Fields: Israel Is Right To Use Overwhelming Force Against Hamas
BY SAM FIELDS
Guest Columnist
“War is hell: William Tecumseh Sherman
“And frankly, it should be: Sam Fields
Much of the criticism of Israel’s attack on Gaza is that it is not proportional. In other words, the response to Hamas’s daily bombardment of twenty or thirty rockets should be an equivalent.
It is as if the rules of war should be based on the jury Instructions for Self Defense:
“In considering the issue of self-defense, you may take into account the relative physical abilities and capacities of the Defendant [Israel] and Hamas.” The rules then go on to explain that you may use only the force necessary to stop the immediate problem.
You can’t claim a defense of self or others because you believe the bad guy might repeat his bad conduct tomorrow.
Which brings us back to General Sherman and his March to the Sea. He was accused of cutting a swath through Georgia that was intended to terrorize the South.
Sherman would be the first to agree. He believed that a tit-for-tat strategy would only lead to an interminable war that would create even more suffering.
Basically it is the Powell Doctrine which requires overwhelming force to get it over as quickly as possible.
If the Proportionalists had their way, Israel and Hamas would be spending the next decade with daily launching of indiscriminate rockets into civilian
populations.
Apparently they think that years of mutual terror and fear would be fair and just.
If Israel is guilty of anything it caution.
The civilian deaths in this engagement amount to nothing when compared to what Muslims regularly do to each other.
Jordan killed over 50,000 Palestinians in September 1972. They don’t even bother to bury the dead in Darfur.
Check out a Website called Current War here.
Muslims are overwhelmingly involved and it is mostly fratricidal. Mass murder, if it is all in the family, just does not count.
Which once again brings us back to General Sherman. Since “war is hell, the strategy should be to avoid an extended stay in the Lake of Fire.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Sam – great web site and a well written piece (even though it had a typo).
January 8th, 2009 at 5:40 am
What a myopic view.
The Israeli attacks in Gaza are misguided not just because the are disproportional, but because they are counterproductive.
No matter how many bombs are dropped on Gaza, in a couple years (if not months) the situation will be right back to where it was before.
What the Israeli government and military are engaged in is a collective punishment of the Gaza population, the result of which will make a lasting peace less likely.
I do find it amusing to see the atrocities committed by dictators in Syria and Sudan being used as justification for Israel’s actions in Gaza. “They’re not as bad as the worst” is hardly a ringing endorsement.
January 8th, 2009 at 6:58 am
Fields Orwellian beliefs — kill them for peace — is a surprise for those who know him. Isn’t this the same person who believes that America’s wrong in any attempt to protect ourselves. I guess when Israel (read: The Jews) need a defense, anything is okay.
January 8th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Dear “Floridian’ and “Fields is a Fool†[note; I have been called worse things by better people]
You are not the first person to argue that I am hypocritical based on me being a pacifist. The problem is I am not a pacifist; not now, not never, not no way. I defy you to show me anything to the contrary. Written or spoken.
Do I oppose stupid wars? Duh??? E.g. Viet Nam, Iraq stupid. Afghanistan; probably stupid. Israeli occupation of the West Bank most defiantly stupid.
Gaza? What choice is there? How many times can I smack you in the face before you are going to do something about it? And if your first choice, calling the police, does not work what are you going to do.
The only hypocrisy here are Muslim tears over the hundreds dead in Gaza. They are of the crocodile variety. Every year they kill each other by the hundreds of thousands without a whimper or a page six story in Al Jezeera. You are too stupid to know the difference between genuine outrage and political posturing.
Is this action in Gaza counterproductive? That remains to be seen.
But answer this question. What were they supposed to do when they suffer a daily, steady barrage of missiles that no one else will do anything?
Here is a legitimate criticism of Israel. Hamas was to some degree a creation of the Likud government as a counterweight to the PLO. Talk about your blowback.
I still believe that we are looking at a three state solution with the West Bank Jews finding their religious, nut job asses in Palestine.
January 12th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Kill everybody who is not an Israeli. That’s your philosophy, Sam.