U.S. President Joe Biden informed the American people that he personally contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, reminding him that Israel must play by the “rules of war” when they attack, level, and destroy Gaza.
The “rules of war?” Really? There are no rules of war. Oh, there are conventions, treaties, and agreements, but nation-states rarely abide by them. When it comes to war, there are no rules. States agree to abide by rules until they don’t.
In the present conflict between Hamas and Israel, both parties have already ignored the “rules of war” and committed horrific war crimes. It is certain that both Hamas and Israel will continue to commit war crimes in the days and months ahead. As of today, Israel turned off the electricity and water in Gaza. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are under siege. Told to flee the rage bombing of Israel, Palestinians literally have no place to go.
Let’s stop with the talk about the “rules of war” and “war crimes.” Such rules may exist on paper, filed somewhere in the bowels of government, but practically speaking, these rules are ignored with nary a thought. War crimes? Let me be clear, “war” itself is a crime against humanity. The governments of the world have spent most of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries slaughtering one another. And to what end? Hostilities cease for a time, something will provoke a military response, and war returns with a vengeance, with no thought given to the rules of war or whether their actions are crimes.
To President Biden, I ask, “Israel has already committed war crimes and will continue to do so as God’s chosen people turn Gaza into a rubble-strewn parking lot. Will you commit to holding them accountable for their crimes against innocent men, women, and children?” No need to respond, I already know the answer. It’s no; it is always no. The United States has a long history of committing war crimes — both intentional and accidental. We have no moral high ground on this issue — or any other, for that matter. If President Biden wants to do something that will save lives in Palestine, how about ending U.S. military funding to Israel? Instead, the President plans to give Israel billions of dollars more in military aid. The United States is funding multiple wars across multiple fronts. According to Reuters, the U.S. is the largest arms exporter in the world — $206 billion in 2022. In 2021, that number was $138 billion. War is certainly good for business, with no thought about the war crimes men and women will commit with these weapons of mass destruction.
Rules of war? There are no rules of war, only carnage and death. There are no winners, only losers.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Death and destruction, and the only ones who profit are arms dealers and the wealthy.
I hate to see more war, more destruction, more suffering, more hate. It’s the people who suffer, not usually the politicians, not the weapons manufacturers and dealers.
Remember when WWI was considered the war to end all wars? That’s so inaccurate. Instead, people found new technologies to kill more people.
When my people fought back against the nazi occupiers they were called the resistance. They were and will forever be heros. One man’s resistance fighter is another man’s terrorist. Human nature being what it is, peace seems forever beyond man’s reach. It’s an ideal and not a realistic possibility.
Excellent points. Why aren’t people and nations dedicated to the flourishing of all? It should be a human project with everyone on board. And all effort made to end violence, something no doubt that would have to continue.
It could happen, Ted, but there’s just too darn much money and power from pitting every religion, nationality, and race (just to name a few) against each other.
There are big houses to buy, yummy lobsters to eat, shiny cars to drive, fancy clothes to wear, and status symbols to flaunt. I prefer dogs to people.
Voltaire wrote, “Plus que je connais des homes, plus que je prefere ma chien “ :The more I know about people, the more I prefer my dog.
scatological porn deleted