Hypocrisy’s finest hour

Op-ed: Revelations of West’s crimes in Afghanistan highlight anti-Israel hypocrisy


Shaul Rosenfeld
Israel Opinion/Ynet
30 July '10
Posted before Shabbat

In an interview with PBS earlier this year, Richard Goldstone was quite amazed by a question regarding the suspicion that he and others may, heaven forbid, adopt a double standard in respect to Israel, compared to their attitude to other states, such as the US for example.

Such claims were looked into, Goldstone said without batting an eyelid, adding that the US adopted far-reaching steps in order to protect innocent civilians in Iraq. He further noted that as opposed to Israel's war crimes and vengeful policy in Operation Cast Lead, the Americans made sure to protect innocent civilians, while apologizing in cases where they erred, for example in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Indeed, why the hell should the “bold apartheid objector” (who, as we may recall, happened to enforce racist laws in the past and send dozens of blacks to the gallows) care about some insignificant, trivialities? For example, the fact that during Operation Just Cause in December 1989, US troops in Panama killed 300 to 1,000 civilians; or that in October 1993, a UN force (mostly comprising US units) killed more than 500 Somali civilians, while “carrying out an operation,” of course.”

Elsewhere, 460 to 2,000 civilians were killed during NATO bombings in Kosovo in 1999; in December 2004, in a campaign against Islamist forces in Iraq’s Fallujah, the Americans killed more than 6,000 civilians and obliterated about 10,000 civilian homes. Yet those who determine Israel’s guilt in advance have no use for such humdrum information.

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Afghan war logs, war crimes and proportionality

Just Journalism
27 July '10


The British media’s handling of the release of over 90,000 classified military records from the war in Afghanistan is an important test for consistency in the reporting of ‘war crimes’ and ‘proportionality’ in the theatre of war.

These concepts are regularly invoked by journalists in the discussion of Israel's military actions, most recently following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010, and most commonly in relation to the Gaza war of 2008/9. Israel is routinely accused of 'war crimes' and use of excessive - or 'disproportionate' - force against the Palestinians and their supporters.

However, despite the fact that the leaked Afghan reports contain details of previously unreported Nato killings of hundreds of Afghan civilians, this research shows that virtually none of the reporting of this story in the UK has raised the spectre of ‘war crimes’ and the ‘disproportionate use of force’.


KEY FINDINGS:

• Of 52 articles published on the websites of BBC News, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and Financial Times on 25/26 July, not one cited the international legal concept of ‘proportionality’

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Double Standards? Nato's Afghan Errors

Honest Reporting
18 February '10

Nato and Afghan government forces have recently launched the largest military operation against the Taliban since the beginning of the conflict in Afghanistan in 2001.

Like the IDF during Operation Cast Lead, US and British troops face an enemy that cares little for the well being of its people.

Like the IDF, US and British forces operate under a military doctrine that aims to prevent civilian casualties.

Like the IDF, US and British forces have found that in a conflict situation, mistakes inevitably occur and civilians are the tragic victims.

According to a BBC report: "A Nato air strike against suspected insurgents in Kandahar has instead killed five civilians, officials say. The group was seen digging on a roadside and was thought to be planting bombs, Nato said. A senior Isaf official said he regretted the loss of life, adding that an investigation was underway."

This followed an incident only a day earlier when 12 Afghan civilians were reported to have been killed by an errant missile:

Gen Carter confirmed on Tuesday a missile that struck a house outside Marjah on Sunday killing 12 people, including six children, had hit its intended target.

Gen Carter said the rocket had not malfunctioned and the US system responsible for firing it was back in use. Officials say three Taliban, as well as civilians, were in the house but the Nato soldiers did not know the civilians were there.

Initial Nato reports said the missile had landed about 300m (984ft) off its intended target. Gen Carter blamed these "conflicting" reports on "the fog of war".

(Read full article)
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