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neodymiumphishtoday at 2:42 PM1 replyview on HN

If you make justifications for non-military targets like that ("tech firms"), then it just becomes a matter of opinion on where we draw the line. _You_ don't think that extends to hospitals and medical supplies, but _they_ might, and you're moral compass is just as righteous as theirs.


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jmyeettoday at 2:57 PM

There was a time when there was less restraint with what prosecuting a war looked like. The Mongols famously wiped out the Khwarazmian Empire after the Sultan killed their traders.

But given the growth in destructive power, particularly with the advent of the nuclear age, it became necessary to establish some rules or norms for war and I'm referring specifically to the Geneva Conventions [1]. Conventions here cover that wounded people and civilians aren't military targets. So it's not my opinion or Iran's opinion that matters.

The question then is do we live in an interntional rules-based order or not? The US and Israel have ignored the rules-based order in favor of "might is right" politics.

As for tech firms, I'm sorry but a company like Palantir has made itself a valid military target [2][3]. And if you work there, you are really no different from the Reaper Drone pilot who fires Hellfire missiles at, say, a wedding procession [4].

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions

[2]: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

[3]: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/palantir...

[4]: https://aoav.org.uk/2014/drone-strike-yemen/