General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at a conference in New York on Thursday in which he said, among other things, that Israel went to “extraordinary lengths” to limit civilian casualties during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza earlier this summer. “I actually do think that Israel went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties,” Dempsey said. “In this kind of conflict, where you are held to a standard that your enemy is not held to, you’re going to be criticized for civilian casualties. The IDF is not interested in creating civilian casualties. They’re interested in stopping the shooting of rockets and missiles out of the Gaza Strip and into Israel.” His comments directly contradict assessments of the conflict by several NGO’s and other organs of the US government, including the White House. Read More
