Houston Lee said:
Ag87H2O said:
Bubblez said:
J. Walter Weatherman said:
Houston Lee said:
There are rules of war. We and Israel must abide by them. Humanitarian aid is a must. Non-Combatants must be helped if possible. It doesn't matter who they are or which side they support.
Hammas are not abiding by the rules of war and are using our compliance with those rules to hide behind non-combatants. That is unfortunate, but does not allow us or Israel to just throw the rules to the side when it suits us.
Hammas will have to be dealt with within the confines of the rules.
Hammas is not a country. They are a terrorist organization and do not deserve the protections of a traditional war.
The non-combatant citizens living in that area do.
You're being intentionally obtuse. The vast, vast majority of "non-combatant citizens" that live in Gaza cheer when Hamas executes, abuses, or kidnaps Israelis, and they also raise their children to be the next generation of Hamas terrorists.
Most are not the innocent civilians you make them out to be. They live there and exist full well knowing that Hamas could lead them straight into justifiable death, yet they continue to support them and call Gaza home.
Israel needs to do whatever it is they deem necessary to take out the threat to their citizens. Period. They have shown great restraint so far in warning citizens of upcoming bombings and giving them time to leave. They have used pinpoint, precision weaponry to avoid civilian casualties. If "civilians" in Gaza suffer or die for the sins of the barbarians they enable and support, it's a reality of war. They are getting a lot better than what they have dished out to the Israelis.
I don't think anyone is making out the non-combatant civilians to be "innocent". But, if they are not carrying a weapon and/or fighting, they must be treated as a non-combatant. There are rules for treatment of POWs as well.
My first reaction was a desire to wipe them all out and be done with them. Kill them all. But, that is not the rightful course of action. Not every person in Gaza is a terrorist. They may support them, but that does not mean they should be slaughtered.
We support our country. We support our troops. We support our way of life. We teach our children this way of life and love for our country and our ideals. Should our children and other non-military countrymen be slaughtered by our enemies because they might grow up to fight for the USA one day? As a people, we have decided that this line of thinking is wrong.
I want Israel to eliminate all Hammas terrorists or anyone in Gaza that picks up a weapon to kill Israelis. We should not advocate for the slaughter of non-combatants, no matter where or who they are. One day, that non-combatant could be you and your family.
The difference here is that we are dealing with a terrorist state, not a formal military.
If you watch videos of them attacking Israel, most were wearing a regular attire - t-shirts and pants.
Where your plan unravels is that all they would have to do is drop the gun and then *poof* they are an innocent civilian.
Same thing we dealt with in Afghanistan. Same thing we dealt with in Vietnam. The US can hold that very righteous, very unsuccessful approach to war because our populations are out of harms way - a continent away.
Israel does not have that luxury.
Everyone in Gaza was celebrating 9/11. Everyone is Gaza was celebrating the rape, torture and murder of Israeli citizens.
There is no one innocent in Gaza.