tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post5006261368530168016..comments2024-01-01T01:47:59.449+02:00Comments on Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Waging Just War: The Discussion Goes OnYaacovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12835192312242961481noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-75544110631190877842009-04-25T04:18:00.000+03:002009-04-25T04:18:00.000+03:00Yaacov, I disagree with your commentary on Harel's...Yaacov, I disagree with your commentary on Harel's piece. Let me first say I'm a Haaretz subscriber and hold/used to hold the paper in the highest regard. However, I think they behaved disgracefully and violated all professional standards with some of their reporting on the Gaza war, which is of course particularly true WRT their "revelations" about the "testimony" of soldiers who were simply relating some rumors the had heard. When I first read this article, I knew there was something fishy in the way it was presented, without any fact checking. Then came the T-shirt story, again blown out of all proportion, etc etc.<br /><br />Now to the Harel article. The sentence to highlight is where Harel says: <br />"True, the IDF killed fewer civilians than other armies have in similar circumstances..."<br /><br />Then, of course and inevitably, comes his BUT...<br />But here's my but: this sentence is very revealing, because it shows that Harel thinks the IDF should be held to higher standards than all other armies -- well, we all know a lot of people who wholeheartedly agree with this, and many of this people do so motivated by the hope that if there is enough of an international outcry each time the IDF moves, Israel will finally realize that it has no right to defend itself.<br /><br />So NO, the way much of the debate about Gaza was conducted in Haaretz is not about Israel and how to be sure that the IDF behaves in ways that reflect the values of Israeli society, but it's about how best to curry favor with Haaretz admirers abroad. The Guardian might smell here a whiff of competition.PetraMBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-54677020262503069532009-04-23T18:33:00.000+03:002009-04-23T18:33:00.000+03:00"Since there will be more wars, we need to get tha..."Since there will be more wars, we need to get that balance right, as I never tire of saying."<br /><br />Please stop aiming for absolutes. <br />To get the balance right is impossible - <br />you may get closer to the ideal balance but while you try, the sanity and well-being of your young people must be protected arduously - <br />I do not know about women soldiers but the men I grew up with were deeply troubled and at least some of them presumably due to the experience of "normal" warfare - at least I hope some I knew were of that kind<br />rgds,<br />SilkeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com