The Moral High Ground

The moral high ground, in ethical or political parlance, refers to the status of being respected for remaining moral, and adhering to and upholding a universally recognized standard of justice or goodness. The only known instances of such ground may be found in various amusement parks that feature a Fantasyland.

In the real world such a status is highly problematic and most likely impossible. Consider the implication of the words and concepts by which the status is defined:

Conceptualization of Moral High Ground
1. ethics
2. politics
3. respect
4. steadfastness
5. morality
6. universality
7. recognition
8. standards
9. justice
10. goodness

These 10 concepts are indistinguishable from a list of principles that have either vanished from common usage or have become contradictions in terms. Any attempt at implementing a semblance of such a code of conduct in war is not only laughable but dangerously self defeating. In the life and death struggle for survival, there is little to be gained from trying to impress a cynical and hypocritical world. Ivan Konev understood.

A favorite of Stalin, Konev was widely renowned for brutality in combat. In one case, his forces had pursued a German division which took refuge in a small Soviet town. Konev had the town surrounded, and then called in incendiary strikes from Il-2 aircraft, which turned the town into an inferno. German troops who had survived the bombardment fled into the Russian winter, only to be met by T-34 tanks which crushed them under their tracks, as well as cutting them down with machine gun fire. The survivors were then finished off with Cavalry units, who butchered the Germans with swords, with some accounts even claiming that those who raised their arms in surrender were also killed. This incident soon secured Konev's reputation as a cold and ruthless commander on all sides, most of all the Germans.

Mr. Nice Guy? Depends on whom you ask. Marshal of the Soviet Union, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, holder of the Order of Victory, Ivan Stepanovich Konev was buried in the Kremlin Wall with the greatest heroes of the USSR, and can still be visited today.

I wonder what Marshal Konev would have thought of the extraordinary measures taken by Israeli Defense Forces to minimize collateral damage in Gaza. My guess is he would not have understood.