the art of war

A couple of days ago, Lindsay Beyerstein posted this interview with Robert Fisk. Fisk makes the point that the British, for example, faced very similar attacks, from Irish republicans in Northern Ireland, as Israel, but never retaliated with such devastating violence. Here's the excerpt:

What’s going on in southern Lebanon is an outrage. It’s an atrocity. The idea that more than 600 civilians must die because three Israeli soldiers were killed and two were captured on the border by the Hezbollah on July 12, my 60th birthday -- I’ve spent 30 years of my life watching this, this filth now, you know -- is outrageous. It’s against all morality to suggest that 600 innocent civilians must die for this. There is no other country in the world that could get away with this.

You know, when -- I wrote in my paper last week, there were times when the IRA would cross from the Irish Republic into northern Ireland to kill British soldiers. And they did murder and kill British soldiers. But we, the British, didn’t hold the Irish government responsible. We didn't send the Royal Air Force to bomb Dublin power stations and Galway and Cork. We didn't send our tanks across the border to shell the hill villages of Cavan or Monaghan or Louth or Donegal. Blair wouldn't dream of doing that, because he believes he's a moral man, he’s a civilized man. He wouldn't treat another nation like that.

Not that the British are completely innocent of abuses in Northern Ireland or India, but Fisk's point is a good one nonetheless. And it got me thinking about times that regional powers, especially western powers, have behaved like Israel. I really can't think of many. The French occupation of Algeria, comes to mind. But I keep going back to one single incident, the bombing of Guernica.