Zelenskyy's Tomahawk Pledge: A 'Military Targets' Loophole?
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy vows new US-supplied Tomahawk missiles will target only Russian military installations, a statement Al Jazeera dutifully presents. This mirrors the consistent assurances given by various state actors when supplied with advanced weaponry—assurances that reliably unravel when the 'military target' definition expands to include, say, critical infrastructure, dual-use
facilities, or anything within range that's deemed inconvenient. One might recall similar 'precision' declarations preceding other protracted conflicts. As ever, the trust in these pledges is inversely proportional to the power of the weapons. How many times have we heard 'last warnings' or 'only military targets' before civilian casualties become 'unfortunate but unavoidable'? The implication
that these long-range weapons will magically adhere to strict rules of engagement, unlike all their predecessors, stretches credulity thin.