(no subject)

[plural]

[a comment inspired by Patrick]
[and posted to This post]
[i thought I would share it with the rest of you]

I do not support
the wholesale slaughter
of arabs
nor do
I think the vast
majority of arabs
would engage in
or support
these actions

but I find it an
untenable position
to blame our relationship
with israel for
these bombings

american support of
israel
may be a source
of anger for some
if not many moslems
but far more hate us
for our support of
oppressive and corrupt
arab regimes

look at the
persian gulf
where we support
governments that
do little to provide
opportunity for
their common citizens
while those who govern
live opulent lives
of palatial stature

I will admit
some bias
in my own personal history
but I believe you
can trust me to be
rational and fair minded

israel is the only
democracy within
two thousand miles

it has returned fire
when fired upon
and barely survived
several wars in which
all its neighbors attacked
it.
[nine countries in all]
it is currently
negotiating peace
with an organization
whose charter
[think constitution]
does not call for
freedom and justice
but for the
destruction of israel
and the
annihilation of all
who live there
man
woman
child

many have argued
and in some cases
I can see their point
that israel has gone to far
in its defensive and retaliatory strikes

israel is
today
now
in a war for her
survival
she has been
continually in this war
since 1948

in war
for those of you
who have not
served in such conditions
mistakes are made
errors in judgment
are common
and even occasionally
individual act out
of rage and do things
which even in war
we cannot condone.

all such actions
are
abhorrent

but as a policy
israel has been
incredibly restrained

for years
people have said
that israel should not
retaliate
should not seek
with passion to
defend its people
and its lands

for fifty years
we have lived with
the horror of terrorism

watch our brothers
sisters
wives
husbands
daughters
and
sons
die
randomly
and without
just cause

yet we still
try to live in peace

Arabs serve
in our government
in our army

their mosques occupy
our most holy site
and our army protects it
even when it is used
to attack our people

on the street
anyone can walk in peace

while as an american
and as a human
I feel shocked and
horrified by the events
of last Tuesday
and
I am disappointed
by the reaction
of many americans
in the blind fury

I think americans
and people around the world
would be well served
to take pause
and look at ourselves
before criticizing israel

the rage, horror
and fear that
we feel today

the people of israel
have lived with
this fear and
this horror
for fifty years

what ever your view
on the politics
of the middle east

I ask only this

take a moment
an think about your feelings
how this tragedy
has affected you

and
imagine
if you can
this happening
in cities around the country
on every month
for fifty years

Comments

[nandan.livejournal.com]

Excuse me for butting in here, but do you know anything about how to measure Sharon's culpability in 1982? Good friend livejournaler Kitters is researching the whole area.

http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/fr/fr010919_1_n.shtml

[plural.livejournal.com]

Personally
I don't like
sharon
I think he is a
bit of a rightwing extremist

as the commander of
the operation
he was directly responsible
for the events in 1982

however I am confident
from what I have read
that what unfolded was
not his intention

when you command
a mission
you must take responsibility
for its success' or its failure
and in this case it failed
most horrifically.

do I think he made
terrible mistakes of
judgment during that time
yes

do I think he may
have acted out of anger
yes

do I think he intentionally
set out to slaughter people
no

we can all judge
people and actions
but if you have
never been in combat
you
don't really
know what
you are capable
of
or how you would
react

I have killed people
intentionally
and
I have killed others
unintentionally

i regret each one
regardless of intention

would I do it again?

without reservation
in every case

in war your life
depends on action

action which is always
based on too little information

you only get
a fraction of a second
from the moment incoming
fire is detected
[often by the death or]
[wounding of a friend]
to determine where
the fire is coming from
to find safe cover
and figure out how to
kill the other person
before they kill you

if you hesitates
you die
if you blink
you die
or
far worse
someone else could die

when you make a
mistake in combat
you know it
sometimes you get lucky
sometimes you get dead
but you always know
that you fucked up

we go to war
knowing that we might die
we prepare for that
but you can never
prepare yourself
for the knowledge
that because of your
mistake

someone's son
someone's father
someone's brother
is dead

as an NCO
I commanded
handfuls of men
on patrol

so I gathered a glimpse
of what higher ranked officers
go through

these men give you their lives
they trust your skills
you give orders that will
cost lives
you have a responsibility
to protect them

I can easily see
that the temptation to
do
"ANYTHING"
to save
the lives of your men

may lead one to make
poor decisions
angry decisions

do I agree
with what he did
no
can i understand it
yes