2024-04-04 An eye for an eye
I often think about the number of dead killed in an incident and the number of dead killed in the reaction. It's not really revenge but a sort of "we can strike back so we should" and then people don't know when to stop.
Personally, I find that "an eye for an eye" is terrible advice.
I have no words for "a hundred eyes for an eye."
Think about Gaza in 2024: over 30,000 dead in half a year.
As of 5 March 2024, over 31,000 people (30,228 Palestinian and 1,410 Israeli) have been reported as killed in the Israel–Hamas war, including 94 journalists (89 Palestinian, 2 Israeli and 3 Lebanese) and over 136 UNRWA aid workers.
On 7 October 2023, 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 764 civilians, were killed, and 248 persons taken hostage during the initial attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. – Casualties of the Israel Hamas war
30228 Palestinians dead after the original incident killed 1139 is more than 25:1.
I wonder about Iraq, too: 300,000 dead in over 20 years.
Documented civilian deaths from violence: 187,116 – 210,566
Total violent deaths including combatants: 300,000 – Iraq Body Count
And why?
Another justification included the alleged connection between the regime of Saddam Hussein and that of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda that had attacked the United States during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. – 2003 invasion of Iraq
The original incident:
Excluding the hijackers, the attacks killed 2,977 people, injured thousands more … – September 11 attacks
300,000 dead after the original incident killed 2,977 is more than 100:1.
The two seem somehow related, I just can't put it into words. High tech weapons against civilians, drones, city warfare, a population that hates the invader, news so terrible I can't even finish reading the Wikipedia articles.
Oh, and out of curiosity, I had to look up the situation in Ukraine, too.
Ukrainian forces: ~70,000 killed, 100,000–120,000 wounded (US estimates) … Russian forces: ~120,000 killed, 170,000–180,000 wounded (US estimates) … the United Nations confirmed that by 31 January 2024, 10,378 civilians had been killed and 19,632 had been injured, but said they believe the real number is higher. – Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War
#Israel #Palestine #Ukraine #Russia
- *2025-11-06**. Apparently, losses are comparable.
Only data on the severely wounded is useful for estimating such irrecoverable losses: soldiers with light injuries are, by law, required to return to duty after recovery, and many have done so multiple times. For this reason, U.S. estimates of “one million killed or wounded,” which clearly include lightly injured soldiers, are not especially meaningful. … Still, the data suggests that the number of soldiers killed on each side is roughly comparable. In categories where record-keeping is more reliable — for example, lists of killed officers — the numbers are almost identical. For Russia, it can be cautiously estimated that by mid-2025, irrecoverable losses — meaning all service members and volunteers who can no longer fight due to death or severe injury — totalled between 440,000 and 650,000 people. -- How many soldiers have Russia and Ukraine lost? And how do their armies compare?