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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (48534)	10/1/2002 3:53:24 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 281500

but the first picture you gave a URL to looked like a lot of bombs hit a field. It's possible, but it appeared to me that there a number of building towards the lower right center which appeared to indicate a village. I'm assuming that this may have been a suspected V-1 launch site, which were strewn all around that area. But with regard to Villers-Bocage, the British launched a hasty carpet bombing SOLELY to create sufficient devastation that reinforcing German troops would be unable to reach the front in time. As for Caen.. they wiped it off the map.. under the mistaken belief that Germans were using it as shelter (they weren't.. they were in front of the city).. Over 5,000 Frenchmen were believed to be killed in that bombing. But the real question is whether such tactical and strategic decisions can be properly judged as war crimes. I suggest they are not. And I concur that few Allied generals would deliberately attempt to inflict loss of life on innocent individuals, especially the French. And if you're familiar with the journey of the 2nd "Das Reich" Waffen SS division from southern France to Normandy, you'll see what happens when it becomes difficult to not treat every civilian you see as a combatant Guerilla. Especially when it appears your conquered territory is in general uprising.. I'm not saying it right, but I judge it through my own American perceptions of right and wrong. But those without those values know only exercise of force, and sometimes, mercy. They hold their control over the people through terror, using that terror to compensate for their lack of security personnel. But the Israelis are not the Waffen-SS.. And they don't go into Palestinian towns and string up dozens of civilians as "an example" (much as some of them might like to do that).. They WILL attempt to eliminate leadership and potential bombers, and sometimes innocent life will be lost. But they aren't targeting those people directly (this I'm sure we both agree on). Mistakes happen in war.. And War is ugly.. But the Palestinians and Israelis are at war and have been for some time. They may not make it official, but they are at war. And in war civilians, on both sides, die. And I can't say that I wouldn't be taking the same, or even harsher measures, were I in charge... Because I would do anything to prevent the needless loss of my own men, even at the expense of the enemy civilians. And I'm sure the other side feels the same way. And anyone stuck in between is just SOL... Hawk