[Reader-list] Disproportion and the Justification of War

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Monica Mody, Jamie, Iram and others on the list

As one of the signatories to this petition, I am clearly one of the 
people who overlooked the significance of the qualifying word, 
'disproportionate'. I would like to thank Iram for pointing out the 
irony in protesting against the idea of 'proportion' while thinking 
about a state of war.

I agree with Iram, that to do this is not to quibble at details, but 
actually central to the way we think about a state of war. I am not one 
of those people who believes that there are any just wars. In today's 
world it is inconceivable that a military and political elite that 
governs a nation state, would  acting 'proportionately' or reasonably to 
advance its military objectives. Military action in defence of the 
interests of a nation state are objectionable to me in principle, and 
there can be no question in my view, that Israel could enter into a 
'reasonable, proportionate, just' war with Lebanon.

The same holds true of Hezbollah (a state within a state) or the Syrian 
, or the Iranian state, should they choose to retaliate militarily (as 
they have already, in the case of Hezbollah) as parties involved in 
aggression against people inhabiting the boundaries of the territories 
governed by the State of Israel. Civilians, who die in this conflict, be 
they Lebanese, Palestinian or Israeli do not have the luxury to ask 
whether their death was in proportion to the deaths on the other side. 
The arrogance of the Israeli state consists in its belief that the value 
of the life of an Israeli person is greater than that of his or her 
Lebanse or Palestinian neighbours. That therefore, the Israeli 
military's actions are reasonable and those of the Hezbollah are not. If 
we are to act against this way of thinking, we must insist that the 
value of an Israeli civilian's life is the same as that of a Lebanese, 
or Palestinian civilian. This would mean, that any party to the 
conflict, on any side, involved in any violence that befalls any 
civilians, by design or by accident is equally morally responsible for 
the tragedy that has engulfed the region. We cannot parcel out this 
tragedy and weigh its proportions. To do so would be to fall prey to the 
arrogance that the leadership of these states adorn themselves with.


I find the discussion of the laws of war somewhat pedantic. The laws of 
war are to organized armed aggression like the death penalty is to 
murder. While it is useful that the laws of war occasionally prevent 
civilian death, I find that they are invoked in the main to indict the 
inhman acts on the losing side. If it were otherwise, Hiroshima, 
Dresden, the Rape and Pillage by the Red Army at the close of the Second 
World War, or many of the actions of the armies of occupation in 
Afghanistan or in Iraq would have attracted the provisions of the laws 
of war. It is interesting to note that the charge of war criminal, 
against, say Saddam Husain has some value, for his usage of chemical 
weapons against Kurds, or during the Iran-Iraq war can be made to stick 
only when he is a defeated prisoner. The governements that castigate him 
as a war criminal today were the very same who ensured that he was 
supplied with the chemicals and devices needed to make chemical weapons. 
  In light of this, I find the hallowed invocation of the 'international 
laws of war' somewhat trite.

Finally, I would request the drafters of the petition to reconsider 
their usage of the word 'disproportionate'. So that my signature on the 
petition can rest in peace.

many thanks


Shuddha





Monica Mody wrote:

> Whether a war is just or not is a more philosophical response.
> 
> To add to Jamie's comment, the term "disproportionate" has also been
> used very specifically to refer to the rules for conduct of war under
> international humanitarian law, and becomes important when you are
> trying to determine the legality or otherwise of Israel's actions. In
> other words, Israel could be charged for war crimes because of its
> disproportional conduct.
> 
> (For a more detailed analysis, see the Human Rights Watch O&A on
> Israel and Hezbollah, available at
> http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/17/lebano13748.htm)
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Monica
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