With Israel making incursions into Palestine, we’re already getting the obligatory stories about the Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire:
With mourners chanting calls for vengeance, the funeral procession wound its way through dusty streets on Sunday, bearing the shrouded bodies of a Palestinian mother and her two children.
Civilians are increasingly at risk in Israel’s nearly 2-week-old military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which in recent days has encompassed the use of heavy battlefield weapons such as tanks, assault helicopters and artillery on the edges of densely populated neighborhoods.
Most of the more than 50 Palestinians killed to date in the incursion have been militants, who have rushed to confront Israeli troops.
But civilians account for a growing proportion of those injured in the close-quarters fighting, according to Palestinian medical officials.
Israel launched its offensive after Palestinian militants seized a 19-year-old Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid on June 25. A dual aim of the military operation has been to rescue the soldier and halt rocket fire by Palestinian militants at Israeli cities and towns.
Many Palestinians believe that if the incursion grinds on for days or weeks, and if Israel pushes deeper into the crowded territory after largely confining itself to the fringes of cities and towns, the fate that befell the Hajaj family will become more common.
In no particular order, let me do a short list detailing why I’m not as sorry as I should be for those civilians caught in the crossfire:
1. 70% of those adult civilians voted for Hamas. Hamas was not secretive about its goal of open warfare that it hoped would lead to the annilation of the Jewish population and the destruction of Israel. These “innocent” civilians wanted war when they voted for Hamas and, by God, they got it. Indeed, even now, while they’re feeding pity stories to the credulous Western press, they’re still wholeheartedly supporting Hamas policies.
2. These are the same people who dance in the streets and celebrate every time Israeli civilians are blown up. It’s not a good way to earn my pity when they face the same fate. I’ll also note that, while these people target civilians, the Israeli army goes out of its way to avoid targeting civilians.
3. Normally, I’d feel bad for the children. However, these children are not normal children. Instead, by the time they’re 9 or 10, they’ve been indoctrinated in the evil that is their society — and they actively court death. Given this last fact, while I can feel anger at the adults who destroyed the children’s sense of humanity and self-preservation, I can’t feel distraught when these murderous little cyborgs are among those caught in the cross-fire. What I really want is a total Israeli victory, akin to the Allies’ destruction of Nazi Germany, that allows the next generation of children to be raised without this blighting ideology.
Filed under: Palestinians
http://neo-neocon.blogspot.com/2006/07/tough-love-in-arab-world.html
Neo linked to the Iraq the Model post I was talking about. I make this observation. The Arabs and especially the Iraqis, they respect power and force. They respect and admire nations that are willing to risk it all for the life of one of its citizens. this is how nations should act, and Iraqis are seeing it first hand whenever an Iraqi dies in defense of Iraq. People risk their lives for patriotism and their nation because only their nation will protect their family in the future. Individuals don’t have the power to protect themselves from their enemies, only nations have through collective power distribution.
When I recommend that Bush take a harder line in Iraq by intiating the Phoenix Program or executing Saddam by nuclear weapon or have public square executions or deathmatches, I’m not trying to do this to shore up domestic morale. It is about shoring up the morale of our bloodthirsty tribal allies, the Afghanistanis and Iraqis.
People who have lived in shit all their lives are more ruthless than hamsters in a cage would be. It is very hard, and perhaps even immoral, to allow them to take their own revenge and do their own violence. You have to help them do it, otherwise they might destroy themselves. You have to let the steam out. Hard line actions in Iraq are welcome, regardless of all the complaints Westerners would show you about this or the other.
In this case, I think I’m in direct agreement with Book’s third point. Total War is the only way to break the cycle of violence, once and for all. Everything else, will just bring you a bloodbath.
[...] Spare me the tears [...]
[...] Usually Webloggin cites to me. Today I’m citing to Webloggin, which has an excellent summary tying together Israel’s ability to fight a war on two fronts (an analysis that references an equally good story the Captain wrote), and the New York Times‘ despicable bias regarding this war. It harmonizes well with the NPR story I turned off in disgust this morning after listening to practically weepy questions about the “humanitarian crisis” amongst the Palestinians. I’ve already made clear my view on the subject of humanitarian concerns and the Palestinians. [...]
[...] Hey, what’s a bunch of children dead anyway? Can’t become terrorists when they grow up. (they sure as hell don’t have inalienable rights, that’s reserved for the good guy’s children. [Clearly, he’s one of the dead Israelis, good; dead Arabs, bad. You know my views on this subject.] *** [...]