Daily Times

I fully understand that war can never be categorized as fair, unless initiator is so powerful that it carries everyone along on its agenda. In contemporary times, it is only the United States (US), and Israel that can convince the majority of stakeholders that their wars are fair.

However, this short article is not aimed at proving war as fair or unfair, but highlight that the US, and Israel are treating wars as fares, means the festivals, melas, and a matter of routine, and derive pleasure by killing innocent, and unarmed civilians, women and children, at will.

In fact, the US; the most powerful military of the history has never fought with an Equal Military Power (EMP), or even a Near-Equal Military Power (NEMP), but only with Unequal Military Powers (UMPs), and therefore, it treats wars as business as usual, and boasts being a winner, without actually winning a single war.

Likewise, Israel cannot fight any war without an unflinching support by the US. Since its wider war in 1973, Israel has only fought and killed small resistance groups, women and children, and occupied the Palestinian territory, first by destroying their properties, removing the poor people from their ancestral homes, and then by rebuilding the destroyed structure to resettle the Jews.

The US, the most powerful military of the history, has never fought with an Equal Military Power (EMP)

This is the most unfortunate part of the Arab-Israel conflict that the poorest of the poor have to leave their places, either as dead or never to return to their ancestral homeland, and live abroad, if granted, as refugees for the rest of their lives.

Some 2500 years ago, the Chinese sage Sun Tzu had said, that war is a very serious affair, but must be avoided as far as possible, and efforts must be made to win the war without fighting. However, if war becomes extremely necessary for the state, then it must be short and swift, so that the losses are minimized, and take the enemy territory as an intact body, instead of destroying it. Moreover, treat Prisoner of War (POWs) gently so that they can be on your side in the next war.

The war ethics defined by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) dictated that do not kill unarmed, old, women, children, and animals. Do not destroy trees, and treat POWs humanely. However, the US-led western allies and Israel do exactly the opposite, and treat wars as fares, and as a first policy option, instead of exercising it as a last resort.

No sooner a stone is thrown towards them, one will see the fighter planes thundering on the heads of the poor unarmed civilians. Be it Iraq, Afghanistan, or Palestine, the US and/or Israeli planes would start the pre-planned bombing campaigns on areas, which have no active or passive air defense instruments, and boast victories by destroying their unarmed, undefended, and countervalue targets, as per their own definitions. But, unfortunately, the poor people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine have no value, that is why when they are bombed, nobody cries.

My only concern is that when will it stop, and who will stop them? Because, the United Nations (UN) or the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), do not have the will, and the wherewithal to stop the US or Israel for bombing the population centers, hospitals, and schools, in any of the target countries. Even if it is claimed that the retaliatory strikes are in self-defense, the attackers have no right to kill the women, children and unarmed civilians.

The US and Israel have the best intelligence system that any other state could think of. Therefore, it might be more appropriate to find the individuals who are responsible for throwing the stones on them, and may be kill them as has been done in the past, instead of killing the people who do not have the bread, and shelter, and use stones to rest their heads, or wrap around their bellies to hide their hunger.

The US and Israel have been doing successful targeted operations against their most wanted leaders of the target countries, then why is it necessary to tear the country apart, and create an undue hatred for yourself among the neutrals. Moreover, the displacement of the people is already causing a huge socio-economic stress on the nearby European countries, and the refugee dilemma in the long run will become a far more problematic then leaving the people at their homes.

It is once again reiterated that the global institutions and stakeholders must not keep quiet at the blatant atrocities, in fact the genocide of the people of Palestine, and must act to stop the US and Israel, before this war expands horizontally and engulfs the entire region into a fireball of hate, enmity, and distrust, on the so-called international system.

The writer of this article has authored three international books: “Nuclear Deterrence and Conflict Management Between India and Pakistan” “South Asia Needs Hybrid Peace” and “Understanding Sun Tzu and the Art of Hybrid War.”