Letters to the Editor
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They Will Have An Easier Time Now
Hard liners see an opening now, what with the horrendous attack in Jerusalem and the recent suspicions about Iran's nuclear intentions. In reality, the Israeli/Palestinian issue is steeped in far more grey shades than the hawks imagine, since despite the barbarity of the attack in Israel, many Gazans are energized to commit such crazy acts because of Israel's overzealous response to rocket firings into their territory from Gaza. What is especially shocking is the horror of seeing those young people killed in Israel...yet there was equally horrible killings of Palestinian children as they became collateral damage in Israel's quest to take out militants. What is clear is that such a strategy of routing out militants and killing civilians accidentally is a disastrous policy, fruitless in that it spawns senseless reactive violence from suicide bombers. In interviews on BBC, many compare it to the "troubles" in Northern Ireland, where an endless cycle of violence got nowhere until each side realized they had absolutely nothing to gain with attacking each other and treating each other as though the other were subhuman. On Iran, the more the US and people like McCain raise the temperature of the silly rhetoric, the more radicalized the Iranians become...this is another aspect of the truly failed policy of the Bush presidency McCain is emulating, one that is deeply unpopular with the American people.
BTW...I thank Salon for its excellent articles...I use to write on Huffpo, but found that site toxic in its pro-Obama shilling, where diverse opinions are discouraged if in any way they shatter the othodoxy about the perfection of Obama.