‘This Is Heading in the Wrong Direction for Israel’: Former NATO Commander Invokes ‘Pottery Barn’ Rule
Israeli military not caring for civilians under its control
Israel is abdicating its responsibilities under a prime duties of wartime: care of the civilian population in Gaza.
That’s according to a retired US Navy admiral and former NATO allied commander.
Some 1.7 million people in Gaza are currently internally displaced, according to United Nations estimates. Meanwhile, 2.3 million people in Gaza – the entire population – are facing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. Of those, 1.17 are experiencing emergency levels of hunger and around 500,000 million are seeing catastrophic levels of starvation.
This has happened since Israel began its military operations in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
“You know, one of my great life mentors was Colin Powell. Among many other wise things he would say is, it’s the ‘Pottery Barn rule.’ You break it, you own it,” said James Stavridis, referring to the former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “In other words, Military 101 is: If you invade and you subjugate an area, you are now responsible for the food, the medicine, for the care of the civilians. That’s bedrock for any military force.
“So for those of us who have served and remember going into Iraq, remember going into Afghanistan, you own that civilian population for maintaining it, for its care, its feeding, its medicine,” he added, during an on-camera appearance with MSNBC. “So, Israel, you are correct, Joe, is suffering immense reputational damage. Even military officers like me are just kind of shaking our heads at this. It has got to stop.
“And to conclude on this, within that war cabinet that [Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu has put together are some very steady hands, notably, former chief of the Israeli Defense Force, Benny Gantz. They know better. They know this has got to conclude in a way that permits succor to these families. So, this is heading in the wrong direction for Israel.”
Please support our work…
Please subscribe…