Imagine for a moment instead of an endless stream of illegal aliens walking across our southern border, their was an armed camp fortified with rockets of various shapes and sizes, and these rockets were fired constantly at Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. How long do you think the American government would wait before we started blasting those with rockets to smithereens?
That's right, about .000001 seconds. For good measure, we'd probably wipe Mexico off the face of the map, just to make sure another such incursion does not occur. We'd do this, and only the most far-left hippies who hang out in Northampton, MA would have anything to say about it. Why? Because it would be a justified defense.
I find it odd that in this country, which is fortunate enough (so far) not to have (combative) enemies for neighbors, we always look at Israel as the enemy of peace, despite the fact that in nearly every published account, the hostilities always begin on the Hamas side of the equation.
Before we go any further, I'll stop and say this: It is possible that Hamas has legitimate contentions with regard to territory that they believe is 'theirs', or how they feel they are being treated in their relations with Israel. It's possible. I wouldn't wager on that, but perhaps it is true. There are far better ways, ones that are more 'humanitarian' than launching non-stop rocket and mortar attacks into Israel, with little regard for life or property.
On the Israeli side of the equation, I've always been amazed by the amount of restraint that they have shown when dealing with their enemies, often due to the prodding of the U.S. government, no doubt, but nonetheless, they have been restrained in their attacks.
They give fair warnings before they attack, so that civilians (and even enemy leaders) have the opportunity to move away from the areas they will attack. They are willing to accept peace at a moment's notice, as was most recently seen when they accepted Egypt's ceasefire, which Hamas rejected on its face. They endlessly have allowed for humanitarian ceasefires, despite the fact that Hamas has continually made attempts to attack Israel during these alleged moments of calm.
In Benjamin Netanyahu's shoes, I would have long ago obliterated anyone that I believed to be an enemy of my nation, just as I would do if I were the leader of any nation that found itself under attack. Protecting one's citizens, and one's national borders are the very foundation of what it takes to lay claim to nation status.
In the end, the best we can hope for is an end of hostilities on both sides, but for once, Israel appears determined to weed out as much of the Hamas leadership as it can. Hamas, on the other hand, may continue to fight on, believing that their cause is also just. Until both sides are willing and able to trust the other and act in a way that would suggest peace can exist in the region, it is easy to predict that history will continue to repeat itself.
07.24.2014 update:
an app that came across my facebook timeline that tracks rockets fired in to Israel:
http://israelhasbeenrocketfreefor.com/
