• Pennomi@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    When entire civilian populations are bombed or starved, then yes. The US is not free of war crimes. They’re merely immune from the consequences.

    • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Not just the US. Chechnya was invaded by Russia. German civilians were bombed by the UK and USSR.

      In fact, it’s hard to find a large-scale modern war that didn’t cause thousands of civilian casualties.

      • Pennomi@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Absolutely, there were millions of civilian casualties in WWII. The difference here is that there have been, according to Israel, only 273 soldiers killed in ground operation combat vs the 13,000 civilians killed on Gaza’s side. (According to the new, lower estimates.) This is not so much a war as a one-sided beatdown.

        • DarkGamer@kbin.social
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          7 months ago

          Are you really suggesting that every asymmetrical war that is conducted successfully is genocide? O.o

          • Pennomi@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            No, I’m saying that if a nation has such a huge advantage they also have more responsibility to select targets carefully so as to not kill noncombatants.

            • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              A nation taking lots of casualties has the same responsibilities as one taking few casualties.

              That said, the proportion of civilian casualties to the total population of Gaza is comparable to that of Chechnya and less than in Vietnam, North Korea or the East Front of WW2. Unfortunately, civilian casualties are an inevitable part of modern war.

        • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I mean, there isn’t any obligation in war to make sure casualties are evenly distributed among both sides.

          Normally, a lopsided war ends only when the losing side surrenders.