Where were our soldiers today in Iraq? As occupiers, aren't we responsibl

[loudnclear]

responsible for the lives of those we occupy? That slaughter today of Iraqi policemen close by US military installation...how did that happen and why aren't we being held responsible for law and order as occupiers?
I guess for the US and Israel there are not standards or morality...just brute force and superior weapons. Therefore no one should hold us accountable.

[aquart]

1. "Brute force and superior weapons"

Just a minute. We, the US are invaders in Iraq. In Israel they are defending their lives, their families, their homes, and their nation.

I damn well hope WE have that if we have to in our homes.

Now, let's see. You condemn brute force and superior weapons but you wish they had been there to save and support the Iraqi police? Confused much?

I'm sorry that mighty huge giant Israel is the bogeyman under your bed, but Israel isn't fighting in Iraq. Israel has not invaded Iraq. Israel is scared to death the schoolkids won't come home on the bus because another schoolkid was wearing a bomb.

Does that make them overreact sometimes? Golly. How many of your kids have you buried with bomb fragments in them?

If you see a comparison between the US in Iraq and Israel, you are stretching it to the point of breaking.

[loudnclear]

2. If the US and Israel were not occupying other people's land you wouldn't

have much to be afraid of. If someone knocks on your door and tells you to move out because they want your home what would you and your family do? I know what I would do.

Now to stick to my original point that you so pitifully tried to re-frame in your own terms. According to international law, aren't occupiers of a country responsible for the law and order and basic human needs of those they occupy?

[loudnclear]

3. OK, so I found the answer:

"Under international humanitarian law, military commanders must prevent and where necessary suppress serious violations involving the local population under their control or subject to their authority. Furthermore, occupying forces have an immediate duty to take all feasible steps to prevent acts of violent reprisal.

The responsibility for protecting civilians extends to the conduct of any local Iraqi armed groups acting under authority of or in conjunction with U.S. forces. That duty exists for the benefit of individuals allied with the Iraqi government who have laid down their arms as well as opponents of the government. Human Rights Watch has outlined these duties previously in a policy paper (http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/arms/iraq0202003.htm) and a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and other U.S. allies (http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/03/us031903ltr.htm). "