fett on 8/1/2009 at 03:44

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Er...I have (??). I'm simply making a comparison between the horrible things that Israel does, and the horrible things that Hamas, Korea, the U.S., and Russia do. I don't want to make the case that Israel is pure and decent in the whole thing. I *do* believe they have a better record than their enemies when it comes to showing restraint, concern for civilians, and responsibility to the world community. But we've somehow devolved into talking about which way of killing children is worse (wtf?).

I'm looking at patterns. The militant Palestinians have a record of specifically targeting civilians (and more specifically targeting children) through snipers, suicide bombers, etc. Israel has a record of stating their intentions to raid, retaliate, invade, etc, for the express purpose of minimizing civilian casualties. In the hell of war, which of the two is the more humane and merciful?

EDIT: (marked so Kolya will keep his panties on) What Tocky said. If Hamas had the blessing and backing of a major super-power like the U.S. they would (and I quote) "Erase Israel from the face of the earth." Israel has no such stated intentions (to my knowledge). For Hamas, there is a darker motivation than simply getting land back - they want the eradication of an entire group of people. This is their justification for their actions. Israel's justifications are more complex, but motivated by nationalistic/quasi-religious factors that don't seem to involve genocide. (and please, don't anyone start spouting bullshit about Old Testament purges).

fett on 8/1/2009 at 03:57

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Did you read what you linked to?

"The conflict began when Hezbollah militants purposely fired rockets at Israeli border towns as a diversion for an anti-tank missile attack on two armored Humvees patrolling the Israeli side of the border fence." (emphasis mine).

How did Israel 'jump the gun'? Also notice that the article correctly states that 'the conflict BEGAN' when the rockets were fired, but fails to mention the other incidents leading up to this that caused Israel to respond so strongly. Was the response overkill? Of course.

Again - if you live in these potential war zones and your army fires rockets across Israel's border, you'd better bet your ass they're going to fire back. If you're a civilian, it would be wise to leave, not hang around hoping for the best...

fett on 8/1/2009 at 04:10

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Nothing. I'm just trying to honor the intention of the OP.

PigLick on 8/1/2009 at 06:05

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cyborg sea dogs tell me what you dream of

robot starfish

suliman on 8/1/2009 at 08:11

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I just wanted to point out that the reason those rockets seem ineffective is that there are... warning sirens and everything. Sure, they're basically launcing shit in a metal tube, but when you don't know whether it'll hit a building or a field you have to send entire cities to shelters every time one is launched. The people of Sderoth specifically have lived like this for a few years.