Good versus Evil

(Written after hearing a comment regarding a prisoner being held in Guantanamo Bay)

How many times have you heard this statement?

“They’re such a good people” or “That dictator is so evil!”

Do you ever think about why we say these things?

We develop our sense of “good and evil” or “right and wrong” though our upbringing, and through other factors, such as religion, current politics, and media.

Therefore, when we announce someone as “good” or “evil”, we are saying that the ideals, actions, and thoughts of that person go against our morals. This person may be a savior to a group of people, and a scourge to another. So how can we proclaim a person as good or evil?

The truth is we can’t.

We say these things to govern our actions, and to explain the events outside our control.

“Why did we go to war?”
“The enemy was evil”

“Why did this man survive the storm, when everyone else didn’t?”
“This man was a good man”

Given that your definition of “good” differs from another’s, does it seem adequate to use these statements to show reason behind anything? Hardly. In fact, the previous examples would be more accurate in this format:

“Why did we go to war?”
“The enemy disagreed with our views”

“Why did this man survive the storm, when everyone else didn’t?”
“This man supported mainstream ideas”

Some readers may disagree with my statements. I can understand that.

But please, set your religion aside, and ignore all of the propaganda you absorb through media, politics, and the rest of the world.

How can you differentiate a “good” person, from an “evil” one?

It’s difficult.

Based on what has already been said, it can be understood that, a system of “good versus evil” isn’t a functional system.

Yet we have kept this system since the beginning of our race, and there isn’t any signs of it losing strength in the future.

Why do we see this unstoppable trend?

Because this is how our society functions. Without this system, how could we live?

We founded our society on the areas where “good trumps evil,” and “some people are simply better than others”

“This man donates to the less fortunate, so he looks like a good person.”

“This man doesn’t deserve our sympathy, he’s an evil person.”

In conclusion, It seems we have developed a working society off an irrelevant idea. Perhaps this is why we don’t pay much attention to this matter. In the final, most important step of the system, everything works. We can brush this matter aside, because we have no reason to give it attention. Why fix something that doesn’t appear broken?

Targeting of civilian areas (By Israel)

Strikes on Lebanon's civilian population and infrastructure include Beirut airport, ports, a lighthouse, grain silos, bridges, roads, factories, medical and relief trucks, mobile telephone and television stations, fuel containers and service stations, and the country's largest dairy farm Liban Lait. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported from Beirut, "We're hearing stories—confirmed stories now about ambulances actually being attacked. Hospitals actually being bombed, so much so, that they can no longer function".The BBC reported that families evacuating the village of Marwahin in South Lebanon were struck on an open road by an Israeli missile attack; killing 17, many of them women and children. Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into this incident. There have been numerous reports of attacks on fleeing civilians; on 23 July 2006, three families fleeing Tyre at the command of the IDF were attacked by rockets fired from Israeli helicopters; all were prominently waving a white flag from their automobiles.

In response to American support and Israel's military tactics, Kim Howells, British Foreign Secretary, said in an interview with CNN, "I hope that the Americans understand what's happening to Lebanon: the destruction of the infrastructure, the death of so many children, and so many people. These have not been surgical strikes, and it's very, very difficult I think to understand the kind of military tactics that have been used. You know if they're chasing Hezbollah, well go for Hezbollah. You don't go for the entire Lebanese nation, and that's the difference."

Israel has stated that "Hezbollah has a huge arsenal and has fired 1,000 missiles at us. We are acting in self-defence. We are targeting only military objectives, including transport facilities that Hezbollah can use, but you have to remember that Hezbollah often hides in civilian areas. We sent flyers and gave other warnings to civilians to leave before our attacks." Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Israel has no intention to harm Lebanese civilians, but warned that civilians who live near Hezbollah weapon caches were in danger: "Because we know that some of their rocket caches, which are fired at Israel, are hidden in private apartments, I call on these residents to leave their homes. He who lives near a rocket is likely to get hurt."^[86] Israeli Army radio said that Israeli forces are under orders to bomb 10 residential buildings in south Beirut for every Hezbollah rocket fired at Haifa.^[87]

The UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland has said that one third of the dead are children, and declared that the "horrific" levelling of "block after block" of buildings in Beirut "makes it a violation of humanitarian law." By Egeland's estimates, in his adress to the United Nations Security Council, more than 500,000 Lebanese have been rendered internal refugees in Lebanon, as they have fled from the ongoing bombardments from Israel, and there is a mounting humanitarian situation in the country.

