Ahem,funny how when Israel finally retaliates in measure after 8 years of attacks with what European or Islamic countries would consider an inadequate amount of force given the situation the israelis are somehow oppressors and villains?Remember people,the INTENT of Hamas and their daily rocket attacks is to kill Israeli civilians,if they fired at military targets that would be instantly triangulated and wipe out by return fire that is why Hamas prefers to attack schools,malls,suburban neighborhoods.Israel on the other hand goes where the badguys are and fight them,that is their INTENT is to defeat an enemy who despite their lack of skill has the INTENT of murdering innocent civilians.Hamas on the other hand uses schools,apartment buildings and mosques as bases of operation and was launching missiles from a UN Chartered school just last night!..................Israel INTENDS to fight violent Hamas criminals and 80% of the casualties they have inflicted during the 2nd Intifada have been on violent criminals while the other 20% were the kind of "collateral damage" that occurs when a coward sets up a mortar position in a schoolyard while 90+% of the victims of Hamas are unarmed civilians(especially children) and that is their INTENT..........Hamas criminals who surrender to Israel get put into a western style jail with 3 square meals per day and religious observance on friday night....Israelis captured by Hamas are beheaded or now since it's approval as an official state punishment Dec 2008 CRUCIFIED!....you read that right..Dec 2008 Hamas approved Crucifixion for Apostates and Christians and stoning for little girls for the crime of "Immodesty"...Moral Equivalence is BS,we are not dealing with sane,honest or decent people here,we are dealing with medieval,misogynist,fanatics who most certainly lie,kidnap,murder,rape,distort,behead,crucify and stone to death anyone who disagrees with them.............I here is said that only a handful of Israelis die for dozens of Palestinians and I say look at who's dead and what they did to deserve it.I hate the idea of a child of any culture being killed or injured but there is only one side in this conflict that targets children INTENTIONALLY and that is Hamas.......just so you know,fewer than 5000 death can be attributed to the IDF during the last decade and most of those were violent criminals.Are the cops supposed to play by the criminals rules?I think not,these people protesting Israel's incursions into Gaza would sing a different tune if they spent 2-6 hours per day in a bomb shelter without a toilet like the residents of Sderot Israel but they lack the honesty to admit it because they just hate anyone who offends their sensational "rebel without a clue" support of a culture that would happily behead of crucify them if given the chance just for the books and magazines in their homes,ROTFLMAO

Thanks for your comments regarding my service Bill. As an interesting side note, I also served in both Bosnia 96 and Kosovo in 99, and in both of those situations you had legitimate genocide being perpetrated against muslims. Ethnic and religious genocide occurs on all sides and has since the beginning of organized civilizations. Cortez an the mayans, the U.S. government and the tribes of the east and later the plains, ethnic serbians versus kosovar albanians. Before you can understand the muslim situation, you must be able to draw conclusions between islamic fundamentalist and islam. While I personally believe that islam is a fundamentally flawed religion (based on the fact that their chief prophet muhammed had serious character flaws), I do not believe that all muslims are bad or evil. Complacent, yes to some degree (but we must also understand that even muslim americans culture is steeped in countries where speaking out often resulted in harsh punishment). However, I do believe that islamic extremist/fundamentalist (jihadist) must be completely and utterly fought at every turn. Jihadist must be eradicated like cockroaches. You absolutely cannot reason with someone who has no repect for human life (their own or another). We live in a different age today, and although I am a relatively young man, I feel sad for my children and their grandchildren, because I know they too will be fighting the same enemy we have been fighting (and/or ignoring) since the rise of jihadist. There are no easy answers with this situation.

How many of you have actually toured the Holy Land? I've been to Gaza, West Bank and Israel. There are definitely two sides to the story in this conflict. It is not cut and dried. Israel has every right to defend itself, that is to be sure. However, Israeli "hardliners" have exacerbated the conflict in many ways. Their approach has been, continues to be and always will be a failure. Until the Likud Party is no longer calling the shots, Israel will be mired in war for the foreseeable future. Guaranteed. As for Hamas, the US shares some of the blame, by pushing for democratic elections in the West Bank. Guess who was put in charge? That's right. Arafat was an ass, but he knew the problems, and he knew Hamas would win if the Palestinians were given the vote. He may have been an ass, but he was no fool. The media in this country presents this all in a very

To continue, the media in this country presents this information in a very pro-Israeli bias, perhaps because they are a strong ally. But they make many of their own problems. To the poster below who commented that the Arab world is taking advantage of the conflict for their own aims: Right on! It is true that the governments of the Middle East largely dull their citizens' criticism by focusing their anger at the West and Israel. That is absolutely the case.

