Soccer Dad

When is a war crime not a war crime

Jules Crittenden asks, "is it a war crime?" (via Instapundit)

It's a small incident in the grand scheme of things. Another Navy corpsman doing his job, working on the wounded, sometimes under fire, and dying in combat as thousands have before him have in the Pacific, in Korea, in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't know if it's happened quite like that recently, shot dead while applying bandages to a wounded man. Maybe there will be a decoration, something to be presented to his parents to let them know his nation is grateful he did his duty and tended to a wounded Marine under fire, without regard for his own safety. Meanwhile, it's a heart-rending tableau to imagine, the bandage wrappings and medical gear strewn about the bodies. I stared at the screen for a while and had to compose myself when I worked on the wire copy on deadline tonight.

Sounds like a war crime.

In the case of Israelis though, since the ICRC won't give protection to the Mogen David Adom, it's not a war crime. So killing Yochai Porat wasn't a war crime.

Sgt.-Maj.(res.) Yochai Porat, who was on reserve army duty as a medic, was killed while trying to help his wounded comrades. Yochai was coordinator of the Jewish Agency's Foreign Volunteers Program, which is jointly run with Magen David Adom. The foreign volunteer program took on new impetus after Yochai became its coordinator. In this capacity, just a week ago he met Senator Hillary Clinton during her visit to Israel, and was excited to take a picture with her during the presentation of diplomas for volunteers from abroad.

Kiling Shmuel Akiva Weiss - a medic who was going to tend to Matanya Robinson wasn't a war crime.

Because Israeli army medics aren't afforded the same international protections granted every other mecical corps due to Islamic intolerance, the killings of Yochai Porat and Shmuel Weiss weren't war crimes. They were evidence of antisemitism and its acceptability on the international scene.

Crossposted on Yourish.