(from Wikipedia.com)

Targeting of civilian areas (By Hezbollah)

Artillery rockets by Hezbollah were fired at civilian targets throughout the conflict, landing in all major cities of northern Israel including Haifa, Nazareth, Tiberias, Nahariya, Safed, Afula Kiryat Shmona, and Karmiel, and numerous small agricultural villages.; some 220,000 Israeli civilians were sent to bomb shelters.

Human Rights Watch stated on 18 July that "Hezbollah's attacks [on Haifa] were at best indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas, at worst the deliberate targeting of civilians. Either way, they were serious violations of international humanitarian law and probable war crimes." The reasoning was that "the warheads used suggest a desire to maximize harm to civilians. Some of the rockets launched against Haifa over the past two days contained hundreds of metal ball bearings that are of limited use against military targets but cause great harm to civilians and civilian property. The ball bearings lodge in the body and cause serious harm."

Nearly 2,200 rockets, out of an estimated 11,000 estimated total, have hit northern Israel. The recent showering of rockets by Hezbollah has caused considerable damage. It has also injured and killed numerous Israelis. Tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced to hide in fall out shelters.
(from Wikipedia.com)

Targeting of civilian areas (Overview)

Attacks on civilians in Lebanon and Israel on the part of all combatants has been a major component in the conflict.

Louise Arbour, United Nations high commissioner for human rights, expressed "grave concern over the continued killing and maiming of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory." She suggested that the actions of Israel and Hezbollah may constitute war crimes. Arbour called for Israel to obey a "principle of proportionality" and said, "indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians … Similarly, the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable."

Amnesty International condemned both Israel and Hezbollah and called for UN intervention, stating: "The past few days has seen a horrendous escalation in attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. Yet the G8 leaders have failed conspicuously to uphold their moral and legal obligation to address such blatant breaches of international humanitarian law, which in some cases have amounted to war crimes."

One day after the call for a ceasefire by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on 20 July 2006, a U.N.-run observation post located near Zarit, Israel near the Lebanese border was hit by direct fire during fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia. The Israeli army claimed that Hezbollah rockets hit the U.N. post; however, a U.N. officer said that the post "was hit by an Israeli artillery shell."
(from Wikipedia.com)

Hezbollah rocket campaign

After the Israeli initial response, Hezbollah declared an all-out military alert, and said it had 13,000 rockets capable of hitting towns and installations far into northern Israel. As a result, Defense Minister Peretz told commanders to prepare civil defense plans, and some 220,000 Israeli civilians were sent to bomb shelters. Hezbollah continued to fire hundreds of Katyusha rockets into northern Israel's towns and cities, including Nahariya, Safed, Hatzor HaGlilit, Rosh Pina, Kiryat Shmona, and Karmiel, and numerous small agricultural villages.

For the first time, Hezbollah attacks have penetrated as far south as Haifa, Israel's third largest city, as well as Atlit and the Jezreel Valley cities of Nazareth and Afula. Al-Manar has reported that the Hezbollah attack included a Fajr-3 and a Ra'ad 1 liquid-fuel missiles, developed by Iran. One of the attacks hit a railroad repair depots, killing eight workers; Hezbollah claimed that this attack was aimed at a large Israeli fuel storage plant adjacent to the railway facility. Haifa is home to many strategically valuable facilities such as shipyards and oil refineries, and their targeting by Hezbollah is seen as an escalation.

Defence Minister Amir Peretz has declared martial law throughout northern Israel.

So far, Israeli Magen David Adom emergency teams have been called to 386 rocket landing sites, attending to 762 casualties.
(from Wikipedia.com)