Monday, 4 April 2011

Double Standards - surely not

It is reasonably clear why the UN passed resolution 1973 in order to prevent the use of indescriminate weaponry (for instance artillery and air power) being used against primarily civillian areas in Libya. You may not agree with the methods being used, or the fact that Nato has taken the lead - personally i would have prefered the Arab League and African Union take the lead - using Nato hardware but under local command, but the aim (to protect civillians) is laudable, and possible sets a model for future interventions.

So who is the next target for a similar type of "civillian protection" resolution ? Which other country routinely shells and uses airborne weaponry to attack mainly civillian areas ? The only one that springs to mind is Israel - with its routine attacks into Gaza - which is by any measure a primarily civillian area.

I appreciate somewhat the bind that Israel is in - afterall they routinely suffer rocket attacks from Gaza, but those rockets rarely do any damage, and i think have resulted in few deaths (if any) and few injuries, where as the IDF retaliation regularly results in many deaths and injuries, and could be easily determined to be disproportionate.

Now - do we expect a "civillian protection" resolution to be enacted by the UN and enforced by Nato against Israel ? No, I thought not - answers on a postcard as to the reasons why not - I am sure we can all think of some.

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