Why is the murder of innocent Lebanese children refered to as 'Collateral Damage'?

Question

Nightly we are seeing harrowing images of dead Lebanese children and civilians massacred by bunker busting bombs, (paid for by our taxes). These deaths are always refered to as 'Colateral damage'. However similar deaths in Israel are referred to as acts of terrorism. Are Lebanese or Iraqi children and civilians worth less than Israeli lives?. According to our Government and media reports it seems so. A case of double standards. Surely all human life is sacred.

Answer 1

I have to say that you are very WELL educated. I don't know where you are from and that does not matter...but what truly matters is that people like you should have their voices heard by others. Your questions (in your profile) are all very intelligent questions. I learned a lot from you....thanks

AND KEEP SPEAKING!

http://www.halturnershow.com/IsraeliAtrocities.html WARNING: pictures may be scary for any age

Collective punishment against Lebanese civilians


36 collective massacres occurred against the Lebanese civilians since the onset of the Israeli assault (from July 12-August 11). Israel violated all conventions related to the prohibition of collective punishment whereas it perpetrated voluntarily crimes against civilians and their properties, namely Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting collective punishment and Article 48 forbidding military actions against civilian populations and infrastructure. These collective massacres are as follows:

13 July: Dweir massacre killed a family of 12 members,

15 July: Marwaheen (Israel asked the inhabitants of this village to evacuate this village and while they were leaving the air strikes killed 22 of them),

16 July: 5 massacres in Tyre (an air raid struck a building killing 12 and injuring 50), Borj Shamali (5 persons amongst them 2 babies), Aytaroun (an air raid killed 11 persons, 10 of them are from the same family possessing the Canadian nationality), Abba (10 were killed most of them belong to the same family) and on the entrance of Abbassiyeh (9 were killed under the rubble)

17 July: Rmayleh (Chemical bombs were thrown on displaced convoy killing 12 and injuring many)

18 July: Aytaroun: an air strike hit a house where many were hiding killing 13, 6 of them were babies

19 July: 4 collective massacres: Nabi Sheet in North of Bekaa (two families of 8 members were killed under the rubble of a house), Maaraboun (three pickup trucks with agricultural workers were hit by an air strike killing 7), Tyre (air raids targeted residential areas killing 20 at least), Srifa (air strikes targeted 10 houses killing 27 and wounding 30 others, the victims remained several dauys under the rubble).

25 July: higher Nabatiyeh (an air strike targeted a residential house killing 7)

28 July: Haddatha (an air strike targeted a three-storey residential building killing 6 from the same family)

29 July: 2 massacres in Noumayriyeh (an air strike killed a family of 7 and their neighbor under the rubble) an Ayn Arab (an air raid killed 6 civilians and injured 3, many of them remained under the rubble for several days)

30 July: 2 massacres in Qana (an air strike targeted a three-storey residential building where more than fifteen persons were hiding from Hashem and Shalhoub families destroying it and killing them under the rubble) and Yaroun (6 members of the same family were killed: 3 women and 3 children from Khanafer family)

31 July: 3 massacres were revealed by the Israeli truce, in Hareess (16 corpses of two families were under the rubble of two residential houses), Halloussiyeh (more than 10 corpses for Mwanness family were still under the rubble), 12 corpses were found on the roads and inside vehicles between Qoleyleh and Al-Jebbeyn (one of them was a corpse of an eight-year old child)

2 August: The commandos operation on a hospital in Baalbeck killed 13 civilians, including women, children and Syrian workers

4 August: One of the bloodiest day after Qana: 3 massacres in Qaa (28 Syrian agriculture workers were killed while they were packaging peaches), Taybeh (a two-storey residential building was targeted by Israeli air raid killing 7 who were elderly and unable to leave their homes, Ayta Shaab (an air strike targeted a house making 10 victims)

6 August: 2 massacres in Ansar (an air strike targeted the house of Ibrahim Assi killing him, his wife and their two daughters as well as their neighbors, while the rescue workers were removing the corpses an other air strike hit the house and the rubble), Al-Jubbeyn (this village was heavily targeted by air strikes that killed Kassem Akeel, his wife, his daughter and another victim)

