"That doesn’t mean the Rafah operation shouldn’t take place. It should. It must. Hamas is not only a terrorist group; they are also an army. The last remaining battalions are dug into a complex series of tunnels throughout Rafah. These operations are proceeding much slower than the IDF prefers because of the Biden administration's increa…
"That doesn’t mean the Rafah operation shouldn’t take place. It should. It must. Hamas is not only a terrorist group; they are also an army. The last remaining battalions are dug into a complex series of tunnels throughout Rafah. These operations are proceeding much slower than the IDF prefers because of the Biden administration's increasingly stringent parameters."
Thanks to Mr. Selber for his hard-cutting analysis, but these "increasingly stringent parameters" amount to:
1) Stop indiscriminately killing civilians, or at a minimum stop killing them in grossly disproportionate numbers to your military objectives.
2) Stop blocking INTERNATION AID to Gaza (god knows Israel hasn't provided a single grain of rice in aid) given that 2.2 million people are food insecure, 1 million are in the process of starving, and some 30 plus people, mostly kids, have died of starvation already.
Selber and all of the the Bulwark staff with the exception of Saletan (who is Jewish) consistently gloss over the fact that #1 & #2 are WAR CRIMES (disproportionate killing of civilians & collective punishment, arguably genocide in so far as both measures have forcibly relocated pretty much 100% of Gazan residents and is making life miserable for them with the intention of having them seek refuge elsewhere, namely Egypt). It's not optional for Israel to abide by these laws.
3) If you're intent on committing war crimes, don't use the weapons we are giving you for free. Notably the ONLY weapons that have been blocked have been 2000 lb dumb bombs which are COMPLETELY inappropriate for use in a dense urban setting.
#3 isn't optional for the U.S. either, never mind international law prohibiting the same, but domestic law strictly prohibits this as well.
Sooooo Selber thinks that the Biden administration is unreasonably imposing "stringent parameters" on the weapons Israel receives for free, by simply demanding that Israel abide by international law?
Selber should know better based on his experience as an active service member in Iraq and Afghanistan, but then again the U.S. military's conduct in both theatres (under both Republican & Dem administrations) didn't exactly comply with the Geneva Conventions.
"That doesn’t mean the Rafah operation shouldn’t take place. It should. It must. Hamas is not only a terrorist group; they are also an army. The last remaining battalions are dug into a complex series of tunnels throughout Rafah. These operations are proceeding much slower than the IDF prefers because of the Biden administration's increasingly stringent parameters."
Thanks to Mr. Selber for his hard-cutting analysis, but these "increasingly stringent parameters" amount to:
1) Stop indiscriminately killing civilians, or at a minimum stop killing them in grossly disproportionate numbers to your military objectives.
2) Stop blocking INTERNATION AID to Gaza (god knows Israel hasn't provided a single grain of rice in aid) given that 2.2 million people are food insecure, 1 million are in the process of starving, and some 30 plus people, mostly kids, have died of starvation already.
Selber and all of the the Bulwark staff with the exception of Saletan (who is Jewish) consistently gloss over the fact that #1 & #2 are WAR CRIMES (disproportionate killing of civilians & collective punishment, arguably genocide in so far as both measures have forcibly relocated pretty much 100% of Gazan residents and is making life miserable for them with the intention of having them seek refuge elsewhere, namely Egypt). It's not optional for Israel to abide by these laws.
3) If you're intent on committing war crimes, don't use the weapons we are giving you for free. Notably the ONLY weapons that have been blocked have been 2000 lb dumb bombs which are COMPLETELY inappropriate for use in a dense urban setting.
#3 isn't optional for the U.S. either, never mind international law prohibiting the same, but domestic law strictly prohibits this as well.
Sooooo Selber thinks that the Biden administration is unreasonably imposing "stringent parameters" on the weapons Israel receives for free, by simply demanding that Israel abide by international law?
Selber should know better based on his experience as an active service member in Iraq and Afghanistan, but then again the U.S. military's conduct in both theatres (under both Republican & Dem administrations) didn't exactly comply with the Geneva Conventions.