Former Givati commander rapped for troops' deterrent fire

[Scurrilous]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/601152.html

<snip>

"A former battalion commander of the Givati Brigade received a severe reprimand at a disciplinary hearing following the shooting death of a Palestinian youth near Rafah. On Sunday the Military Police opened an investigation against an Armored Corp battalion commander who was filmed beating a Palestinian.

The shooting occurred two years ago after the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Adam Zusman, allowed a group of recruits who had recently completed their training to march to a battalion outpost in the southern Gaza Strip. During the march, which passed through an area bordering on the towns of Rafah and Khan Yunis, Zusman allowed the soldiers to open "deterrent fire" (shooting in automatic bursts using hundreds of bullets) in the direction of Palestinian houses.

It was later reported that a 15-year-old Palestinian had been shot to death, although the military police were unable to conclusively connect the shooting with the march, as the Palestinians gave apparently inaccurate reports of the youth's time of death. The incident, first reported on Ynet, Yedioth Ahronoth's Web site, drew sharp criticism from the Israel Defense Forces both because of the death of the Palestinian teen and because the new recruits had been needlessly exposed to danger.

Chief paratroop and infantry officer Brigadier General Yossi Heiman convicted Zusman of illegal use of a weapon, although he stopped short of recommending a delay in Zusman's promotion. The IDF spokesman's office said Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and Ground Forces chief Major General Yiftach Ron Tal will be deciding shortly whether to promote him."

[bemildred]

1. Sigh.

On the one hand, you won't find one of these nasty little ethnic conflicts anywhere where this sort of thing does not go on. Plenty of "deterrent fire" from all sides in the recent Balkan festitivites for example. A very popular activity in "counter-insurgency" situations, especially because one often lacks more specific knowledge of whom to shoot at on the other side.

On the other hand, as policy, it's dumb as shit.