Posted on 01/08/2009 12:23:17 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Hamas is and always has been a rabid Islamist terrorist organization whose principal goals are to completely destroy Israel and to kill all Jews in the Middle East. Its charter is a virulent document and should be reviewed by anyone interested in the situation. Hamas' sponsor, Iran, and its allies Hezbollah, Syria and Al-Qaeda share the goals of destroying Israel, effecting a radical Islamist takeover of the world from Gibraltar to India and inflicting as much harm as possible on America.
There is no negotiating with Hamas. They do not share the now widely held view that Israel and a sovereign Palestinian state should live in peace and security, side by side. Since its bloody coup 18 months ago, Hamas has been arming 15,000 "non-uniformed soldiers," hiding rockets and launchers and munitions in homes and mosques. It has built a network of tunnels to smuggle arms and to move forces out of sight. And most egregiously, it has fired about 6,000 rockets at Israeli civilians. The United States and other countries have legally labeled Hamas as a terrorist organization and will not sanction contacts unless Hamas renounces the goal of destroying Israel, agrees to honor the legal commitments of their predecessors and stops engaging in acts of terror. Hamas laughs at the idea that it should act like other civilized nations. So the people of Gaza suffer at the hands of Hamas.
The highest obligation of every government is to protect it citizens from harm. The Israeli government has an affirmative, moral obligation to stop the rockets. Diplomacy has failed. Hamas would not extend the cease-fire, which expired Dec. 19. Egypt bravely placed blame on Hamas as did Mr. Abbas for the Palestinian Authority. Israel warned Hamas and the world community repeatedly that it could not remain passive in the face of the barrage of rockets on its civilians. Even today, Hamas, which has lost so much these past 11 days, says it is not willing to stop the rockets. The consequence to the people of Gaza is irrelevant to these madmen. Israel has no choice but to stop the rockets and to assure a situation that prevents Hamas from rearming and resuming its terror.
What would we do if Mexico, Cuba or Canada was launching rockets at our cities? We almost went to nuclear war with the USSR when it placed missiles in Cuba, without a launch of even one missile. John Kennedy rightly perceived the existential threat posed by rockets capable of reaching the eastern half of our country, even though we had a ring of rockets around the USSR. Israel rightly perceives the existential threat posed by Hamas and its constant reign of terror. If Israel were passive, it would be tantamount to surrender.
Israel is setting an example in doing everything possible to reduce civilian casualties. It leaflets neighborhoods and warns them before bombings. It calls homes and tells residents to flee. Its military could do much more unrestrained damage than it is. Its restraint is exemplary. This is in sharp contrast to Hamas' intentional targeting of Israeli civilians. Israel acts as humanely as possible, consistent with its duty to protect its citizens. Hamas acts as inhumanely as possible to gain its murderous objectives. Civilian casualties are its principal goal. Israel's goal is to minimize civilian casualties and to destroy the military means and leaders of Hamas. Yet Hamas, only as a political charade, demands protection for the very civilians it intentionally uses as shields. Negotiating with terrorists such as Hamas would serve only to legitimatize terrorism.
And we should not forget that the people of Gaza voted for Hamas. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, we can assume they did not know what they were getting themselves into. To make sure, any cease-fire should require an election to give the Palestinians in Gaza, including all women, a chance to change their minds. No doubt, Hamas will oppose free, internationally supervised elections. But the Palestinians in Gaza deserve a second chance for the sake of their humanity as well as our own. If they vote again for Hamas and war, so be it. My hope would be that, having seen Hamas' true colors, they will reject Hamas and move toward peace.
Israel is a free and democratic society. It has always regarded the United States as its most important ally and friend. It is the only real democracy in the region, notwithstanding our efforts. Israel is a proxy for the United States in many ways. The radical Islamists hate our cultures and religions. This is not a war over money or oil. It is a war over culture, religion and power.
These are very dangerous times. Rage-filled zealots and groups are drawn to each other. That is what happened in World War II, when we had to fight Germany, Italy and Japan at the same time. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas are in lockstep, funded by Iranian oil and others. Venezuela and North Korea are also part of the gathering storm. We should not forget that North Korea was building a nuclear reactor, which Israel destroyed last year, in the desert of Syria. Or that Russia is supporting Iran's nuclear program. Russia has been stopping the United Nations from taking more forceful action against that threat to world peace.
We need to understand the seriousness of the situation Israel and the free world face. We learned in World War II that negotiations with fascists are self-destructive. Confronting a declared, dangerous enemy needs to happen as soon as those facts are established. Delay gives the enemy time to gather allies and increase its readiness. We in the United States have been fortunate since 9/11. But we need to remain vigilant and support our allies in their defense against the militant Islamists' worldwide war against the cultures, values and peoples of the Western world. The United States, for its own sake, needs to support Israel's actions in Gaza and be prepared to deal with Iran effectively.
I would prefer peace but recognize that this is not possible at this time and I, of course, support an American ally who is clearly defending itself against attack. I would prefer that the conflict not enrichen our greater enemies by driving up the price of their crude however but I recognize that they will, in all probability, profit from this more than anyone.
No other arab countries wants them. Certainly not Jordan.
Nature abhores a vacuum, and when the US decided ‘globalism’ was the way to go, we ignored the fact that evil does exist (you can’t wish it away with moral relativism nonsense), and there are evil folks who will do whatever it takes to get whatever they want. Someone has to enforce law and order, but Liberals think it should be the UN, a gang of third world thugs who’d like nothing better than to see us destroyed. We are in big trouble.
Why I support Israel’s military action in Gaza
I fully support anyone that kills a Islamofacist terrorist. Each one killed is one less that can be used to destroy America and civilization in general.
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