A Confederate Yankee
By William D. Mayers
(Town of Sullivan, NY – Aug. 2014) So a cease-fire appears to be holding, and the media is full of condemnation of Israel for the casualties suffered by the other side. In particular, complaints about the number of non-combatants top the finger-pointing rants.
Well, war is terrible. There’s no use trying to reform it. The more terrible it is, the sooner it will be over… the fellow who said that, General William Tecumseh Sherman, surely was one who knew what he was talking about.
I’m not sure that it’s over, given that Islamic radicals have seemingly become addicted to attacking Israel from time to time, hiding behind innocents in hopes of gaining the sympathy of the world when those innocents bleed.
Why did Israel fire on a hospital?
Why did Israel fire on a school?
Why did Israel fire on a U.N. shelter?
Well, it’s because that’s where the Islamic radicals fired upon Israel from. They hid weapons and supplies in schools and in hospitals and in shelters meant for non-combatants.
Couldn’t Israel have somehow protected the innocents while dealing with the radicals? Well, no, they could not.
But Hamas could. They choose, instead, to hide among the general populace and, from there, fire upon Israeli targets. Some people in the west appear to think that Israel should not defend itself, that if fired upon by a gunman from within a crowd of women and children, the guy should just be allowed to go on shooting.
Uh-uh. As we said about such things in Vietnam, “Bring smoke on ’em! Light ’em up. Burn ’em!”
Yes, it is beyond terrible when innocents, especially children, become “collateral damage.” But to simply stand there and take it? Get real, will ya?
I am as sure that this isn’t the end of such horrors, as I am that the sun’s going to rise in the east tomorrow morning. Shortly, some demented Imam will decide to make a name for himself and begin urging impressionable young people to take up arms again and to attack once more.
Human life appears to have relevance to such people only insofar as it supports their demented goals. One definition of stupidity is to keep pushing the same buttons and expecting a different result. It feels unfair and unjust to condemn an entire people for the behavior of those radicals, but those radicals could not persist in their outrageous behavior without the support of the rest of their Muslim brothers.
How many Muslims must die in the most gruesome manner before they finally get the message and knock off the armed hostilities? How many times must Israel endure unjustified condemnation for defending its people?
Or is it true, after all, that there really is no cure for stupid?
William D. “Bill” Mayers RT, RN, of Sullivan is a retired senior U.S. Army Corpsman. A certified healthcare professional since 1964, he holds two professional licenses, including that of Registered Professional Nurse licensed in New York, Alaska, Virginia and Louisiana. He has four children, two stepchildren, three grandchildren and is an avid analyst of current events.