Halpern: The truth about war

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William Tecumseh Sherman took over for General Ulysses S. Grant to lead the Northern forces in their battle against the South. Sherman holds a proud place in American history. He was bold, he was brave, and he was brutally honest.
It was General Sherman who coined the phrase “war is hell.”
Some sources assert that the phrase was first said by Sherman on June 19, 1879 in Michigan at the Military Academy commencement. Others say that it was in 1880, at the Ohio State Fair. Whether it was Michigan or Ohio, it doesn’t really matter. Sherman was talking about Atlanta. Sherman was referring to the burning of Atlanta.
On September 10, 1864 General Sherman sent a letter to the mayor and city council members of Atlanta. He wrote: “you cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out.”
Sherman demanded that everyone be removed from Atlanta — everyone, including the woman, the elderly and the infirm — even those who would die because they were forced to move. And then William Tecumseh Sherman burned the city of Atlanta.
“War is cruelty.” That is true and that is probably why there are essential rules for fighting wars the “Jewish way.” In his Law of Kings, Maimonides has an entire section dedicated to Jewish war. Today, Israel, like most Western countries, fights according to a prescribed set of rules. That is what makes us who we are, it is what separates us from our enemies.
I read all 575 pages of the Goldstone Report, the report issued by the United Nations investigating human rights violations during the Gaza War, the report that resulted from the investigation that was chaired by a Jewish judge named Richard Goldstone from South Africa who, earlier, played a very important role in the Milosovic prosecutions.
I found the report problematic.
I found that the report simply glossed over the fact that Israel was fighting a defensive war. I found that the report only superficially acknowledge that Israel was fighting a war against terrorists who hid behind and took refuge from and sought safety among civilians.
I agree that it is important to police not only non-democratic countries but also Western democracies and to question their methods of war. But we must acknowledge that it is almost impossible for any Western nation to fight the terrorists who will seek refuge and safety behind civilians. The Geneva Conventions placed responsibility for the safety of civilian populations squarely on the shoulders of the non-uniformed combatants who sought refuge among the general population.
Every army has problematic renegade soldiers. In every war mistakes are made. And sometimes, those mistakes involve civilian losses. The big question and the question that was, unfortunately, never asked by the Goldstone Report was: what were the intentions of the soldier who fought this war?
The intention of Hamas and of all terrorist fighters is to murder as many civilians as possible. It is their intention; it is their objective; it is their raison d’etre.
The intention of the Israelis were to target Hamas, not civilians. Even though civilians were hurt and even though civilians were killed that distinction is what differentiates terrorists from civilized countries.
If a war among equals is hell, imagine how much more hellish it is for a Western civilization to battle against a terrorist enemy. Israel deserves better from the United Nations.
Micah D. Halpern is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Read his latest book THUGS. He maintains The Micah Report at www.micahhalpern.com
by Micah D. Halpern
Issue of September 25, 2009/ 7 Tishrei 5770
William Tecumseh Sherman took over for General Ulysses S. Grant to lead the Northern forces in their battle against the South. Sherman holds a proud place in American history. He was bold, he was brave, and he was brutally honest.
It was General Sherman who coined the phrase “war is hell.”
Some sources assert that the phrase was first said by Sherman on June 19, 1879 in Michigan at the Military Academy commencement. Others say that it was in 1880, at the Ohio State Fair. Whether it was Michigan or Ohio, it doesn’t really matter. Sherman was talking about Atlanta. Sherman was referring to the burning of Atlanta.
On September 10, 1864 General Sherman sent a letter to the mayor and city council members of Atlanta. He wrote: “you cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out.”
Sherman demanded that everyone be removed from Atlanta — everyone, including the woman, the elderly and the infirm — even those who would die because they were forced to move. And then William Tecumseh Sherman burned the city of Atlanta.
“War is cruelty.” That is true and that is probably why there are essential rules for fighting wars the “Jewish way.” In his Law of Kings, Maimonides has an entire section dedicated to Jewish war. Today, Israel, like most Western countries, fights according to a prescribed set of rules. That is what makes us who we are, it is what separates us from our enemies.
I read all 575 pages of the Goldstone Report, the report issued by the United Nations investigating human rights violations during the Gaza War, the report that resulted from the investigation that was chaired by a Jewish judge named Richard Goldstone from South Africa who, earlier, played a very important role in the Milosovic prosecutions.
I found the report problematic.
I found that the report simply glossed over the fact that Israel was fighting a defensive war. I found that the report only superficially acknowledge that Israel was fighting a war against terrorists who hid behind and took refuge from and sought safety among civilians.
I agree that it is important to police not only non-democratic countries but also Western democracies and to question their methods of war. But we must acknowledge that it is almost impossible for any Western nation to fight the terrorists who will seek refuge and safety behind civilians. The Geneva Conventions placed responsibility for the safety of civilian populations squarely on the shoulders of the non-uniformed combatants who sought refuge among the general population.
Every army has problematic renegade soldiers. In every war mistakes are made. And sometimes, those mistakes involve civilian losses. The big question and the question that was, unfortunately, never asked by the Goldstone Report was: what were the intentions of the soldier who fought this war?
The intention of Hamas and of all terrorist fighters is to murder as many civilians as possible. It is their intention; it is their objective; it is their raison d’etre.
The intention of the Israelis were to target Hamas, not civilians. Even though civilians were hurt and even though civilians were killed that distinction is what differentiates terrorists from civilized countries.
If a war among equals is hell, imagine how much more hellish it is for a Western civilization to battle against a terrorist enemy. Israel deserves better from the United Nations.
Micah D. Halpern is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Read his latest book THUGS. He maintains The Micah Report at www.micahhalpern.com