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From: "D. C. Sessions" <dcs@witsend.tnet.com>
Organization: Nobody but me -- really
Subject: Rules of Engagement (was: 18 Israelis murdered in March
Distribution: world
Lines: 77

In <1993Apr8.212737.19245@thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu>, hasan@McRCIM.McGill.EDU wrote:
# 
# In article <1993Apr8.143232@frej.teknikum.uu.se>, flax@frej.teknikum.uu.se (Jonas Flygare) writes:
# |> In article <1993Apr6.150829.6425@thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu>, hasan@McRCIM.McGill.EDU  writes:
# |> |> In article <FLAX.93Apr6125933@frej.teknikum.uu.se>, flax@frej.teknikum.uu.se (Jonas Flygare) writes:
# |> 
# |> |> |>    First, my above statement doesnot say that "the existence of israeli citizens
# |> |> |>    in the WB revoke their right of life" but it says "the israeli occupation
# |> |> |>    of the WB revoke the right of life for some/most its citizens - basically
# |> |> |>    revokes the right of for its military men". Clearly, occupation is an
# |> |> |>    undeclared war; during war, attacks against military targets are fully legitimate. 
# |> 
# |> I'd like you to tell me, in your own words who the military are, wrt Israel then.
# |> In uniform, or not? On duty, or off-duty? Soldier to be, or not?
# |> (That is, since it's compulsory one might regard any Israeli as a
# |> legit target using that definition)
# 
# in uniform or not ? doesnot make a difference if the person is in army.
# On duty, or off-duty? doesnot matter if the army man was on duty or on a
# vacation week.
# Soldier to be, or not? sure i meant only military men.

  Just trying to get this clear, so please bear with me.  As far as
  I can tell, you're proposing the following rules of engagement
  between Israel and the Palestinean resistance.  Please feel
  revise this preliminary draft as necessary:

  1) Israeli military personnel are fair game at any time, in uniform
     or out, on duty or off.  In practice, since any male or female
     Israeli of military age (18-?) may be off-duty military, all but
     young children are acceptable targets.  Since the existence of
     Israel constitutes indication of hostile intent, no further
     provocation is required.

  2) To avoid inpermissable violations of the rights of non-combatant
     Palestineans, Israeli forces must not engage Palestineans
     without positive identification as military personnel, clear
     indication of aggressive intent, and a clear field of fire.

    a) Positive identification may be assured by either checking for
       Palestinean military uniform, by posession of exclusively
       military armament (ie, T78 MBTs or MiG-29 aircraft), or
       self-identification (either verbal or documentary).  Note
       that dual-use military/civilian weaponry such as hand grenades,
       AK-47 rifles, and RPG launchers do not constitute positive
       military identification and require closer inspection such
       as document checks.

    b) Aggressive intent (as distinct from merely 'hostile' intent,
       which is the normal condition) may be assured by not less
       than three rounds of incoming fire separated by intervals
       of not less than ten seconds between rounds.  Note that a
       single burst of automatic-weapon fire counds as one round,
       as does a volley of rocket fire from more than one source.
       As noted above, dual-use weaponry may NOT be assumed to
       originate from military personnel, and thus do not justify
       armed response.

    c) A clear field of fire can be guaranteed by making a positive
       military identification of all personnel in the target area of
       the weapons to be used.  Note that aggressive intent need not
       be proven for all possible targets.  Thus, if IAF aircraft
       are attacked by a SAM crew it is not necessary to check the
       papers of each crew member so long as none are obviously
       civilians (as indicated, for instance, by the posession of
       uniquely civilian weaponry such as stones, axes, and Molotov
       coctails.)  Since it is often difficult for IAF elements to
       land and make the necessary checks, ground forces should
       first screen prospective strike areas before AGM fire.
       For ACM purposes, a cockpit-to-cockpit pass within 5 meters
       is usually sufficient for this purpose, but may be repeated
       if necessary.

--- D. C. Sessions                            Speaking for myself ---
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