Comments Elsewhere

DAP,

I do indeed think that there is something unreasonable about Ghate’s position. Several things, actually, but the most important one is the complete disregard for considerations of proportionality. There are limits on the amount of violence you can inflict in retaliation against aggression, and how much violence against innocent bystanders you can blame on the initial aggressor. Living in a relatively advanced society does not entitle you to the strategy and tactics of Genghis Khan.

To test your own leanings, consider a hypothetical example. Suppose that the Israeli military determined that the most efficient way to retaliate against Hizbollah was to firebomb southern Lebanon until everything moving was dead. Would you consider this a morally legitimate response to the killing or capture of a handful of Israeli soldiers and the indiscriminate firing of inaccurate rockets? Would all of the blame for the tens or hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths rest solely on Hizbollah?