# Change laws of war



## QC (Oct 21, 2009)

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/2009102122137152596.html

*Israel push to change laws of war *

Israel's prime minister has instructed his government to draw up plans for a "world wide campaign" to lobby for changes in the international laws of war.

The order from Binyamin Netanyahu follows a special cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss Israel's response to the UN's Goldstone report, which condemned Israel's actions during the 22-day war on Gaza earlier this year.

The meeting also called for the formation of a special committee to deal with the international legal consequences of the report and the prospect Israeli officials could face war crimes trials abroad.

The Israeli government contends international law needs to be amended in order to fight global terrorism.


"We need to keep punching a hole in this lie that is spreading with the help of the Goldstone report"

"The prime minister instructed the relevant government bodies to examine a worldwide campaign to amend the international laws of war to adapt them to the spread of global terrorism," Netanyahu's office said in a statement following Tuesday's meeting.

It added that the cabinet had also instructed justice ministry officials to form a committee to deal with the prospect of "legal proceedings abroad against the state of Israel or its citizens".

"We need to keep punching a hole in this lie that is spreading with the help of the Goldstone report," Netanyahu was quoted as saying in the statement.

*'Freedom of action'*

The statement was backed by Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, who said a change in the international laws of war was "in the interest of anyone fighting terrorism".

He added that the government wanted to give the Israeli military "the full backing to have the freedom of action."

The UN-backed Goldstone report – compiled by South African jurist Richard Goldstone - accuses Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during last winter's war in Gaza, but is more critical of Israeli troops for "terrorising and targeting" civilians.

Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court at The Hague if the two sides fail to conduct credible investigations into the conflict within six months.

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) endorsed the report, but Netanyahu has promised that it will be vetoed at the UN General Assembly.

Israel has previously called the report unbalanced, while Netanyahu has promised a lengthy fight to "delegitimise" the findings by the UN commission.

An Israeli official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the issue of establishing an official inquiry into the conduct of the military during the Gaza campaign was not raised at Tuesday's meeting.

*Goldstone attacked*

Richard Goldstone himself has faced a storm of personal attacks inside Israel since the report's publication.

But on Monday he urged the Israeli government to comply with calls for a full investigation into the war, rejecting suggestions that the report risked sinking the stalled Middle East peace process.

"It's a shallow, utterly false allegation," Goldstone said during a meeting with a group of rabbis in the United States.

"What peace process are they talking about? There isn't one."

About 1,400 Palestinians – the majority of them civilians - and 13 Israelis were killed during Israel's three-week war on Gaza between December and January, which had the stated aim of stopping rocket attacks by Palestinian fighters from the coastal territory.

 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies


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## Paddlefoot (Oct 21, 2009)

Warfare has certainly evolved since the current Laws of Land Warfare were adopted back in the 40s.

Might be time to reconvene in Geneva, tweak them a little bit.


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## QC (Oct 22, 2009)

If you have the time read the Goldstone report, or at least the Conclusion therein. This may have something to do with the revised stance.


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## 7point62 (Oct 26, 2009)

I wish America had half the balls the Israelis have.


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## QC (Oct 27, 2009)

I'd have to agree.


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## hoepoe (Oct 27, 2009)

It's crazy. The IDF dropped pamphlets and sms'd/phones civilians telling them when and where they would strike and gave them hours to leave. The ones that did not leave were considered hostile combatants.


For 8 years Israel turned a blind eye to rockets being launched almost daily (over 7400) into Israeli cities.

If defending ourselves means to change the laws, then so be it.

I am dumbfounded by how blind (some of) the world can be.

H


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## HaChayal (Nov 2, 2009)

We Israelis have one of the most humane armies in the world and yet we are accused of war crimes and compared to the Nazis. The problem is that if we take any military action, whatsoever we will be condemned anyway.


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## QC (Nov 3, 2009)

I'm sure you're wise enough to know it's a tactic.


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## Mac_NZ (Nov 3, 2009)

It's going to be an ongoing problem when the Arabs have a shit ton of oil money to feed their propaganda machine.  I did have a chuckle that the report was compiled by a Yarpy though.


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## hoepoe (Nov 3, 2009)

Mac_NZ said:


> It's going to be an ongoing problem when the Arabs have a shit ton of oil money to feed their propaganda machine.  I did have a chuckle that the report was compiled by a Yarpy though.



The same Yarpy that headed the post-Apartheid Goldstone Commission. 

Interesting man indeed.

H


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## pardus (Jul 5, 2010)

Goldstone is a commie stooge and a scumbag. The fact the UN backs him is further proof that he is an asshole.

I can't believe how much Israel holds back when confronted with the massive amount of terrorist attacks on their country.

Israel did fuck up though, they should have driven every Palistinian from Gaza and the West Bank when they first took them from Egypt and Jordan, declared them soverign Israeli territory and repopulated thee areas with Jews. :2c:

The world should be ashamed of the way they act towards Israel.

Israel is the last western nation with any real balls left, I only hope we regain ours again and do what needs doing to destroy our enemies.

I totally agree we do need to revamp the rules of war. :2c:


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## Manolito (Jul 5, 2010)

I don't think they should be revised. I am scared to death what they could come up with. Think for a moment some of the decisions that have been made to appease the Muslim world. Hell we could end up shooting rubber bullets or some shit. We need to fight to win or outlaw war one of the two. How can you have air superiority and then not allow it to be used. Look at Somallia we couldn't use the tools available. We could end up with some shit like lets asses the two parties capabilities and then restrict the more powerful to what the other side has. My two cents says no good could come from this.
Respectfully,
Bill


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## pardus (Jul 5, 2010)

The whole idea is to relax the rules not make them tighter.




Manolito said:


> I don't think they should be revised. I am scared to death what they could come up with. Think for a moment some of the decisions that have been made to appease the Muslim world. Hell we could end up shooting rubber bullets or some shit. We need to fight to win or outlaw war one of the two. How can you have air superiority and then not allow it to be used. Look at Somallia we couldn't use the tools available. We could end up with some shit like lets asses the two parties capabilities and then restrict the more powerful to what the other side has. My two cents says no good could come from this.
> Respectfully,
> Bill


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## Brooklynben (Jul 5, 2010)

We have a duped Press, an corrupt Administration and a fooled public which are all having such a hard time facing the hard truth staring them in the face that none of them dare identify the enemy by name.  Ask any of these pukes to adjust our laws of warfare and we're most likely to end up with a bigger bucket of shiite.


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