Posted by
Steve on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 2:40:04 PM
After reading the article by Dennis Prager about those that support Israel or not, I felt it was time to officially announce my support for Israel in its fight for life.
In this latest conflict, Hamas and later Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli soldiers after killing other soldiers. These soldiers were performing tasks for Israel inside of internationally recognized boundaries. They were not trying to inflict harm on anyone. They were just performing a patrol function within the State of Israel and nothing else. If anyone had tried to come into Israel during the patrol, they probably would have used force to subdue the people. But, they would have announced themselves and given the intruders a chance to give up.
These Israeli soldiers were ambushed and kidnapped. Both actions are criminal in nature if performed inside a country. When performed by people from a foreign country, they constitute an act of war upon the State of Israel. When Hamas and Hezbollah kidnapped the Israeli soldiers, they should have expected something like this reaction from the Israeli government.
Hezbollah and Hamas have targeted Israeli civilians for many years. It is time to clean out the terrorist hideouts in the Gaza and Lebanon. When Israel has killed all of the leadership down to the local lieutenants, they should stop the attacks. Of course, by then, they should have their soldiers back. If they still do not have their soldiers back, all bets are off. Then you work your way down the hierarchy of Hamas and Hezbollah until you completely destroy all that profess a belief in their goal of destroying Israel.
In the process of destroying Hamas and Hezbollah, civilians will be killed. Like the cowards they are, terrorists hide among civilians to store weapons and have their meeting places. Because of this, civilians will die. Israel is not trying to kill civilians, but they will die nonetheless. On the other hand Hamas and Hezbollah are launching rockets into Israel trying to kill civilians. They do not even try to target military installations. Therein lies the big difference between these two groups. One side kills civilians because it wants to. The other side kills civilians because it has no other option. There is no equivalence between the two. Israel is in the right. Hamas and Hezbollah are in the wrong. Hamas and Hezbollah are doing the work of the Devil and keeping good people from doing good.
News reports out of Lebanon show civilians that have been injured by the attack against Hezbollah. They talk about the injuries sustained and how they were sustained. They do not mention where the Hezbollah headquarters were located. We also have to keep in mind that even with all the "smart" technology, accidents do happen and weapons get fired at targets they were not intended to be shot at. This has happened in every war since time began. We are just better at not doing it now.
If I was young enough to serve in the military, I would gladly enlist to serve to protect our country. I have sons that are on the older side of enlistment age. I have encouraged them to enlist. My youngest son did enlist in the Arizona National Guard over a year ago. My middle daughter's fiancee wants to enlist and become an Army Ranger. So, I am putting my family where my mouth is.
When I was in college, I went to the Denver enlistment office of the Army to take the tests before enlisting. I scored highest of anyone that took the tests that day. I was trying to enlist and become an officer. My father was an officer in the 99th infantry during WWII. He commanded an anti-tank platoon and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I then flunked the physical because of my bad knees. The doctor told me that within 10 years I would have them operated on. I went 14 years, but have had 3 surgeries on one knee and one on the other.