Watching the debate in the UK over Gaza is like peering into a parallel universe. This is a nation which sent its troops thousands of miles away to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, neither of which were firing a single rocket at Britain. Over 100,000 Iraqi civilians were killed, while no civilians in Britain were killed in the fighting, and "only" 179 British soldiers were killed. Over 20,000 Afghan civilians were killed, while no British civilians were killed, and "only" 453 British soldiers were killed. What does the "low" British casualty rate tell us? Nothing at all. "Proportionality" does not mean that a "proportionate" number from each side has to die for a war to be fought morally and legally. Does anybody believe that, because of the low British body count, Britain indiscriminately murdered civilians and invaded these countries to commit war crimes?