Hi Neocon; Re: "There are two ways to view the non- combatant population in the territories. The first is that most of them support and aid terrorism, and therefore are not really innocent. The second is that even the innocent are in the position of hostages, whose lives one tries to conserve, but not by giving the malefactors free reign, which only encourages more hostage taking. In the course of stopping criminals, some hostages might be killed or wounded. This should be minimized, but cannot be avoided completely. As for the terrorists themselves, no special consideration is owed them. Someone who promotes terror, whatever his operational relationship to Hamas, is fair game, even if he is unarmed."
This is essentially identical to our situation in Iraq, in the regions dominated by Sunni Arabs. As I warned, by emulating the foreign policy of Israel, we've earned Israel's foreign policy problems.
-- Carl |
