This obsession with decrying Israel for defending itself against an intractable enemy, which takes every opportunity to kill innocent Israelis in the name of a "merciful" Allah, is starting to get not only knee-jerk predictable but also rather pointless.

Unfortunately for the Hamas-first crowd, Israel has every right to eradicate the source of all these terrorist rocket launchings. If you think the IDF should simply set aside their weapons and allow any form of deadly ordnance to come sailing across the border and explode within Israel itself, you better think again.

Most of you Lockstep Leftists probably imagine that all those fierce Hamas militants as fighting "the good fight," as though this siege was an Islamic Masada, or the Last Stand at the Alamo. Sorry to break it to you, lefties, but it's not.

The tragic episode in Gaza will not end with an exultant Jihad Jubilee, wherein everyone triumphantly fires their AK-47's into the air while shouting "Allahu Akbar!" with a beaten and demoralized IDF scurrying back across the border and yelping like a whipped dog. You may as well put away your celebratory keffiyehs and simply confront the simple, honest truth of this whole matter: Israel will win, and the Palestinians, no thanks to Hamas, will find themselves ever further from achieving any sort of legitimacy or dignity in their continually grim existence.

Now that's truly sad.

Of course I care how many Palestinians are killed, just as I care how many Israelis are killed. You truly wrong me for thinking otherwise.

However, those responsible for bringing about this latest tragic wave of violence are not at all deserving of any sympathy. The instigators are the ones who think whacking a figurative hornet's nest with a stick is the proper way to negotiate. How unsurprising that the massive, retaliatory measures against these Islamic cowards -- who quickly scooted behind their women and children -- would result in such very deadly consequences.

Ultimately, all I keep hearing from the leftists on UT is that despicable behavior on the part of Hamas should be somehow ignored, and that Israel is committing war crimes for ridding itself of an external threat to its unarmed citizenry.

I'm sorry if this make me seem hard-hearted (looking at you, Ondelette), but Hamas' rocket barrage and literally backfired, and very badly for all concerned. Try to think with a cooler head on this, please.

There's no need to be rude.

It's obvious that killing Israeli civilians is not working for all those Hamas-supporting Palestinians, since their world is literally exploding around them as Israel is reluctantly forced to respond in kind.

You see, Kitt, to paraphrase a quote from a famous movie, the Hamas militants just can't repel the firepower that the IDF has brought to bear. It appears that Hamas' undying hatred of all things Israeli has blinded them to the obviousness of their situation, which is simply this: they will lose, and lose badly, and gain nothing except even worse living conditions for the Palestinian civilian population that Hamas has supposedly vowed to protect. Rather than protection, the impoverished lot of Gaza have been exposed to even more misery and strife.

This will be yet another tragedy that could have been so easily avoided, but no, killing Jews somehow had a far higher priority for all these "peaceful" Islamists. The terrible consequences have naturally followed, and you know this to be true, Kitt.

The civilian body count in Gaza can be squarely laid at the feet of Hamas. If these "death to Israel" terrorists weren't in the perpetual habit of firing mortars and rockets from hospitals and schools, the return fire from Israeli batteries and tanks wouldn't target such structures.

It's fascinating, in a sickening way, how you Hamas-applauding leftists are so quick to bring up cowardice when Israel brings to bear its overwhelming military might in defense of the nation, but are strangely silent when Islamic militants show true cowardice in firing their weaponry behind the cover of women and children.

As I said before, I just hope that the IDF can finish the job in Gaza before the hateful propaganda of the UN and other leftist institutions forces Israel (yet once again) to stay its hand. It would be truly regrettable if they were compelled to pull back, thereby permitting the murderous Allahu Akbar fanatics of Hamas to regroup, resupply and rearm.

Otherwise, this withering tit-for-tat violence will never end.

Q: Why is it that Republicans are incapable of discussing any foreign policy issue without bringing up Hitler and Neville Chamberlain and appeasement?

A: Because Neville Chamberlain is the ultimate personification of liberalism at its most flagrant, and he DID try to sate the appetite of a voracious, murderous monster.

Just as leftists today are trying to comfort the Allahu Akbar crowd, the very same "peaceful" Islamists who would just love to kill all of us kuffar in the name of Global Jihad.

In other words, all of you lefties here are dangerously naive for refusing to learn from the harsh lessons of the past, starting with the Great Appeaser, Chamberlain.

It looks like the UN is engaging in calumny with that dubious claim that the IDF shelled two of its supposedly sanctioned shelters.

In a twisted way, it makes sense, since Israel has correctly ignored all those cowardly UN resolutions in the past. I guess this is just the UN's way to get even with the uppity little Jewish nation in the Middle East.

How dare Israel not obey their betters -- right, lefties?