Hacker News Reader

Comment by klipt | Hacker News Reader

Doesn't the Geneva Convention state that if militants build an underground base beneath a civilian building, that civilian building becomes a military target?

Gaza is Swiss-cheesed with hundreds of miles of military tunnels. If any attack on a tunnel is disallowed because of civilian buildings above it, I predict many countries will start adopting the Hamas strategy of putting military bases under civilian buildings. That way, every attack on your bases becomes a war crime by your enemy - you can't lose!

View on HN

I do not blame the people of Palestine for taking the defensive actions they deem correct. I do not consent to the idea of civilians becoming legitimate targets due to defensive architecture. Yes, war crimes are being committed; your comment makes you bear complicity to them, in a small degree, as you serve as an apologist for such actions online.

Of course, both of our posting is pointless, as we know neither will convince the other. You have an advantage in that your particular side is in power; but I bite my thumb at you.

> I do not blame the people of Palestine for taking the defensive actions they deem correct.

> your comment makes you bear complicity to them, in a small degree, as you serve as an apologist for such actions online.

Can Israelis act as they see fit in defense, or no?

It appears as though they will act as they see fit - defensively or otherwise - regardless of my position on the topic.

> It appears as though they will act as they see fit - defensively or otherwise - regardless of my position on the topic.

Well, you stated your position multiple times w.r.t. Palestinian rights, so I think for the sake of completeness you can state your position on the rights of Israelis as well.

So, do the Israelis have a right to act as they see fit, or no?

> Doesn't the Geneva Convention state that if militants build an underground base beneath a civilian building, that civilian building becomes a military target?

I am not sure it truly even matters, practically speaking. Laws that cannot be enforced are merely suggestions.

There's something in-between law and suggestion, which is a Schelling point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_point_(game_theory) ; these points can be influenced by information.

If we can establish, through published doctrine, what we will do in certain situations, then other nations can reason about our decisionmaking process. They can compare our actions to our policy, and make judgements about our trustworthiness as national actors. If we choose to act irrationally, or against our own doctrine, we become untrustworthy and other players have to adjust their game accordingly. That's the "enforcement" - and you can see this in action, e.g. with Mark Carney's recent speech.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com