Comment by charred_patina | Hacker News Reader

Comment by charred_patina | Hacker News Reader

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Is it not cartoon villainy when Israel has killed 23,000 people indiscriminately? Or Israeli real estate companies post pictures of planned beachside condos photoshopped onto rubble in Gaza? Or when Israel murdered 3 of the hostages because they assumed they were unarmed Palestinian civilians?

All of the groups in this region (and the world at large), government or not, are extremely evil and capable of unimaginable violence. You cannot pick and choose to ignore the evils of one group because it is politically beneficial. Well, you can, but that's hypocritical.

The point is that if your goal is to keep the region stable, maximize your influence, and minimize deaths, you have to treat everyone according to the leverage they have. Not the leverage you wish they had based on your moral judgements.

The US media overwhelmingly portrays this as Israel being picked on "for no reason" by all of the savages in the region, and this hampers people in the west's ability to look at the situation objectively.

Deflect, much? I can call out a group of cartoonishly villainous terrorists without having to condone any other behavior.

I get that you don't like Israel. I don't know why I would necessarily want to change your mind there, all told. I can say you should not let that drive you to such allies as terrorists that attack trade ships.

> Deflect, much? I can call out a group of cartoonishly villainous terrorists without having to condone any other behavior.

I am not deflecting, my point has been consistent across the whole thread. All of the power players in the region are bad people. However, you have to come to the table with them as they are. It's hubris to just think because the Houthis are bad guys then we don't have to take them seriously. Obviously the best way to stop these attacks is to force Israel to ceasefire (it's also the moral option), but many people wouldn't want to capitulate to pressure from "terrorists".

Do you think the Houthis would stop their attacks if Israel reached a ceasefire?

I think they would. You would need to have them sign an agreement (as well as Israel). If they violated this agreement, then sure, the USA could be justified in taking military action.

However, painting them as savages and approaching it with a "bomb them back to the stone age" mindset isn't helpful. You'd think after 20+ years we would have learned this lesson.

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