How many of you have actually toured the Holy Land? I've been to Gaza, West Bank and Israel. There are definitely two sides to the story in this conflict. It is not cut and dried. Israel has every right to defend itself, that is to be sure. However, Israeli "hardliners" have exacerbated the conflict in many ways. Their approach has been, continues to be and always will be a failure. Until the Likud Party is no longer calling the shots, Israel will be mired in war for the foreseeable future. Guaranteed. As for Hamas, the US shares some of the blame, by pushing for democratic elections in the West Bank. Guess who was put in charge? That's right. Arafat was an ass, but he knew the problems, and he knew Hamas would win if the Palestinians were given the vote. He may have been an ass, but he was no fool. The media in this country presents this all in a very

Good job don...ignore!!!

News OK, Can you please fix this double or triple posting? I still feel left out as my posts are about the only ones that don't say "Ignore Someone."

Thanks for the story Floyd. I guess I'm the only one who heard them refer to us as "Capitalist Pigs". I must have some Israelite in me too because we parted ways after that comment.

Don, It was an Iranian that was quoted as saying he wanted to send a nuclear attack on Israel with, "So what if it also kills 15 million Arabs, getting rid of all the Jews would be worth it." The fellows name is something like Abinajab.

Same song, second verse from the Sob Sisters....Kick butt Israel then clean up the slums that the Palestinians created due to their inability to create a self-sustaining nation by themselves. Kind of like biting the hand that feeds you from the good ole Hamas boys.

Thanks for the story Floyd. I guess I'm the only one who heard them refer to us as "Capitalist Pigs". I must have some Israelite in me too because we parted ways after that comment.

The innocent die just the same as the guilty. Figure out a way to seperate the two and then there will be a truly just war that leads to peace? Human nature will not allow such a scenario.

QUESTION: Where are the refugees? Where are the streams of civilians fleeing the war zone? ANSWER: "They cannot flee. They are fenced in. They are bombing one and a half million people in a cage. It is a very young population." (See the video on YouTube here ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev6ojm62qwA ... a 3-minute video). This is madness.

BTW, the Israel-Palestine conflict has nothing to do with Iran, except that the Bush administration is still chomping at the bit to invade another country for no reason except to kill innocent people and pad the pockets of Haliburton, Blackwater, arms manufacturers (His daddy). Don't be so gullible.

Gaza is a slum. These people have nothing. There was a cease fire. Remember? Everything was fine until Israel suddenly decided to blockade the Gaza Strip. No medicine. No food. No fuel. Then, some freedom fighters shot a couple of pop bottle rockets towards Israel. Then, Israel proceed to begin murdering innocent poor people who have nothing. Get it? Don't trust the media in your country. They lie. Peace only.

Dee, You asked if any of us remember when Iranians started going to universities in the U.S. in the 70s. When I lived off campus in 1960, one of our roommates was from Tehran, Iran. He had a chicken s*** friend that stole from me and I slammed his head on the ceiling. For some reason he never came back. Maybe that is the Israelite in me. And J. By the way, I HAVE heard stories about Scottish people setting crosses on fire but don't know why.

Hamas, friggem. Go Isreal. Wish we had the b4lls. i know we back them. but I like how they handle things. no political correctness in war!!!!

J,Anonymous, I really haven't had any interest in studying the KKK but you said something I would like for you to explain. You said the KKK did their evil under a burning cross yet it sounded like you were calling them Christians. I thought burning a cross was about the same intent as burning the American flag. I realize Hitler thought he was a Christian by killing Jews. Why do the KKK burn crosses? I haven't been able to find the answer on the internet yet.

toall thos oklaoa terorist supporters protesting atthe capital, the fonz said it best "sit on it" o israel, kick butt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like Israel's philosophy to me Bill....they simply got tired of being bombed. Israel is not a perpetrator, not a victim, and not standing by to be bombed, simple.

My personal analysis basically confirms my bias. Israel please kick Palestine's butt and remind the politically correct in the Western nations of what winning a war for territory or freedom is why there is a fight to start in the first place. No retreat, no surrender. Oh no! It is true! I am a redneck. Strangle myself with my own petard I guess.

I like Granny's philosophy...much simpler, "Are you with us or Agin' us?" This political correctness has really got me down...I am simply "American". I wish more people would lose the hyphen and remember to wave our flag. Thanks for the comment Sallie.

Randy of Norman-- You have a good ability to delve into the political motives of Hamas. But, your analysis is one-sided. I think you're ignoring the political calculations that went into Israel's decision to attack Gaza. Both sides are vying for a long-term advantage. In the weeks and months prior to 12/27, Israel made strategic choices (blockades, targeted bombings, refusal to negotiate) that led to the current chaos. Caught in the middle are the civilians of Gaza. Now, we are faced with the question, What do we do now? At today's news conference, Mr. Hashmi answered this way: "...There can be an end to the cycle of violence in the Middle East and there can be peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Let us not forget the lessons of history, 'Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.' This is from the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC."

Dee, Mustang...nope, you sure don't, and then we get hit with the freedom of speech that appears to apply only to those that wave another flag. Let a bunch of other grumblers waving the American flag show up on Capitol grounds and they will be labeled white, right wing, Christian or atheist trouble makers and must be subhuman and retarded. American freedom or the politic correctness freedom? hmmmm