Saturday, January 3, 2009

Tensions escalate in Gaza

Today, Israeli ground troops invaded Gaza. After a week of bombing operations, several mosques destroyed and over 460 dead, the operation has been escalated. I believe this whole thing is a shame that will only make things tougher for the United States.

Although the Israelis say their target is Hamas and to prevent rocket fire, the rockets continue. That's because it's virtually impossible to prevent guerrilla attacks in traditional warfare. Therefore, we can look forward to a long operation with many additional casualties, few results and increased tensions.

The whole thing over there is a mess that cannot be solved through military force. Say a Hamas operative sends off a rocket and kills an innocent Israeli. Then Israel blows up an entire neighborhood looking for that operative, they may be successful in killing that operative. But, you've also gained more enemies.

It's a never-ending cycle that will continue until somebody changes their thinking. It's silly to believe that Israel can gain peace with Hamas while Hamas their militant arm seeks the destruction of Israel, intimidates their civilians through rocket fire, while not even recognizing their right to live in peace. That's not a true partner to peace.

It's naive for Israel to believe they can gain peace in the Palestinian territories by enforcing their own little version of apartheid. Banning foreign journalists and preventing humanitarian aid only works to their detriment.

Somebody needs to show true leadership in order to really establish peace.