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There Is No Such Thing as a "Humane" War
(Real Clear Defense) Francis P. Sempa - Writing in Responsible Statecraft, David C. Hendrickson argues that Israel's proclaimed war aim of destroying Hamas should be reconsidered because there is no way to "humanely" destroy Hamas. Hendrickson condemns Israel for not fighting with "restraint," and says it risks committing "wickedness on a titanic scale in order to achieve total victory." His recommendation to Israeli leaders is to "accept limited war and seek the containment of the enemy, not its obliteration." In other words, Israel should conduct the war in a way that entails the greatest risk to the lives of its warriors and that will leave Hamas forces in position to terrorize, rape, and massacre Israeli citizens another day. That is somehow "just." The notion of a clean, humane war is a fairy tale that has no relation to reality.