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

To: Bilow who wrote (54312)	10/23/2002 10:37:09 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

It was a civilian bus that happened to have some soldiers on it, Carl. That's not a military target.

To: Bilow who wrote (54312)	10/23/2002 11:33:09 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

Armed soldiers are definitely fair game in war. The conservatives on this thread (including myself) have often argued that when civilians are killed in attacks on soldiers, it's the fault of the local authorities for keeping soldiers (with ammunition!!!) in the presence of civilians. While I hear what you're saying and agree with much of it (about having armed soldiers on the bus), I have to vote with Nadine. There is no way that the driver of that carbomb could have known soldiers were on the bus... Thus, it was NOT a legitimate target. Now had it been civilians being carried as passengers in a military vehicle, along with armed soldiers, THAT would be a military target... Additionally, due to security concerns about Palestinians dressing in Israeli uniforms and shooting up buses, many carry armed troops ready to defend them. Some may even be undercover.. So since US Air Marshals are supposedly on every overseas and domestic flight coming into NYC and DC (and probably a few other locals), does that mean they are military targets?? Not hardly.. But when we have Palestinians using refugee camps (actually urbanized areas) and their own police refuse to enforce the law, then the area becomes a military target because no local authorities are engaging in any kind of preventative measures, neither arresting nor convicting them of terrorism. All the Palestinian Authority has to do to get the Israelis to stop engaging in retaliatory strikes is to actually make a serious attempt to stop the terrorist groups. But they are afraid of them (or working with them).. I can tell you that I would have few qualms about launching selective strikes against the Mexican side of Nogales, where I able to prove that coordiated terrorist attacks were being conducted with full knowledge and approval of the Mexican government. Bottom line.. the Palestinians have a territory.. They are a political entity with most of the privileges of a state, and all the responsibilities for maintaining good relations with their neighbors. If they choose to engage in either overt, or covert, war against another state (not just Israel), they the Palestinian government is responsible for the retaliation that results. So long as the Israelis don't deliberately target civilians.. (But hey.. British during WWII did with their nightime fire bombing raids) Hawk