I am in the military and currently live in Israel so I am somewhat biased.

My take on this is that it is far worse when you intend to kill civilians. I don't care if the number number is 1 intentional death to 1,000 unintentional deaths. My opinion isn't swayed.

The reason is I feel bad if I unintentionally kill or injure a civilian, and then I render medical aid immediately. Hamas on the other hand celebrates whenever they kill civilians. Some people lose sight of that I think. They literally go out in the street and dance when one of the Jews has been killed. Hamas would kill every single Jew in Israel if they had the chance. I was watching an interview with a Palestinian the other day who wanted to take it further and kill every Jew in the world. The scariest part is that he looked like a sane person, and the people with him agreed. This wasn't Israeli propaganda. It was an interview done by Al-jazeera. I saw an interview yesterday of a 5 or 6 year old girl in Gaza who was mad at the Israelis, because she couldn't go to school. She said the Israelis were preventing her from going to school so she "could become educated, and grow up to fight and kill the Jews." This was an interview in Gaza by a Lebanese TV station. Not Israeli propaganda. The kids in Gaza get crap like this from Hamas who run CHILDREN'S TV shows advocating the killing of Jews.

Some people only talk about Hamas' rocket attacks that have been going on for a long time. They were going on during the supposed cease fire that Israel broke. Let's not forget about the suicide bombing attacks in Israel two years ago. Suicide bombers went into buses, trains, and night clubs for the sole purpose of killing civilians. Hamas exploits teenagers to put on bombs and go blow themselves up. Yes, this is the elected government of the Gaza strip. I wonder why Israel does not like them, and at this point is doing everything in their power to eliminate them. When Hamas soldiers cross streets they are known to literally pick up a kid, hold the kid in front of him, and then cross the street. This is definitely the kind of government out to protect the people who elected them.

For some people who don't know anything about how civilians get killed during war, let me try to paint the picture for you. You're patrolling through an area when you start receiving gun fire from a building maybe 200-300 yards out. Do I for the sake of saving civilian lives run the 300 yards to the building to bust down the door and clear it room by room to prevent the death of innocent civilians which will most likely happen anyway, because they will be shielding the gun men or perhaps be posing as civilians who will shoot you in the back? No, you call in a tank, artillery, or air strike to flatten the building and move to clear the area, and render aid to anyone injured. I am sure some people are outraged or sickened by this, but that is how warfare works everywhere.
 
Israelis aren't walking down the street shooting little kids in the face. They are trying to prevent civilian deaths, but in a gunfight you get scared, everything happens very quickly, and you can't step back to analyze a situation. You have to act quickly to save yourself and your men. Israelis have a difficult job in a highly populated Urban area. There will be a lot of civilian casualties. It is unavoidable. Hamas fighters don't wear uniforms which is required by the Geneva convention to prevent civilian casualties.

All the Israelis that I know think the civilian deaths are unfortunate, but they blame Hamas. If Hamas would stop firing the rockets which they haven't done for more than a week at a time then Israel would have no reason to do what they are doing. Israel the other day had their 3 hour cease fire to get medical supplies into Gaza, and guess what Hamas did. They took the opportunity to launch rockets into Israel.

Some people talk about disproportinal force. There is no such thing as a proportional resolution in warfare. What should israel do? Fire hundreds of rockets back into civilian areas in Gaza? I am sure that would be looked at as acceptable by the rest of the world. Israel is in a battle against Hamas, and to win a battle you overwhelm your enemy with superior firepower. It is unfortunate that the civilians are trapped in the middle.

I will be the bad guy here and say that the people of Gaza voted for Hamas, and knew what they were getting into when they elected Hamas. Hamas was firing rockets back then, and the people wanted someone who would fight back against the Israelis. Unfortunately, they are unrealistic and picked the wrong fight.

The Palestinians in the West Bank are living much better lives than the Palestinians in Gaza. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that they aren't firing rockets into Israel?

by karlrule13 on 01/13/2009 01:44:34 PM EST