> Calling it a “school attack” implies deliberate targeting of a civilian facility.

>It was obviously an error because the building used to be a military facility and is on the campus of a military base!

... No actually, being on the campus of a military base doesn't make bombing an elementary school full of children not a war crime. If it helps, try imagining Iran bombing a school on a US military base.

And I can't help but notice that you're not mentioning the 497 other targeted schools which I made you aware of.

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jiggawatts 13 hours ago | parent [-]

> try imagining Iran bombing a school on a US military base.

The US doesn't generally intermingle their children with their military bases... I hope.

Even if they did, and the base got bombed during a war, and it was obviously a targeting/aiming/intelligence error... then... well... it is war. Shit happens! Compare this to WWII, where all sides carpet bombed entire cities on purpose, with the deliberate aim of flattening them to rubble, civilians included.

PS: Something like over half of all high-rise apartment buildings that get hit by cruise missiles is because their targeting software and/or maps are shit and not "3D enough" to account for tall buildings in the way of the actual target. Yes, that's hubris with lethal consequences, but not technically a war crime. It's merely war.

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Schmerika 11 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> The US doesn't generally intermingle their children with their military bases... I hope.

There's no need to 'hope' against reality. This information is easily available to us both - there are tens of thousands of K-12 students on US military bases, in America and in other countries [0].

> it was obviously a targeting/aiming/intelligence error

... You're still somehow ignoring the 497 other schools targeted within these last few weeks. It's like your brain simply refuses to process that information - perhaps because it would force a perspective shift?

(Spoiler alert: We are the baddies. 498 schools in 4 weeks is pretty unambiguous, especially following the US involvement in bombing basically every school in Gaza.)

> it is war. Shit happens!

War crimes are not excused by 'being at war'. That's not how it works.

Many people here have already pointed out to you the many reasons and the many officials calling the first Iranian school bombing out as a war crime; and I highly encourage you to being to wrap your head around the fact. Defending war crimes is a deeply uncool way to spend your time. It's not good for you, or for the people reading it.

0 - https://www.militaryonesource.mil/education-employment/for-c...

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vintermann 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> We are the baddies

Not just "we" as in Americans. Jiggawatts specifically, because I doubt they would be defending this if they weren't employed in one of the organisations now directly helping commit the worst crimes humanity has named.

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AnimalMuppet 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Please review the site guidelines, especially the parts about personal attacks and assuming good faith.

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vintermann 8 hours ago | parent [-]

This is about government acting in bad faith, not the person writing here.

I think that if you see someone defending crimes against humanity, I think saying basically "you haven't come to terms with with how evil the thing you're part of and identifying with has become" is the most charitable you can be.

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AnimalMuppet 7 hours ago | parent [-]

You personally attacked jiggawatts specifically. Don't do that here.

	▲	vintermann 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Fine, I'll extend it to everyone else in this conversation who has trouble admitting how evil the thing they identify with has become. There are clearly more of you.

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jiggawatts 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> tens of thousands of K-12 students on US military bases

Well... that's just stupid, and I hope that someone in the DoD has learned from the incident in Iran and will relocate the schools outside of the base perimeters. I doubt that'll happen somehow.

> 497 other schools targeted

a) You'll have to back that number with a reference.

b) Then demonstrate that they were targeted, not just hit. Good luck with that, unless you work for the DoD and overheard incriminating conversations!

> War crimes are not excused by 'being at war'. That's not how it works.

But war is excused!

It's just incredible to me that people are totally unable to grasp that concept that war isn't some friendly board game, or guns at ten paces, all civilised, orderly, and confined entirely to willing participants. It's the deliberate infliction of death and destruction!

> Many people here have already pointed out to you the many reasons and the many officials calling the first Iranian school bombing out as a war crime

They pointed at a error, not a crime.

A terrible, terrible error, but not a crime under international law, to which the US mostly hasn't even signed up to!

	▲	Schmerika 10 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> a) You'll have to back that number with a reference. I did, here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47552783 > Then demonstrate that they were targeted, not just hit. If you want to believe that 498 schools were hit by accident and not by targeting then you are free to do so. Personally, I think that's a profoundly silly and genuinely harmful choice to make, and would urge you not just to reconsider, but to reflect on how you ever thought such a thing. > But war is excused! Well, no. There are long and lasting consequences for wars of the type America has been spending trillions of dollars on for decades. Millions of lives lost. Tens of millions displaced. Massive political and reputational costs. Incalculable opportunity cost. > It's just incredible to me that people are totally unable to grasp that concept that war isn't some friendly board game, or guns at ten paces, all civilised, orderly, and confined entirely to willing participants. It's the deliberate infliction of death and destruction! Do you actually think the people who drew up international war crimes legislation were unaware of this? ... Really? Like, they lived through WWII and then just forgot about all the horror while writing up the legislation to try and prevent it ever happening again? > They pointed at a error, not a crime. That is a categorical lie. You're lying now. People pointed you to detailed statements explaining why this is a war crime, and rather than address any of those points you insist that these 498 schools are all errors because we can't prove intent. You can't seriously expect people to believe that, so I have to wonder why you're saying it at all. Maybe you believe this lie, somehow, but it's extremely disrespectful to bs like this. It disrespects the victims of these war crimes, the people who will be hurt by the normalization of these war crimes, and the people spending their lovely Saturday time to educate you.

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carstout 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

In the UK and I assume elsewhere they do at least at the major sites. There is the onsite housing, leisure facilities and in some cases schools. Lakenheath has a couple onsite serving the various bases in the area for those wanting to stick with US curriculum vs local schools.