The Game Of War: Are We Playing By The Rules?
Posted by Michelle Moquin on January 26th, 2009
Hi Cynthia: Your comment has inspired me to write today. But as I begin to write I am overwhelmed with emotion. I promised myself that I would not let the wars of the world get to me…that in order to make a difference I need to be strong, clear minded, and focused. But, I am so sick of war and I am not even in the midst of it like so many.
I sit here on my computer reading of the happenings in Israel and Palestine…I sit here reading about White Phosphorus, a weapon that militaries use widely to obscure the battlefield (Phosphorus rounds are usually used to spread a thick, white smoke to screen military actions and mark specific areas.). But that it is also limited under an international convention that bans targeting civilians with it. Why? Because when it comes in contact with the skin, it has a horrible burning effect – it literally burns down to the bone.
This white smoke is killing. Amnesty International said it found “indisputable evidence of widespread use of white phosphorus in densely populated residential areas in Gaza City and in the north.”
I know there are guidelines and rules in war. But it seems that many of them are not being followed or are being broken. White Phosphorus in civilian areas killing families….men returning fire to protect their soldiers when being fired upon and oops…your GPS-guided mortars which are supposed to be accurate, aren’t exactly. So yes, you did end up hitting the enemy but at the same time over 40 civilians including children are killed. Is this considered a war crime? And if so, will any action ever be taken? Will those that survived while they watched their families burn to death ever get retribution? According to the rules of war it should not have happened in the first place.
So I ask…where is the accountability here? Are the military asking the appropriate questions when ready to fire on the enemy? Are they considering the civilian risk? Or are they so consumed with getting the job done and winning that they will do so at whatever the price? The price being civilians…women and children. Innocents.
I think of the movie ’300′. And as brutal as the war scenes were, war seems to be more barbaric now, than when automatic weapons didn’t exist. When you think of men fighting, the only ones getting killed were those that were actually fighting in hand to hand combat or in close proximity. Yes, women and children did get killed. I’m not saying that it did not happen. Villages and tribes were attacked, but a man usually ‘went off to war’. Civilians were not usually in the midst of war. Now, we bomb ‘cities’. Of course our land is more populated too which makes going ‘off to war’ more difficult.
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a law that war could not exist on our planet. If we could send those who wanted to fight to another planet; an uninhabited one. You know, let them battle it out somewhere else….say Mars…where they could kill each other to the end. We would not have to worry about civilians getting killed or poisonous gases and such, ruining our planet endangering humans, animal and plant life.
I know I may sound unrealistic, but hey, I can dream can’t I? I just know that if it was up to women, the caretakers of this world, we would find a better solution than war. Hmmm…some day when women rule…
Peace out.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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