Erin Molan: Fight against evil must never be compromised

The war against the evil terrorism shown by Hamas this week must continue but the rules of engagement should never be overlooked, writes Erin Molan.

For the first time since Dad died in January of this year, I searched his name to call him.

My daughter had woken at midnight on Saturday and I’d checked my phone and seen the atrocities that had occurred in Israel. Analysts and commentators agree that trying to comprehend the horror we’ve witnessed this week, and its diabolical consequences, is almost impossible.

Dad spent a year in Iraq, saw first-hand the atrocities of ISIS and other operatives, and from time to time was prompted to discuss with us the evidence he had witnessed of pure evil in this world, human beings who perpetrated unimaginable carnage upon their neighbours, their fellow citizens and even fellow followers of their own religious faith – in fact upon anyone with whom they maintained some type of disagreement.

Some of the images coming out of the Middle East since Saturday leave me in no doubt the violence in that part of the world is the most gruesome I have seen in my lifetime.

War is horrific by anyone’s standards. What happened on Saturday morning our time in Israel wasn’t the beginning of a war, it was a massacre.

It’s war now but the horrors inflicted on innocent people, the elderly, pregnant mums and babies were images far more repulsive than those we usually associate with any war.

Cold-blooded murder, preceded by hideous forms of torture — not quick, with the methods employed meant to not only brutalise the victim but their loved ones too.

A man walks past an Israeli police station in Sderot after it was damaged during battles to dislodge Hamas terrorists.

This country has reluctantly, and with some difficulty, had its eyes opened to ‘war crimes’ in recent times. The Brereton Report highlighted alleged incidents of wrongdoing.

I have always maintained that any member of our Defence Force found to have done the wrong thing must be held to account.

I also maintain the vast, vast majority of our men and women in uniform always do the right thing and serve this nation with pride. What many have struggled to understand, and with good reason, is how those who follow the rules are expected to fight those who don’t.

It’s a frustration many serving members experience. It’s understandable and legitimate.

Groups like ISIS, which our special forces fought over many years in Iraq and Afghanistan, didn’t follow the rules of armed conflict. The overwhelming majority of our soldiers did.

It’s not an even playing field, absolutely, but we must never lower ourselves to meet them on theirs. Never.

An appropriate, and of course legal, response to that grim content is currently being progressed.

This week demonstrates why ‘civilised’ nations adhere to international laws of armed conflict, why rules of engagement exist and why we must always follow them, regardless of their complexity and difficulty to enforce, and regardless what an enemy might do.

Joe Biden urged Israel to follow the rules of war and, as hard as that may be given the atrocities committed against their own people, they must.

I’m not urging ‘restraint’ but their powerful response must follow the rules. When soldiers of any nation put on a uniform and defend their homeland they are fighting for values, standards of living and usually freedom.

If any of those things are compromised, even in the heat of horrific battle against an evil enemy, then the losses are far greater than battle statistics. They are the integrity of a nation and those same civilised nations agree that can never be compromised in any way.

Terrorists win when we concede to their demands. When we emulate their acts of evil. When we become, even just a little bit, like them.

Israeli soldiers deploy in an area where civilians were killed in the southern city of Sderot, near the Gaza strip.

That’s not who we are as a country here in Australia and we should never, ever be. What if our freedom came at the cost of innocent beheaded babies? What would you want? I know where I’d stand.

Our soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan to fight an enemy not too different from Hamas.

ISIS beheaded and tortured innocent people, yet our country doesn’t condone bending the rules even against an enemy who follows none.

Now back to those civilised nations who have agreed upon the laws of armed conflict – many of those same nations, our most significant allies, the US, UK, Canada, the European Union have designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

In doing so many acknowledged the difficulties and complexities of this conflict but have determined that Hamas must be defined as a terrorist organisation, not a militant one. And if there was any doubt left after this week, there shouldn’t be.

On Monday Australians had planned to pay tribute publicly to the many innocent Israelis who lost their lives this week. Those who wanted to gather and mourn victims of terrorism at the Opera House were told to stay home and hide, while others took up that space and chanted ‘gas the Jews’. That this was allowed to occur in OUR city was sickening.

The men and women of our armed forces have fought and given their lives over many years to protect our way of life, our freedom and our values. We must not compromise on them ever — and this week I fear we did. We must do better.

• On my show at 5pm on Sky News today, the president of the Australian Jewish Association and the head of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network will join me at the desk, plus the former head of the Israeli Intelligence Agency.