WHEN IT COMES TO KILLING CIVILIANS IN WAR, ISRAEL IS NOT AN OUTLIER

 

22 January 2024             by Larry Johnson               389 Comments

I realize the title of this piece may set some folks’ teeth on edge. I am not suggesting that Israel’s heartless, indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinians is not serious. I share the South African view that it is an act of genocide. It is consequential.

But if we look back objectively at the past 100 years of warfare, we must admit that the United States and the United Kingdom also have a shameful record of targeting civilians. Israel’s excuses itself by blaming it on the fog of war and accusing Hamas of using human shields. This is the go to explanation the U.S. has used in the past.

I started thinking about this when I asked myself the question, “who killed more civilians with airstrikes in World War II?” There is no denial that the Nazis killed a massive number of civilians — especially in Poland and Ukraine — using ground forces. But it turns out the Nazis were far less lethal in the air then the U.S. and U.K. During the Battle of Britain and the ensuing blitz, an estimated 70,000 British civilians died. That’s the total U.K. civilian death toll for the entirety of WW II.

What about the British and U.S. bombing of German cities? The numbers are significantly higher.

Estimates of German civilians killed only by Allied strategic bombing have ranged from around 350,000[5][6] to 500,000.

The U.S. inflicted similar numbers on the Japanese:

there has been a long-running debate over the morality of the attacks on Japanese cities, and the use of atomic weapons is particularly controversial. The most commonly cited estimate of Japanese casualties from the raids is 333,000 killed and 473,000 wounded. Other estimates of total fatalities range from 241,000 to 900,000. In addition to the loss of mostly civilian life, the raids contributed to a large decline in industrial production.

Trying to assign blame for Vietnamese civilians killed during the Vietnam war by the United States is more murky. I suspect part of the reason is that the United States does not want to admit that its conduct during that war imperiled more civilians then Washington was willing to acknowledge.

Lewy estimates that 40,000 South Vietnamese civilians were assassinated by the PAVN/VC; 300,000 were killed as a result of combat in South Vietnam, and 65,000 were killed in North Vietnam for a total of 405,000 killed. He further suggests that 222,000 civilians may have been counted as enemy military deaths by the U.S. in compiling its “body count” raising the total to 627,000 killed.[11][12][13][14] It was difficult to distinguish between civilians and military personnel in many instances as many individuals were part-time guerrillas or impressed laborers who did not wear uniforms.[15][16][17] Walter Mead estimates that approximately 365,000 Vietnamese civilians to have died as a result of the war during the period of American involvement.[18]

While the war in Vietnam lasted more than 20 years, the war in Iraq was shorter and civilians killed by U.S. military action chalked up comparable numbers:

No one knows with certainty how many people have been killed and wounded in Iraq since the 2003 United States invasion. However, we know that between 280,771-315,190 have died from direct war related violence caused by the U.S., its allies, the Iraqi military and police, and opposition forces from the time of the invasion through March 2023. The violent deaths of Iraqi civilians have occurred through aerial bombing, shelling, gunshots, suicide attacks, and fires started by bombing. Many civilians have also been injured.

So what? What difference does it make? Let me ask a simple question. If a foreign power (name the country you love to hate) bombed your home and killed your wife and children, would you want revenge? I know I would. That’s the problem and the reason that modern armies should try to minimize civilian casualties. Indiscriminate bombing creates a new generation of people who want to hurt or kill you.

Which brings me to the latest Ukrainian murder of civilians in Donetsk. Sunday’s bombing of a public market had zero military merit. This was a deliberate act to kill civilians. Ukraine foolishly believes that it can spark domestic turmoil against Putin if enough civilians are slaughtered. But history tells a different story. Instead of turning the public against their government, attacks like these generally prove to be a unifying factor and reinforce the public support for taking the war to those responsible for such a crime.

https://sonar21.com/when-it-comes-to-killing-civilians-in-war-israel-is-not-an-outlier/