Unforeseen Contingencies

It's a great tragedy: war in Gaza again. Civilians in Gaza are trapped in what amounts to a hellish existence, with war on top of that. I took a little internet tour of photos - lots of heartrending photos - bloodied, screaming children, people crying over lost family members, and the like. Mostly Palestinians, but Israelis as well. ("Nice" shots of an Israeli kindergarten that was hit by a Kassam rocket, I believe it had been evacuated.) It's awful.

Then I took a look at the Hamas Charter, just to see what this is all about. It's somewhat long, but I've distilled a few choice parts:

Art. 2: Islam is the comprehensive doctrine for every single aspect of life. (They're pretty clear - their view of Islam is that it's a totalitarian doctrine.)

Art. 7: The Islamic resistance movement extends over the entire globe, it applies everywhere, and Jews are to be killed.

Art. 11: Every last bit of Palestine is Islamic, a non-negotiable point.

Art. 13: No peace negotiations, no compromises, ever. Jihad only.

Art. 15: An individual obligation... kill, kill, kill. (Yes, stated three times.)

Art. 17, 22, 28: The Masons, Rotary Clubs, and Lions Clubs are the enemy too. (What the hell?)

There's not much to be said, other than that I hope the Israelis exterminate Hamas. How can war be anything but inevitable? The despicable Secretary General of the U.N., Ban Ki-moon, has condemned Israel for using disproportionate force. The $%#&^ of BBC keep suggesting Israeli fears are overblown, because too few Israelis have been killed. Ban, BBC, and the rest are taking a profoundly immoral position. Secretary Ban has admitted Israel is acting in self-defense. If it's self-defense, then force should be disproportionate, overwhelming.

It's not as though Hamas acts with restraint. Hamas is poorly armed (but I wonder what they brought through the wall from Egypt), and not very effective, but they give it all they've got. After all, "kill, kill, kill." It is the much better armed and more competent Israelis who hold back. There's little doubt they could annihilate Gaza, were "genocide" really their objective. Both Abbas and Hamas' Mashaal have said this is the Holocaust. It's obviously not, but richly ironic, especially coming from the leader of a genocidal sociopathic totalitarian movement that hates the Rotary clubs to boot.

But all in all, just more tragic news.



(Israeli flag courtesy of 4 International Flags). Mohammed cartoon from Jyllands-Posten.