ironstone

Today's world can be a terrible place to be a part of sometimes.Often,leaders in the free world are forced to make difficult decisions which have far reaching consequences.You describe some of Israel's actions as "evil".I think a more honest description would be "necessary evil".It's sad that innocents die in the course of action but there is often no alternative.Hamas leaders must shoulder the blame because of their longstanding practice of hiding behind civilians,launching rockets from schools hospitals and the like.

Israelis choose their leaders via the ballot box only.Palestinians also have "elections" but heavily influenced by the mighty AK-47.

No argument there,most governments in the Middle East are thoroughly corrupt and dictatorial,some being much worse than others.Which is one big reason why I support the ONLY democratic country in the region....Israel. And by the way,it's not only the "greedy West" profiting from arms sales.Russia,Iran,North Korea have a hand in it too.Did you know that?

I forgot to ask if you ever watch the evening news.Did you ever see the regular protest marches in the Middle East(I don't mean Israel!)and listened to them chanting "Death to Bush/America/Israel/Blair etc etc"?An offensive t-shirt kind of pales in comparison don't you think? What colour is the sky in their world?

Have you forgotten the scenes of jubilation throughout much of the Muslim world after the 9/11 attacks?They were as happy as pigs in s**t.

Israel and the Palestinians both get billions in aid.One side chooses to use the money wisely,the other chooses to spend it on weapons,inciting hate and keeping a woefully corrupt government in place.Palestine getting "50 dollars in aid"?!!The money is going somewhere.Remember Yassir Arafat stole huge amounts from his own people,the same goes on today no doubt.Your military analogy is way off too by the way.

Did you know that George W.Bush was quite popular in countries that were once under control of the former Soviet Union....yes,those that suffered under forced obedience.

Neither does any of punked's posts....

There is debate and soul searching from within Israel about alleged war crimes and the number of Palestinian casualties.Has there been any similar reaction among Palestinians regarding the consequences of their own actions toward Israelis?I have seen nothing in the papers I read concerning this.Does this show just how much of a gulf there is between Israelis and Palestinians?This speaks volumes about attitudes on both sides.To be fair,any Palestinian that supports non-violence will likely meet his end from AK-47,so perhaps it's best to keep quiet.

This article certainly calls into question the validity of these so called "war crimes admissions".Not to mention the New York Times is a pretty left wing paper which one would assume means they are more likely to be sympathetic to Hamas led Palestinians than Israel.

What absolute nonsense!You completely missed my point.

Since I'm not a Socialist(I work for a living and am capable of independant thought)I always look at both sides of the argument and form an opinion based on reason and evidence.In this never ending Middle East mess between the Israelis and the surrounding hostile countries,it's clear which side has continually made the most effort to achieve peace.One country stands out among the lot of them.Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination,but one country is head and shoulders above the rest.Ahead in education,health care,human rights(actually placing value on human life,imagine that),and light years ahead in terms of being truly DEMOCRATIC!In time of war,terrible things are done,usually by both sides.Action and reaction.I would never say the IDF are comprised only of angels,but on the whole they have acquitted themselves very well in action.How often during war does an army give advance warning to civilians to get out harms way?The IDF goes to great lengths to avoid casualties to civilians.Can anyone honestly say that Hamas does the same?The answer is no,in fact Hamas specifically targets civilians.They are even likely to be jubilant about Palestinian losses to sway public opinion to their side. This could boil down to simply choosing the lesser of two evils,which side consistently makes the most effort to do the honorable thing?The Israelis,hands down. Go ahead,start the insults....

I guess nobody really has the market on bad taste cornered.I've seen countless t-shirts in bad taste,heck maybe one or two were mine.It's still turning a molehill into a mountain as far as I'm concerned.Not for a second am I trying to trivialize the deaths of innocent civilians,whatever nationality they may be.But I cannot fathom how people are totally unmoved by tactics like suicide bombings and barrages of low tech rockets both of which are specifically aimed at civilians!Give your heads a shake!That is as polite as I can put it.

How sad.It appears that the only thing that matters to the Obama supporters is whether or not he is popular.He was more popular during the election and it was important then.Right now,what matters is what way the economy will turn.Save the popularity contests for American Idol.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if students at Canadian universities supported free speech as well?Universities seem to be dominated by left wingers and they seem to think free speech is an inherent right ONLY for the left.Anyone percieved to be "right wing" is not welcome to speak their mind.Carleton and Ottawa U come readily to mind.Unfortunately,the problem will only become worse here in Canada with biased,unreasonble,unelected bodies like the Human Rights Commissions deciding who can and cannot speak.

I certainly don't support George Galloway and his views if he is a Hamas/Hezbollah supporter but I'm not sure whether barring him from Canada is the right thing to do.It's the same thing that routinely happens on Canadian universities where free speech is under attack and political correctness is the only way.

I don't really buy into your argument.The Palestinians recieve BILLIONS of dollars from foreign governments(much of it from the hated West).The problem is that it seems much of that money is diverted towards terrorism,promoting hatred towards the Jews,and keeping a bloated,corrupt public service going.Things would certainly be better if all of this aid money was used for the benefit of all Palestinians. On the subject of international law,isn't firing rockets wildly into Israel a breach of said law?

Don't you mean peace through appeasement?

At one time I watched CNN for the most part.Then,for a while there was the FOX channel,available for a free preview.Since that time,I have never come back to CNN and I find FOX to be much better.I really enjoy the O'Reilly Factor and find him to be tough,but fair.Hannity's America is another program I see sometimes.If you pay close attention to FOX,you will hear that they are just as tough on the Republicans as the Democrats.MSNBC is one network that I find quite biased,and with good reason.NBC is owned by General Electric,and GE's shares have plummeted for years snow.I guess the big man at the top of GE should take the blame for this.And he happens to be one of Barrack Obama's advisors.....yikes!

Keystone makes an interesting point with the question of who HAS killed more.And the answer is....the Israelis have killed more. I have another question.Who has TRIED to kill more?I guess launching rockets indiscriminately at a target and hoping they kill someone,anyone,is not a very efficient method of causing death.Highly effective as a psychological weapon though. What a truly f****d up world this is,where there is widespread support and sympathy for groups like Hamas etc.Palestinians wanting peace are more likely to die at the hands of Hamas than from any Israeli.Don't be so afraid of reason....

Israeli soldiers wear uniforms....army uniforms.What do Hamas members wear to distinguish themselves from ordinary civilians?

One more thing,any group of "fighters"that routinely hides among civilians are indeed cowards.That would be a description that fits Hamas perfectly.

Hey,since you call us "Israeli supporters"and think we are pretty low,can I call you a Hamas/Hezbollah supporter?

This recession is not limited to the United States only.This is a world wide economic downturn,even affecting peace loving countries like Sweden for instance.

No doubt when anything terrible happens in "the rest of the world,"be it a natural disaster or some man made madness you would be one of the first one's to scream for the West to do something.