Common sense used to prevail on editorial pages in this country. Not so today, when so many newspapers have come out against israel's war of self-defense against Hezbollah and the Lebanese government that has given these jihadi terrorists a safe haven from which to attack Israel.

One editorial page on which common sense does still prevail, though, is that of the Las Vega Review-Journal.

On June 25, Hamas guerrillas tunnelled across the border into Israel, killed Israeli soldiers, kidnapped Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, and brought him into Gaza. Then, this week, the Shia terrorist group Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border and brought them back into Lebanon.

Israel has responded to these provocations militarily, as any sovereign nation would. And who is condemned for breaking the peace? Why, Israel, of course.

Yeah, folks seem to forget that. Israel didn't go to war in a vacuum. What would we do if Mexico or Canada were providing shelter for al-Qaeda to attack the United States? We all know that the response would be unlikely to involve polite diplomatic notes. Why shouldn't the Israelis respond appropriately to the acts of war committed against it?

At a triumphant news conference Wednesday, Hezbollah's leader, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, said his group would not bow to pressure from the Lebanese government or the world community to release his two Israeli hostages, unless Israel agrees to a prisoner exchange.

"What do they want us to do? Hand over the soldiers and apologize?" he asked. "What kind of world are they living in?"

The kind of world we are living in, is one in which kidnappers hand over their hostages ... and are sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Damn straight -- assuming the kidnappers don't end up dead on the floor during a rescue operation conducted by highly-trained professionals. A pity that the Mossad couldn't have punched Nasrallah's ticket right during the press conference, just to make it clear exactly what civilized folks expect to happen to such scum.

Failing that, such provocations can lead to war, an endeavor which never seems to accomplish much for the Arab fans of endless war, except to allow them to beat their chests, wail over their dead and play "victim" some more.

And it has led to another war that will visit endless destruction upon Arabs -- and which will once again be painted as being all the fault of big bad Israel.

Like a sleeping dog that seeks only peace, Israel has backed away so as to give no offense, until there is no further room to retreat. This week, a Hezbollah missile -- possibly manufactured in Iran -- hit Haifa, on the seacoast. Israel now has every right to do whatever proves necessary to stop her tormentors.

Nor have they any remaining right to complain about her bite.

And therein lies a difference. Israel has been engaged in targetted strikes with legitimate military objectives. Hezollah has flung rockets in the direction of israel, not terribly concerned about what it hits. While both sides have caused civilian casualties, there is a difference -- those caused by Israel have been in spite of its best efforts to avoid them, while those caused by Hezbollah have been the objective of the attacks. That is an important difference.

It is now clear what the Arabs mean by "occupied territories" -- to anyone who didn't get it, long ago. If the population of Israel were reduced to 10, and those 10 Jews were living on a houseboat moored in Haifa harbor, the Arabs would bemoan their ongoing victimization by the Zionists, and demand that the Israelis "withdraw from this occupied houseboat immediately."

And would no doubt be supported by the international community, which fears provoking followers of the "Religion of Blow Yourself To Pieces To Killl Infidels".

The world has been patient with such murderous lunacy long enough. Maybe it's time to condemn someone new, for a change.

I agree whole-heartedly -- but don't expect to see anything of the kind.

Posted by: Greg at 07:44 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 678 words, total size 4 kb.