In Israel could have fought to defend itself. In taking and keeping territory, Israel has left itself open to attacks by the people living in the captured territory.

One of the theories behind the attack on the USS Liberty is that the CIA had “given” Israel a green light to fight, but to retain its current boarders. The USS Liberty was monitoring communications and reporting back to Washington. (Remember that this was during the time of the Cold War and the US & USSR avoided direct conflict, but supported different players in the Mid-East, just as they did in Vietnam.)

The ship became a target and orders were given for it to be attacked after pilots confirmed its nationality. Sailors on the ship observed Israeli jets flying overhead for hours before the attack started.

The attack occurred in spite of the ship being clearly American and having only defensive armaments.

I was there. It was the NYT and Wendy McCaw — but shusshh! No one is supposed to tell? Right?

This time it is bullies except death is all they care for. On both sides. Americans cannot be in league with this post WWII. The perception of us?

We will lose our stature.

Broker peace, while standing firm. We have to.

We cannot condone what they are doing.

It is the soul of the world that is at stake.

We as Americans will be seen as abetting them.

They have no right post WWII, not after what we all know happened. We as Americans have to broker peace. We have to, or all is lost. We cannot be hated as we are, Larry. Not by the world. At the same time we have to show we are American. We are the cowboys, and we do what is right — like in Bonanza. Or High Noon. I have never been this scared in my life, as an American. Ever.

Germans elected A.H.
Iraqi’s originally elected Saddam.
Italians… The Great Train Conductor

If any of you who are opposing Israel’s actions now because children are being sent into the streets to be victims, and you kept your mouth shut when Saddam was gassing Kurdish kids, or when refugee children in Darfur starved to death, then perhaps you might try explaining to yourself just what value human life truly has. Apparently, from what I’ve read here only Palestinians have value.
From a personal standpoint, If you were to mess with my loved ones, I would eradicate you simply
to ensure that my loved ones would survive.
It might not even get personal. I would ensure that you never got another bite of the apple.
Many of you would do the same thing if you had the abilities.
Why is it so hard to understand that Israel wants to be left the fuck alone… nothing more.
Those of you who understand military issues and have read any history of the late twentieth century should understand that twice Israel ground its military foes to dust in its own defense and didn’t keep hardly any of the land they took.
If you checked up on it, Israel would now be one of the largest middle east countries if it had kept all the land it took.
They want to be left alone. Their neighbors have wanted them dead since their nation’s inception.
Since they have NEVER been left alone, they have always had to fight. It does something to you to have to fight all the time.
That they haven’t ever just said “Fuck It! Lets just blow everyone to hell,” is a wonder to me.
To some people the words, “Never Again!” really mean something.

Israel claims the tunnels are used to smuggle terrorists and arms through Egypt from Syria, but by destroying the tunnels, they will block the only way out for Palestinians.

After Arafat died, the west picked his successor, Abbas, and they and Fatah refused to recognize the elected Hamas members of parliament and tore down the flag of Hamas from the parliament building. Immediately after the election, Hamas said publicly they wanted a coalition government with Fatah.

There is no way to justify suicide bombers because they result in civilian deaths, but I have seen pictures of Palestinians fighting Israeli tanks with sling shots while their homes are being bulldozed.

Yitzhak Rabin won the Nobel Peace and was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli radical who was opposed to Rabin’s signing the Oslo Accords. There are many militants in Israel who oppose any kind of peaceful settlement of the conflict with Palestine. Their hatred is as deep and wide as Hamas and they have influence in Israeli Foreign Policy. When Olmert leaves office people like Netanyahu will have even more influence and there will be more violence.

The 1967 war was preemptive. The second war with Lebanon began because a soldier was kidnapped by a Palestinian militant group. Recently, Israel unilaterally bombed Syria and it’s possible they will soon bomb Iran while the IAEA has said there is no proof Iran is any where near atomic capability. It is only recently, Israel has acquired the capability to deliver bombs to Iran and their Air Force is much more sophisticated.

Rachel Corries was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement who was killed in Gaza by a Caterpillar D9R armored bulldozer operated by the Israel Defense Forces during a protest against the destruction of Palestinian homes in March, 2003.

I’m not defending Hamas, but it is unreasonable to justify every thing the Israeli government decides to do and question nothing. I won’t do that with the government of our own country and it makes me unhappy to see this reduced to a Public Relations problem for Israel. They are losing the support they have always enjoyed in western countries and, worse, they continue to to make more enemies in the Middle East. One more question: What if they fail again the way they failed in Lebanon?

The PLO and Hamas don’t see eye to eye.
News reports, last year, of cells in Gaza trained by Iranian military and Sunni jihadist .
Syria and Iran fortifying positions in So Lebanon.
Iran taking Jihad volunteers.
Iran using Iraq for trans-shipment of arms is next.
Hamas waiting for the ground war to start.
Israel knowing this is a suckers errand will not want to occupy Gaza, when it is more concerned with Iran.

It will not take much to change the range and accuracy of rockets or what payload they carry or where they are launched from.

Ignorance is a perpetual human condition, I wish I could escape its bonds.
So in that spirit, I am wondering how you got to
“Sunnis and Shias don’t see things eye to eye” from Workingclass Artist’s comment?

Thanks and Best Wishes Mr. Johnson.

Millions and millions of donated dollars went to pay off Arafat officials but most went into European bank accounts–now controlled by and large by Arafat’s widow and friends. There is a very ugly argument between former PA officials and the present Abbas administration in the West Bank rangling over the monies that should have financed all the necessities Gaza needed to prosper and advance.

So, it is indeed a murky, complex and unhappy situtation. Naturally, anyone with a sense of
humanity is appalled by death on either side;
but to date, no one has offered a solution other
than to say, please stop the killing…easier said than done. The backstory goes far beyond the
borders of the Holy Land.

Thanks to all for at least caring enough to listen,
to research and to respond. It is a beginning.