Wednesday, July 30, 2014

In defense of the IDF


From time to time I feel the need to pull back the curtain and reveal to my well-mannered detractors that I am really not a Pro-Hamas, terrorist sympathizing, useful idiot, Muslim running dog. This is one of those times.

I am a member of a top secret, Facebook invisible group where pre-vetted people get to have civil, but no-holds, barred arguments about Israel. The group is full of nice people who disagree fundamentally about Israel, but in good faith mostly, and usually for non-insane reasons

Today, one of the members posted a bit of a rambling diatribe about the civilian death rate in Gaza. This was definitely not the sort of good-faith, non-insane thing you usually see posted there, and the poster went a little overboard in the choice of adjectives she used to describe the IDF.

Here's my [excerpted] response:

You know what's sick [NAME]? Here. I'm going to tell you. Hamas purposefully stores weapons and soldiers in schools and mosques. Do you know why? Because Hamas depends on on the "evil sadistic IDF killing machine" to avoid those targets. Hamas knows that Israel wishes to minimize the civilian death toll. . This is why Hamas chooses to put weapons in schools and mosques. Its a specific, strategic, cynical choice that is based fully on Hamas's recognition of the fact that the IDF generally tries to avoid such targets (when they aren't being used to house missiles.)

Now, let's flip this around. Suppose Israel played the same trick. Suppose Israel used women and children to protect IDF soldiers and weapons. Do you think for a second that would deter Hamas? Of course it wouldn't. Hamas's stated aim is to kill as many as women and children as possible. If Israel used women and children as shields Hamas would not be deterred. Hamas would say "Thank you for making things easier for me."

This is not an unimportant difference.

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