War as child's play
The fighting in Gaza is "war deluxe." Compared with previous wars, it is child's play - pilots bombing unimpeded as if on practice runs, tank and artillery soldiers shelling houses and civilians from their armored vehicles, combat engineering troops destroying entire streets in their ominous protected vehicles without facing serious opposition. A large, broad army is fighting against a helpless population and a weak, ragged organization that has fled the conflict zones and is barely putting up a fight. All this must be said openly, before we begin exulting in our heroism and victory.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
This article highlights the idiocy of the propaganda line that Hamas is 'hiding' behind the civilian population, and the tragedy of the number of children killed both in numbers and percentage of those killed.
Defective judgment
The debate among the country's leaders pales in comparison to the crisis caused by Olmert in our relations with the United States, in his attempt to influence its vote in the United Nations Security Council on a Gaza cease-fire. There are contradictory versions regarding the manner in which Olmert intervened and the outcome. What is clear is that Olmert phoned U.S. President George W. Bush late Thursday night, and in the end the United States abstained in the vote.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
This article highlights the stupidity of the Israeli leadership and will only profit Benjamin Netanyahu and this will benefit neither side.
Foreign Ministry hopes to repair Israel's image on 'day after' Gaza op
The Foreign Ministry has created a special task force to prepare for the aftermath of the Israel Defense Forces' Gaza operation. The team will submit proposals for two of the army's main concerns - Iran and Hamas taking control of Gaza's postwar reconstruction, and the harm the offensive might cause to Israel's image abroad.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
Israel have managed a very strong propaganda campaign throughout the war, plus a foreign media black-out in Gaza. They will still have to give a great deal of ground to the Palestinian authority to have any hope of winning the peace.
An Israeli Call For Urgent Humanitarian Action In Gaza
Since the beginning of the campaign in Gaza on December 27, a heavy suspicion has arisen of grave violations of international humanitarian law by military forces. After the end of the hostilities, the time will come for the investigation of this matter, and accountability will be demanded of those responsible for the violations. At this point we call your attention to the clear and present danger to the lives and well-being of tens of thousands of civilians.
http://www.btselem.org/...
Finally two very opposing views on how to fight terrorism, one during a conflict the other in hindsight.
Refusing to win
How would it have reacted if its government willfully missed the chance to kill many Nazi leaders? Would it have accepted the explanation that every leader can be replaced, that one must warn enemy leaders of a planned attack to prevent hitting innocent neighbors? Wouldn't the killing of many Nazi leaders shorten the war, it would probably ask. Is it not moral to save hundreds of thousands of lives and prevent the terrible suffering of a prolonged war even if this requires hurting some innocent civilians?
http://www.jpost.com/...
We always end up back at WWII, which was probably the only relative success in warfare for hundreds of years, well I suppose the exception proves the rule.
'War on terror' was wrong
The idea of a "war on terror" gave the impression of a unified, transnational enemy, embodied in the figure of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. The reality is that the motivations and identities of terrorist groups are disparate. Lashkar-e-Taiba has roots in Pakistan and says its cause is Kashmir. Hezbollah says it stands for resistance to occupation of the Golan Heights. The Shia and Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq have myriad demands. They are as diverse as the 1970s European movements of the IRA, Baader-Meinhof, and Eta. All used terrorism and sometimes they supported each other, but their causes were not unified and their cooperation was opportunistic. So it is today.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Bravo for stating the blindingly obvious, you cannot wage war on a method only an ideology, and you cannot bomb an ideology you need words and reason.
I hope that a new breeze is blowing in from the West, one that supports reason and diplomacy over a bombing run. War has become a solution when war does not directly threaten your own population, re: Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, Georgia etc, ie it's a forgone conclusion and massively one-sided. This is why any reference to WWII is a complete and utter fallacy and has been ever since the idiots in the White House tried to spread the propaganda.
Only by talking to one another over long periods of time, no matter how futile it might seem in the beginning, is the only way forward.
Cultural understanding and a real sense of belonging to the world rather than hiding behind the outmoded concept of Nation is the way forward. With the ever expanding possibilities of instant communication between the inhabitants of our wondrous planet, there is hope. This hope will come from the bottom up, our leaders better listen carefully.
Footnote
I know I cherry picked, if you want to listen to gung-ho garbage then you can always tune into Fox and Joe the Plumber, I tried to pick the most reasoned opinion. Also I believe the Israeli propaganda machine has been doing a 'fine' job of promoting their point of view. Remember that US newspapers during the start of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts were also equally unreadable, only later on did common sense start to prevail.
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