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The assault on Gaza offers the best hope of peace: Israel is right to seek the destruction of Hamas
The London Telegraph ^ | January 1, 2009 | Con Coughlin

Posted on 01/01/2009 9:52:26 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

It's brutal, there's no sign of it ending any time soon and scores of innocent people have lost their lives in the spiral of violence that has erupted in the Gaza Strip. But for all the suffering on both sides of the border, there is nevertheless the distinct possibility that when the fighting has died down, the long-term prospects for peace in the region will have been considerably improved.

No one can condone the loss of life, no matter how great the provocation, and the Israeli military has an unwelcome reputation for not taking sufficient care to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties when responding to the threat posed by Islamist extremists.

But, then, the Iranian-backed groups that provoke the trouble in the first place do not display any caution when they fire their rockets indiscriminately at Israeli population centres. Modern_warfare might be fought with high-tech weapons, but that still has not solved the age-old problem of how to prevent the innocent from the deadly consequences of military conflict.

That said, the Israeli government was left with little alternative other than to launch a military offensive after Hamas took no action to prevent Islamic militants from firing home-made rockets at_the Jewish state.

Ever since Hamas seized control of Gaza it has been on a collision course with Israel. Apart from encouraging its activists to wage a campaign of terror against residents of the nearby Israeli town of Sderot, the Hamas leadership, with Tehran's encouragement, has done its level best to undermine attempts by the moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to lay the foundations for a peace deal with Israel.

It is for this reason that Israel's military offensive in Gaza is aimed as much at destroying Hamas's political and administrative_infrastructure as guaranteeing the security of Israeli_residents living close to the Gazan border.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Israel; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: gaza; gazastrip; hamas; islam; israel; jihad; mohammedanism; muslims; wot
This is from the British press?!
1 posted on 01/01/2009 9:52:26 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They got it right for once. Too bad that most of the world will never figure it out. The next few years will bring nothing but horror and death.


2 posted on 01/01/2009 10:00:13 AM PST by Soothesayer (The United States of America Rest in Peace November 4 2008)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

All loss of life among the innocent civilians is the sole responsibility of Hamas in particular and islam in general.


3 posted on 01/01/2009 10:00:31 AM PST by Emmett McCarthy
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
and the Israeli military has an unwelcome reputation for not taking sufficient care to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties when responding to the threat posed by Islamist extremists.

This is patently untrue.

4 posted on 01/01/2009 10:03:50 AM PST by Bahbah (Typical white person-Snow white)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
The Brits? Too much for me to take in!
A woman's Brain
5 posted on 01/01/2009 10:05:35 AM PST by Larousse2 (Like June Carter Cash, "I'm just tryin' to matter.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The UK press is fairer to Israel than the Times is.

Happy New Year, 2nd DV.

Thank you for all the articles you post. I seem to gravitate to many of the items you find for us.


6 posted on 01/01/2009 10:05:54 AM PST by Canedawg
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The Telegraph is a respected, somewhat conservative newspaper.
British MSM includes some conservative national newspapers, unlike the US MSM.


7 posted on 01/01/2009 10:31:35 AM PST by expatpat
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“This is from the British press?!”

Precisely my reaction.


8 posted on 01/01/2009 10:49:49 AM PST by Attention Surplus Disorder (Our government is an edifice of artifice.)
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To: Soothesayer

Today, the Jers. Post reports a major Hamas leader was killed and many,many weapons depots were blasted. No cease fires my friends, wipe the killers out.


9 posted on 01/01/2009 12:02:51 PM PST by phillyfanatic ( iT)
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To: Bahbah
and the Israeli military has an unwelcome reputation for not taking sufficient care to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties when responding to the threat posed by Islamist extremists.

This is patently untrue.

Your are 100% correct.

Here's the reason for civilian casualties, and the press will not report it.


The cowardly Islamic Muslim "Palestinians" don't care about civilian deaths, even their own children.

God Bless all Freedom Loving Troops anywhere in this world.

10 posted on 01/01/2009 12:28:20 PM PST by Syncro (Mi TagLine)
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To: phillyfanatic
“No cease fires my friends, wipe the killers out.”

When they're done with Hamas, they probably ought to start on Hezbollah.

11 posted on 01/01/2009 5:06:08 PM PST by Old Student (We have a name for the people who think indiscriminate killing is fine. They're called "The Bad Guys)
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To: Old Student

On Fox today, Sat., one can watch the invasion start of Gaza. Hopefully, the cowardly Hamas villains will not just hide in the homes of civilians, (but they always do so the media can punish Israel) and will try to fight. More of them can be erased if they do. Mosques should be pulverized since they are filled with munitions in the City itself. Feb. 10, my nativity, is the day of Israeli elections and BIBI should win easily. Good news for the USA even if Obama doesn’t know or understand it.


12 posted on 01/03/2009 10:56:39 AM PST by phillyfanatic ( iT)
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To: phillyfanatic
“Hopefully, the cowardly Hamas villains will not just hide in the homes of civilians, (but they always do so the media can punish Israel) and will try to fight. More of them can be erased if they do. Mosques should be pulverized since they are filled with munitions in the City itself.”

They “seek” death, but only for others, as I see it. Better for death to seek them.

“Feb. 10, my nativity, is the day of Israeli elections and BIBI should win easily.”

I don't know that much about Israeli politics, but it seems to me he didn't do all that much last time. Why will this time be different? Does he have a better coalition, or a much larger majority? I'm thinking he will need both if he really wants to fight, and I'm afraid that Israel NEEDS a leader who will fight.

Or is it just that Mumbai showed some of Israel's peaceniks that they have been deluding themselves?

13 posted on 01/03/2009 7:15:35 PM PST by Old Student (We have a name for the people who think indiscriminate killing is fine. They're called "The Bad Guys)
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To: Old Student

His coalition is much stronger in Likud this time round. He has the support of the religious parties and that is important. He will pick a tough defense minister and I would not be surprised that if Obama tries to intervene that he strikes the Iranian nuclear facilities. In fact, it could be done before the Jan. 20 Inaug. since Dems always favor the Pals. But, not likely with this offensive going on.


14 posted on 01/04/2009 8:19:03 AM PST by phillyfanatic ( iT)
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