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• Mark January 11, 2009 10:20 pm

  

  Jeff, I’m glad to hear you say what you say. But while it is extremely difficult to distinguish between adult male innocents that sit with their families and adult male terrorists that do not wear a uniform and sit among children to shoot their missiles at Israeli children, Israel is trying (and sometimes failing) to tell the difference. Less than 0.1% of adult male Palestinian Arabs have been killed in the recent crisis and the great majority of them are the terrorists you say should be killed. Far more innocent adult male Palestinian Arabs have been killed by Hamas.

  When you say that you hope Israel is successful and kills every terrorist that lives, obviously you and I and Israel agree. And Israel is clearly trying, at least, to target the terrorists.

  The question is this: what’s your moral calculus? Let’s say you kill 1000 terrorists and 1 innocent child and that those terrorists would have killed 100 innocents if you did nothing? Would it be moral to kill the terrorists even if the child dies? What about 600 terrorists and 100 innocents? What about 300 terrorists and 300 innocents if those 300 terrorists would otherwise obtain a nuclear bomb and kill millions?

  What’s the moral calculus? Interesting, I know of no other nation in the history of the planet that has ever shown as much RESTRAINT as Israel in response to an existential threat: i.e. a terrorist group determined to get larger and larger missiles until it can kill every last Israeli. 3000 missiles in 2008. Can you name one?

  Israel is ruled by fear. But the fear is legitimate. I’m going to share some more perspectives in my next blog entry.

• Jeff January 11, 2009 4:25 pm

  

  LOL! Kill the human. Pet the cat! This series of photos epitomizes my criticism of modern “civility.” Young adult males are worthless. We kill them, but hey! Look, we pet cats and help old people step between our barricade and barbed wire!

  If you value the lives of women and children and old people, you’re uncivilized. Civilized people value human life period. When it comes to the Gaza dead, I would be considered a big fat zero as far as life goes because I’m an adult male, expendable, no matter my politics. I’m not counted in the dead!

  This is akin to the photos of American soldiers building schools in Iraq. The exception not the rule.

  But the reason I visited today was to express something I haven’t said clearly enough in the past:

  I am against all terrorist activity. All of it. Terrorism is a negotiation using guns and fear. The people on the Arab side have a history of using bombs and rockets as expression. It expresses nothing but hate, and it legitimizes to an extent Israeli retaliation.

  To make it clear: I am for the existence of Israel. I am against terrorist attacks against Israel and I hope Israel is successful and kills every terrorist that lives. I would just prefer that Israel use rifles rather than sawed off shot guns.

  To criticize Israel is not to hope it fails or to hate Israel. Israel has the power to do face its challenges without the carnage we now see. As I stated before, right now Israel counts every adult male killed as a nonentity. If 10,000 adult male civilians are killed in Gaza but no women and children, then no one was killed.

  This is not acceptable. It is not civilized. Long live Israel — as long as it deserves to exist. If Israel becomes an evil empire, which is not impossible, then it is not evil to oppose it.

  I do not oppose Israel. Right now I am lamenting its decisions. Israel is doing everything it can to undermine the “peace process” (and by the way, peace is not a complicated thing). War seems every easy, almost unstoppable, but peace is elusive.

  Israel is ruled by fear. Hamas is ruled by rage. Both states lead to unnecessary attacks.