2800 people injured, at least 12 dead and 170 in critical condition in Pager explosions. Hezbollah blames Israel.

[coolbeans]

Hiku said:

coolbeans said:

But "funding Ukraine" is a flimsy analogy there.  A stronger hypothetical would be to imagine a quasi-private mercenary crew with NATO ties indiscriminately firing rockets into Russian civilian populations for weeks on end.  Russia then responds by overheating phones & tablets of what their intelligence says are NATO-tied targets.  Even if some innocents are also harmed as a result, I'm not going to pretend this attack came out of nowhere.  I'd still be livid towards Russia permanently maiming and/or blinding my mom, but I'm also going to curse those mercenaries who knowingly goaded that response as well.

This isn't a broader defense to every military action Israel has done since 10/7, mind you.  Just that example.

I used that analogy because that is something that has already happened that Russia can use as "justification" to apply the same kind of terror on western nations. And it would be paired with comments (verified or not) of horrific acts that have occured as a result of that war, or what 'forced' Russia to invade. It can be carried out by a middle eastern organisation as payback for bombing civilians. Etc.

A 1:1 scenario doesn't need to happen for someone to copy this. Especially when Israel's response in force is to apply 1000+ times more damage than they sustained.

I'm not focusing on the justifications for retaliation. It's mostly irrelevant, other than the fact that the aggressor will have some sort of excuse for it, internally.

I'm focusing on this type of terror attack.
They should never have done this. For the civilians that died, were injured, or survived and now fear being near any electronics every day 24/7. And for the rest of us if someone copies this and it spreads to other nations, for whatever reason they see as justifiable.

But you can't disregard that you're responding to someone who names Hezbollah though.  Just saying "how would you feel if Russia maimed & blinded your mom like Israel did here?" misses an important component when you don't map out why they chose this action.  When Russia's hypothetical reason is "funding Ukraine" then they look insane, but when you map on a closer comparison like mine then the moral calculus shifts.  Like, if Russian intelligence found out a crate of new Samsung Galaxy Notes were being delivered to my hypothetical group of quasi-NATO mercenary crews that're shelling Russian towns, the intention becomes clearer.  I'm still emotionally damaged from the attack, but the blame isn't only Russia now.  

-"Especially when Israel's response in force is to apply 1000+ times more damage than they sustained."

But why is this 1000+ more damage by comparison though?  Israel by default is going to sustain less damage in virtually any war b/c they're able to block most of the rockets coming in.  It's sort of like we've flipped expectations of how a sovereign country is expected to operate against its adversaries.  Like, as if because you're able to stop most of the indiscriminate bombing from hostile forces who carry genocidal intent you should... let it continue unless said hostiles are firing from an open field.  That also doesn't mean a no-holds-barred approach is morally correct either, but what actually is proper fighting here?