Comments on: Israeli IDF Soldiers Testimonials Taken Out of Context http://giladlotan.com/blog/2009/04/israeli-idf-soldiers-testimonials-taken-out-of-context/ culture technology: bridging the gap Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:52:52 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Eric Nguyen http://giladlotan.com/blog/2009/04/israeli-idf-soldiers-testimonials-taken-out-of-context/comment-page-1/#comment-46667 Eric Nguyen Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:52:07 +0000 http://giladlotan.com/blog/?p=425#comment-46667 Great post, Gilad. A thought: The U.S. discovered in Vietnam that atrocities are often committed by a violent minority. In the "fog of war" some small percentage of soldiers are likely to snap and kill indiscriminately, or perform criminal sexual acts. The armed forces tracked and investigated incidents meticulously during the Vietnam War; the files were made public only decades later through FOIA requests.* My point is that there is often a false dichotomy between the vast majority of our armed forces acting professionally and their perpetrating war crimes. The fact is that even though this behavior is difficult to predict on an individual basis, in aggregate the likelihood of war crimes can be quantified quite easily. In modern warfare, it seems like atrocities are almost always the actions of "a few bad apples." But it seems equally true that these bad apples are still a reality of any fighting force. I think we have to admit that sending young men into terrifying life-or-death situations will result in a predictable level of unconscionable action. We don't have to condemn the average soldier to do this. * These files were made public in 1994, but did not come to public attention until 2006: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_Crimes_Working_Group_Files Great post, Gilad. A thought: The U.S. discovered in Vietnam that atrocities are often committed by a violent minority. In the “fog of war” some small percentage of soldiers are likely to snap and kill indiscriminately, or perform criminal sexual acts. The armed forces tracked and investigated incidents meticulously during the Vietnam War; the files were made public only decades later through FOIA requests.*

My point is that there is often a false dichotomy between the vast majority of our armed forces acting professionally and their perpetrating war crimes. The fact is that even though this behavior is difficult to predict on an individual basis, in aggregate the likelihood of war crimes can be quantified quite easily. In modern warfare, it seems like atrocities are almost always the actions of “a few bad apples.” But it seems equally true that these bad apples are still a reality of any fighting force.

I think we have to admit that sending young men into terrifying life-or-death situations will result in a predictable level of unconscionable action. We don’t have to condemn the average soldier to do this.

* These files were made public in 1994, but did not come to public attention until 2006: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_Crimes_Working_Group_Files

]]> By: giladlotan http://giladlotan.com/blog/2009/04/israeli-idf-soldiers-testimonials-taken-out-of-context/comment-page-1/#comment-46654 giladlotan Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:14:05 +0000 http://giladlotan.com/blog/?p=425#comment-46654 Thanks for the links. I did read those articles back then, and thought the same thing. Israel has to understand that with the internet, it cannot have as much control over messages as it has been used to. There needs to be transparency with regards to its political actions, and there needs to be made more of an effort to highlight the internal judicial and prosecution processes - otherwise, the world sees only a narrow image of the conflict. Thanks for the links.
I did read those articles back then, and thought the same thing. Israel has to understand that with the internet, it cannot have as much control over messages as it has been used to. There needs to be transparency with regards to its political actions, and there needs to be made more of an effort to highlight the internal judicial and prosecution processes – otherwise, the world sees only a narrow image of the conflict.

]]> By: robg http://giladlotan.com/blog/2009/04/israeli-idf-soldiers-testimonials-taken-out-of-context/comment-page-1/#comment-46649 robg Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:15:49 +0000 http://giladlotan.com/blog/?p=425#comment-46649 Looks exactly like the kind of confusion Israel intended to create. Israel armed with internet savvy http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090104/FOREIGN/882042198/1002 Israel seeks airwave supremacy http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7823887.stm Israel recruits 'army of bloggers' to combat anti-Zionist Web sites http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056648.html Looks exactly like the kind of confusion Israel intended to create.

Israel armed with internet savvy
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090104/FOREIGN/882042198/1002

Israel seeks airwave supremacy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7823887.stm

Israel recruits ‘army of bloggers’ to combat anti-Zionist Web sites
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056648.html

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