The biggest lie of the left and their allies in the mainstream media when it comes to Israel is the comparison of the numbers of Israelis and Palestinians killed in the conflict and the lack of "proportionality". In the latest wave of terrorism, the story line goes that because 20 innocent Israeli civilians have been killed but more than 100 Palestinian terrorists died, the Israelis must be using "excessive force" and not putting forward a proportionate response. Therefore, according to these people, the Israelis are doing something wrong. The same line of attack against Israel was used during the conflict with Hamas in Gaza last year. Israel was able to shoot down any of the thousands of missiles fired by Hamas so as to avoid nearly all civilian casualties. Since Hamas located its weapons in schools, hospitals and even UN headquarters, there were some civilian casualties as the Israelis fired back. Because the numbers killed on the two sides were not nearly equal, Israel was accused there too of using a disproportionate force.
Let's start the analysis of this lie from the most simple point. In war as in self defense, there is no legal or moral requirement to only use proportionate force. In war, the goal is to kill enough of the enemy combatants so that the enemy surrenders and stops trying to kill your own people. In self defense, if someone is trying to kill you, you can use deadly force to stop that attack. In other words, the whole underpinning of the "proportionate" force reasoning is just wrong.
But there's more. Armies just don't use proportionate force. Let's look at the Gulf War as an example of this. In 1990, Iraq invaded and conquered neighboring Kuwait. The USA led a large coalition of nations that assembled an army and then invaded Kuwait and Iraq and expelled the Iraqi forces and freed Kuwait. The total number of coalition forces killed in combat the conflict was just under 200. The number of Iraqi troops killed in combat with the coalition was between 20,000 and 26,000. In other words, for each coalition soldier killed in combat there were between 100 and 130 Iraqi soldiers killed in combat. There was no outcry at that time about the disparity in the numbers of dead. There was no complaint about disproportionate force being used. It was war and the USA and its allies won.
If you look at the ousting of the Taliban from power in Afghanistan after 9-11, the numbers are similar. The Taliban lost thousands of fighters in their battle to retain control; the USA lost a handful. During the Iraq War, America lost roughly 4000 troops. The casualties of Iraqi insurgents were estimated to top 100,000 with some estimates saying many times more Iraqis died.
The next time someone tells you that the Israelis use disproportionate force in fighting Hamas or the other Palestinian terrorists, say something like "Thank God for that!" Then ask them where their theory about using "proportionate force" comes from. After the stuttering ends, tell them about the numbers killed in the Gulf War or Afghanistan. There's nothing like a dose of the truth to stop the propaganda.
Let's start the analysis of this lie from the most simple point. In war as in self defense, there is no legal or moral requirement to only use proportionate force. In war, the goal is to kill enough of the enemy combatants so that the enemy surrenders and stops trying to kill your own people. In self defense, if someone is trying to kill you, you can use deadly force to stop that attack. In other words, the whole underpinning of the "proportionate" force reasoning is just wrong.
But there's more. Armies just don't use proportionate force. Let's look at the Gulf War as an example of this. In 1990, Iraq invaded and conquered neighboring Kuwait. The USA led a large coalition of nations that assembled an army and then invaded Kuwait and Iraq and expelled the Iraqi forces and freed Kuwait. The total number of coalition forces killed in combat the conflict was just under 200. The number of Iraqi troops killed in combat with the coalition was between 20,000 and 26,000. In other words, for each coalition soldier killed in combat there were between 100 and 130 Iraqi soldiers killed in combat. There was no outcry at that time about the disparity in the numbers of dead. There was no complaint about disproportionate force being used. It was war and the USA and its allies won.
If you look at the ousting of the Taliban from power in Afghanistan after 9-11, the numbers are similar. The Taliban lost thousands of fighters in their battle to retain control; the USA lost a handful. During the Iraq War, America lost roughly 4000 troops. The casualties of Iraqi insurgents were estimated to top 100,000 with some estimates saying many times more Iraqis died.
The next time someone tells you that the Israelis use disproportionate force in fighting Hamas or the other Palestinian terrorists, say something like "Thank God for that!" Then ask them where their theory about using "proportionate force" comes from. After the stuttering ends, tell them about the numbers killed in the Gulf War or Afghanistan. There's nothing like a dose of the truth to stop the propaganda.
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