In Defense of Israel

It seems there are two camps overlooking Israel: one supports her right to exist and defend herself, and the other wishes she would shrivel up into a fetal ball and die. I fall in with the former. The latter, I'm afraid, just cannot get a few lucid points through its adamantine skull, regarding the current situation:

1. Israel was attacked, not vice-versa.

2. Israel's enemies--Hezbollah, the "Palestinians", Hamas, etc.--care less about the lives of innocents than we do about the mating habits of slugs scraping along a forgotten river-bottom in Papua New Guinea. This is an important point, so I'll take a few moments and elaborate a bit. These people do not care whom they kill. As evidence I offer the past week as Exhibit A. Therein, Hezbollah launched somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 to 1,000 missiles--perhaps more-- into Israeli territory. These launches were indiscriminate in their targets. Those at the controls were unconcerned if their bombardments annihilated hospitals, nursing homes, ambulances in transit, private residences, preschools, synagogues, or even children at play in their backyard sandboxes. In fact, this execrable group considers the entire Jewish population of Israel its enemy; and as such, makes no distinction whatsoever between military target objectives and the local pizzeria. The more chaos, destruction, and death, the better.

Further, they don't view civilians as flesh-and-blood people--with feelings, lives, hopes, asperations, and families--but as tools for their agenda's implementation. The innocents surrounding them exist as bargaining chips, cannon fodder for striking fear into the hearts of their perceived enemies, or human shields.

Considering all this, I become puzzled and disgusted when gibbering heads make their rounds on the news shows, decrying Israel's "disproportionate" response; I feel my supper back-up as I see footage of mindless crowds chanting slogans of condemnation against Israel; and I shake my head in wonderment at the thought that, somewhere, some moral smurf is rattling out his next column on the horror of Israel's Nazilike methods.

For clarity's sake, let me express that I believe Israel should take strong measures in ensuring that innocent civilians survive this onslaught into Lebanon--to the extent that such an endeavor is feasible. But understand that the Jews are dealing with people who hide in private homes and public buildings, commandeering personal properties as launch platforms, terrorist quarters, and training facilities. So those insisting that Israel not harm civilians demand the impossible. Such a requisite is tantamount to requiring Israel's complete and unconditional surrender to her enemies, since defending herself isn't an option under such a restriction.

I believe that those castigating Israel over civilian casualties are dishonest about their true motivation: a desire for the total dissolution of Israel as a nation. After all, if concern for the innocent is the inspiration for people working up a froth over the issue, where is all the outrage toward Hezbollah, which intentionally victimizes civilians? Why is the criticism relegated to Israel, while terrorists commit wholesale murder with little or no comment from the ranks of the offended?

Intellectually honest people may debate the efficacy of Israel's present tactics. But if your ire over civilian deaths is selective, favoring terrorists and cursing Israel, you've revealed more about yourself than I possibly could hope to in this post.