G. Just count this as one message from a reader who admires (although does not necessarily agree with) all of your work including your criticism of Israeli policy toward Gaza. Keep pounding away at them. PT

GG. This attack and invasion make little sense even from an aggressive Israeli point of view. Surely, they understand that Hamas' rocket launchers are probably located in the middle of civilian populations, making it impossible to eliminate them by conventional military means without unacceptable, even from the Israeli point of view, loss of civilian life. (Obviously, I don't know their location but no other location makes sense given the whole history of the Middle East conflict and Hamas). Because of the civilian casualties, the Israelis will have to stop without achieving their stated goal of silencing the rockets. Surely the Isrealis must have known this as well.

All of this makes me wonder if there weren't purely political reasons for this whole mess. Specifically, was the government having political problems at home? We all know there's nothing like a war to boost a government's popularity in the short run. Also, did the Israelis do this now because they figured they might not have the same blank check from Obama that they have always had from Bush? What political considerations really motivated the Israeli government to do this now?

GG. I found your column to be unfair to Friedman. He was discussing Israeli thinking and strategy, not his own beliefs. Although he has done some war mongering in the recent past, he wasn't this time. Actually I found his piece to be helpful in trying to figure what the Israelis are thinking in this whole, ungodly mess.