Will the murder of children result in a war crimes commission?
In my article “Christmas Shopping: Shoes are the perfect present” I wrote,
“Let’s try and and talk about something we should all be able to agree on.
KILLING CHILDREN IS A WAR CRIME PLAIN AND SIMPLE
STAND FORWARD ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE”
This article was posted on the 16th December and was tragically prophetic of the invasion of Gaza by Israeli military weeks later. The consequences of that invasion of a dense civilian population using fighter aircraft, tanks and missiles did not need a prophet to forsee. Any military man would have been able to state clearly that civilians would die. Most certainly the use of such force would kill children.
I can say this categorically as I have just spent two days with a highly experienced ex military officer. Captain Doctor Nick Swift saw active service in Bosnia as a military doctor and has extensive training in weapons, weapon wounds and combat medicine. I have known “Swifty” since we were at Girton College together and our friendship is based on an intellectual humanitarianism. As we sat in his house he started to show me images of the Gazan conflict and I can honestly say that I have never seen him so angry.
“You see these Jack, these are images of air burst weapons. leaving aside any claim of phospherous use, the very idea of launching air burst weapons into a densely packed civilian population has to be a war crime. This is not a point any sane military officer would debate, air burst weaponry over civilian populations will cause indiscriminate civilian fatalities and every soldier will know that before they launch the weapon. “
A tall white latte, extra foam, no hallucinations. Please.
Caffeine is much loved for its ability to quickly increase alertness, boost energy, and improve mood. I love a strong black cup of coffee; no sugar no milk, with my greasy English fry-up in the morning after a long night of hard partying or pulling an all-nighter.
