Israelis Use Combat Cameramen to Justify Strikes on Schools, Mosques

In Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces are pummeling targets they would normally never touch -- mosques, hospitals, schools. To justify their actions, many IDF units are employing combat videographers, photographers, or sound engineers, to do what the Israeli military calls "op erational verification."
The IDF says they have no choice. "We didn’t change; the en emy did," Yiftah Ron-Tal, a major gener al in the IDF reserves, tells ," writes Defense News ace Barbara Opall-Rome. "Hamas has sunken to lev els that are the worst we’ve ever seen, by deliber ately choosing the places and con ditions of engagement that assure the heaviest civilian toll."
Which makes justifying attacks on these once-out-of-bound targets so important. "It’s an integral part of the unit; just like snipers, communications officers and other specialists. His mission is to validate our actions in the context of the enemy threat," Ron-Tal says. "Video cameras and other docu mentation gear is becoming part and parcel of the equipment militaries will need to provide for forces com bating Hamas-type enemies."
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/israelis-docume.html

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