Read other letters about this article

• Monday, January 5, 2009 11:01 AM

  "In Europe, and in many parts of American public opinion, military power is seen as an option of last resort"

  "many parts of american public opinion"? after 9/11 even the pacifists were seeking to hang all the muslims/arabs. friends of mine who were never happy with israel's treatment of the palestinians were suddenly in favor of nuking the entire arab peninsula. and the majority of americans supported invading iraq for years, until it got too costly. and the antiwar folks couldn't drum up more than lip service, famously. and now obama is elected on a platform of keeping the war going in afghanistan.

  yeah, that's many parts alright. i guess that if they had to go hide in the basement a couple of times a day for fear of rockets landing on their house, even though they hardly ever killed anybody, they would seek mutual discourse and airing of grievances before agonizingly choosing the path of war as a last resort.

  of course the big question is why do hamas/palestinians choose the path of war when it's clear they can't win a military victory, and all they can hope for is a huge disaster and a lot of global sympathy which never seems to get them anything else? what do they have to lose by actually stopping the rockets for a year and using the carrot of peace and the stick of starting the bombardment again to manipulate the israeli voters to get their government to lighten up?

  —gzuckier Read gzuckier's other letters
  Permalink
  Flag
  Click "Submit Flag" if you feel this post is inappropriate. Explain why below if you wish.

  Cancel