Israel vs. Lebanon – Disproportionate Force?

It’s interesting how quickly people jumped on the bandwagon to denounce Israel for the use of “disproportionate force” against the Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. And by the dramatic pictures and videos shown on the 6 o’clock news, it would seem that Israel’s response was an arbitrary destruction of the whole nation of Lebanon.

If you believe that this is a war, then you should expect nothing less. It is important to note that whatever your opinion idea of war, or on the concept of Zionism and so on, the issue here is the idea of disproportionate force and whether or not Israel can be rightly criticized for it.

If you attack Israel for using heavy bombing campaigns in response to small-scale rocket attacks, then you should at least be aware that the use of extreme force in response to a less violent attack is typical in history – as is the destruction of civilian life.

A prime example would the United States in World War II. The United States lost 106,207 soldiers, sailors, and airmen in the pacific theatre. By contrast, the Empire of Japan lost 1.5 million. That’s just the military deaths, and does not include the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed during the strategic bombing of Japan, including the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Let’s compare – 106,207 to over 2,000,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians, including nuclear weapons. All because they sunk a few battleships and killed 2,403 of our own military personnel. Now that is what should be considered “disproportionate force”.

Israel is pursuing what all nations do in war – and make no mistake, to Israel this is a war – total victory. Victory isn’t acheived through diplomats, humanitarian aid, the United Nations, or peacekeepers. It is won through an overwhelming display of destruction until your enemies are defeated. In war, we should expect nothing else, and in fact we should demand nothing less from our government.

The ideas of war, civilian deaths, humanitarian crises, burnt suburbs and the like are horrible, but they are nonetheless part of the idea of war. Attack war, instead of trying to hinder a nation’s ability to wage it. Perhaps if people knew what war really involved, they would think more carefully about starting one. Besides, Israel is exercising restraint, evidenced by the fact that Lebanon still exists. And contrary to what the news footage might have you think, only 1% of Beirut, Lebanon’s capitol, has been hit by airstrikes.

Attack war, attack Zionism, but don’t blame Israel for fighting a war the way a war is supposed to be fought.