7 August: BLACK MONDAY: Air strikes hit heavily many areas while the Arab foreign ministers were holding their meeting: Houla (6 air strikes targeted the Husseini club in the village where many people from the village sought a safe haven after the destruction of their houses. The premises was destroyed on them, 5 were killed while 60 were rescued safe miraculously), Ghassaniyeh in Zahrani area (an air strike hit at dawn at Abdallah Khalil Tohmeh two-storey building killing him, his wife and his two sons as two brothers and two others making the death toll 8), Ghaziyeh (air strikes hit residential neighborhoods killing 15), Shiyyah (an air strike hit a residential building in the crowded Al-Hajjaj area killing 56, especially that there were in the building displaced from Beer Al-Abed, Hayy Maawad and Haret Hreyk), Breetal (air strikes targeted residential houses killing 13)

8 August: Air strikes resumed on Ghaziyeh during funeral procession of the previous day’s 15 victims killing 14 and injuring 24

9 August: Mashgharah (an air strike targeted a four-storey building killing 8 persons from the same family

11 August: Akkar in North Lebanon (an air strike targeted at dawn Al-Hayssa bridge killing 11 and injuring 15)" (It is based on Jana Nasrallah article in Annahar today.)

Answer 2

TERROR
Hezbollah fires a random rocket into the sky. They don't know exactly where it will fall, but they hope it's in an Israeli population center. That's terror.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE
Hezbollah terrorists take shelter in a house after firing missiles at Israel and Israeli jets drop a bomb on it. Later, we find out that there was a family in the house and all the local journalists show up for staged photos of dead babies being pulled out of the rubble. This is collateral damage because the terrorists hide amongst civilians.

Unlike Hezbollah, Israel doesn't intentionally target civilians. Hezbollah, on the other hand, would kill more if they could. Thankfully they lack the armament and the command & control to more effectively murder Israeli civilians.

By the way, killing a human shield is justifiable. If Israel destroys a Hezbollah bomb bomb-building shop and kills 3 terrorists and a family of 9 people, that certainly is less damage than having numerous terrorist bombs detonated in crowded nightclubs or buses in Israel. It's a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.

Answer 3

That is a method the Bush administration uses to dehumanize the enemy.

It is wrong. It is brutal. It is unnecessary murder of innocent children. There is no excuse for it.

When this conflict first started I was a little bit supportive of Israel because I was trying to understand that it wanted to stop being attacked. BUT, I have since changed my opinion.

Why did I change my opinion? Because Israel has crossed the line of self-defense and entered the realm of cruelty. There is no reason for Israel to be in Lebanon right now because the UN has agreed to come in and try to settle this. Israel has proven to the world that they are brutal murderers.

And btw, it does not matter even if it were true that Hezbollah was trying to use human shields. If someone uses a civilian as a human shield, that does not justify going ahead and killing the civilian.

Plus the human shield argument does not explain all the civilians that have been slaughtered by Israel's aerial bombs.

The argument that those lives are collateral damage because they were not a target holds no weight when you drop a huge bomb in a civilian area or when you send in tanks and troops to areas you know are occupied by 1000s of civilians. This means you do NOT care if you have any collateral damage which is the same thing.

PS Please keep in mind that only 30% of the USA supports Bush's actions.

Answer 4

it incredibly is the US. Is there all of us who does not comprehend a thank you to keep away from a being pregnant? There could be no could abort a fetus different than in situations of rape, incest, or the wellness of the mummy. Now touching directly to the collateral injury. there will be people killed in conflict. and a few of them would be civilians. in case you think of there heavily isn't you're an fool. it relatively is conflict. conflict is chaos. Now there are 2 aspects in touch the two in Afghanistan and Iraq. One section claims to be doing Allah's will and struggling with the infidels. This team has incredibly no difficulty placing bombs to flow off the place civilians are congregated. The greater civilians killed the greater useful. they'd care much less approximately collateral injury. there is yet another section who needs to place people like that out of business enterprise. And interior the approach they comprehend there will be some civilians killed and generally they won't even fireplace right into a community the place a great style of civilians are. They do care approximately civilians deaths and decide for to shrink those deaths to the suitable quantity possible. observe I pronounced shrink and possible. blunders would be made. And harmless people will die. Now the 2d team of folk i discussed do no longer decide for conflict. i comprehend i became a member of that team for an exceptionally long term. yet they're going to salary conflict in the event that they are instructed to by utilising duly elected leaders of their u . s .. and that they're going to do it properly. If the people who're aborting fetuses took a similar care combating pregnancies US infantrymen do attempting to no longer kill civilians there does no longer be an abortion question. you do no longer decide for harmless toddlers killed in conflict? Please flow to the middle east and consult from the people who've killed the main civilians and get them to alter their strategies and my government will carry ALL our infantrymen domicile. i do no longer decide for a fetus aborted. So tell your boyfriend to maintain his penis in his pants till he's waiting to assist you and improve a toddler. Have a FAANNNNtastic day!*G*

