"Shields & Lances"

"The moral decline in the West has robbed many of clarity in the ethical questions raised by war."

David Warren serves up a typically well-written, insightful essay today:

.... There, about 20 obvious and significant targets remain untouched because of "human shields". The most effective of these shields is the Western news reporters, well over 100 of whom are exploited by what remains of Saddam's regime, often with their complicity in buying safety for themselves. These targets include even the Defence Ministry (which is used as a press briefing centre), Iraq TV (still broadcasting Saddam's propaganda stunts and messages, picked up by Al-Jazeera and distributed through the Arab and Muslim world to whip up anti-American sentiment), and the Rashid Hotel (under which the Iraqis have built their most secure bunker. There may be another under the more humble Palestine Hotel in which the lower-paid hacks are sleeping).

It is thus the last time we will be seeing journalists with protected status behind enemy lines; for the Pentagon is learning from some of these tactical errors. The acknowledgement of such human shields is a crucial mistake because -- like the GPS-jamming machinery and other weapons systems the Russians are now proved to have been shipping to Saddam while the U.S. was stalled at the United Nations -- they cost American lives. In future wars, I expect, journalists will be told the facts of life in a less ambiguous way.

The larger question of human shields is still under debate. My own view is the one I think will prevail: that allied armies should more-or-less ignore such people, in the selection of targets. For the use of such cover is itself among the illicit weapons of the terror regimes, who will abandon the weapon only when it ceases to work. Those who agree to be used as shields, can hold themselves to account for their fates; those who had no choice are tragically unlucky. Unfortunately, the moral decline in the West has robbed many of clarity in the ethical questions raised by war....

(Thanks, Peter.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Tue. 03/25/03 12:54:34 PM
Categorized as War.