Answer 5

It's an intentional use of language sanitation. It's done to help gloss over the extreme tragedy and terror that the Lebanese people are facing at the hands of the Jews. Over 1,000 Lebanese have been murdered by the Israelis. Every US citizen, myself included, has Lebanese blood on our hands. I vociferously urge every American, who believes in justice and fair play, to stand united with the Lebanese people, and look for a way to send them some relief. Moreover, we must not forget the ultimate sacrifice that so many brave Hezbollah fighters have made.

In my opinion, the only answer to the Mid-East is to excise Israel for good.

I think everybody who comments on this question should note any possible religious, ethnic, nationalistic, etc. bias. Ie, if you're Jewish or Muslim, or a Christian, make note of it.

Word Up!

Word Up!

Answer 6

Because they are not intended damage. Collateral means secondary to something else, or on the side.

Israel is attacking Hezbollah. Israel is not trying to kill Lebanese civilians, and in fact is making extreme efforts to avoid killing Lebanese civilians. However, their efforts are not always successfully, and civilians die.

Civilian casualties are inevitable during war. That's part of what makes war so tragic.

But the Israeli forces (unlike Hezbollah) do not have the goal of killing civilians. Thus, those deaths are collateral, rather than intended.

Answer 7

Because their lives don't count one for one with the lives of others. These children are chosen for death because they were born to the wrong parents; they are not members of the people who were chosen by God to have the bombers and bunker-busters..

However, these killings are not *always* called collateral damage, and some journalists stationed in Lebanon are beginning to report more fairly. In a few months,, I think Americans will see that Israel was way out of line. But by then the damage will be irreparable, and millions more Arabs will hate us.

__________
Kevin below says civilians were killed because they were near rocket launching sites. How does this account for Israel's bombings 50 to 150 miles away from Israel's border?

"turntable" below says Hezbollah targets Israeli civilians while Israel does. Yesterday for example, after a cease fire was already agreed to, but just not signed, Israel's jets struck a large convoy of unarmed Lebanese army and Christian civilians where were attempting to evacuate.. They were following Israel's instructions and leaflets, and were on the road when planes targeted them, killing a number of people.

Start to think, don't be Bush-bots! Israel is not fighting fair as you say. It is not always acting purely in its own self defense as you argue. You are repeating lies and distortions.

Read Beachbum below for some perspective!

Answer 8

I’ve given you ten out of ten for your question (despite the spelling)!

What you say is so very true, and it is absolutely disgraceful how so many innocent lives are being wasted. Perhaps Israel decided that if it was OK for the United States to have such little regard for the innocent women and children of Iraq, then it should be OK for them as well. Come ‘Judgement Day’ it will be God who has the last say, and people will pay the highest price for killing God’s children!

Answer 9

Because missiles are being fired from outside homes and churches, and those inside become part of the targeting when Israel targets the launchers......why are innocent Israelis being murdered by Hezbollah.....the can not target their missiles, so they aim them towards the cities, not bases, and hope to kill as many civilians as possible.....Israel drops leaflets telling the people to get out, first time ever in war, and Hezbollah don't warn anyone......they are just trying to kill civilians. The difference in a terrorist, and the military, is the terrorist try to blatantly kill the civilians, not target bases, or give fore warnings......

Answer 10

Collateral damage is political propoganda. It is a war crime to target civilians. Hezbollah have unsophisticated weapons, and they have killed one civilian for every three military personnel Israel has highly sophisticated weaponry which can almost be guaranteed to hit its target. Isreal has killed nine civilians for every one military personel. This means that there is nine times as much collateral damage as there is military damage. not to mention the destroyed infrastructure, and the oil slick which is now polluting the mediterranean coast causing as much devastation as the Enron Valdez oil slick.

Answer 11

Since AMERICA isn't fighting that war why don't we leave us out of this?
Lebanon is harboring Hezbollah which started this war with Isreal.Isreal has a right to defend itself against terrorists therefore anyone civilian in Lebanon will be considered collateral damage.Blame yourselves for allowing it to get started.
Iraq has nothing to do with this either.As far as I am concerned USA should nuke them all and be done with it.