[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Link: I'm willing to say it again Yorick: why not point the, or if you would prefer a less direct approach a finger at Israel? The fact that Skunk has a preferation for naming Israel as a state with WOMD in comparison to Iraq or whatever state doesn't mean that NO FINGER AT ALL should be pointed in the direction of Israel.

Why point "no finger at all" towards Israel? An earlier post by Mouse gives a justification for that...

Originally posted by Mouse: Just to bring a bit of clarity to the issue of WMD's, you might like to take a gander here. It would seem to be in terms of realpolitik it's really no problem for a state to possess WMD's (or the capability to produce them) just so long as it's not a rogue state. Now, would someone care to explain how the international community should define what exactly constitutes a rogue state?

As his post (and link) point out, possession of WMD's is not really a problem in and of itself. It only becomes a problem when there is a reason to believe the nation possessing the WMD's will actually use them in a preemptive (or even a retaliatory) strike.

In other words, just having WMD's isn't a problem...unless other nations suddenly think there is a good possibility you're going to use them in a conflict.

It is irrefutable that Israel is NOT the only country in the Middle East that owns WMD. It is also irrefutable that Israel has proven they have NO INTENTION of actually USING their WMD's on their enemies - otherwise, they would have done so LOOOOOONG ago.

The burr that gets under my saddle when people "point fingers" at Israel is because they completely ignore the actions of the Palestinians and other Arab nations towards Israel. Sharon was universally condemned for ordering the attack on a Palestinian leader as he came out of church. The fact that this man was responsible for ordering, directing, and constantly encouraging continued suicide attacks against innocent citizen in Israel was completely ignored. That would be like America or the Brits succeeding in killing Hitler in WWII, only to recieve condemnation for the act from other countries that are not being attacked by the German army and whose citizens aren't being slaughtered in his Concetration Camps. The man killed by Israel (whose name I admittedly can't remember) was responsible for an untold number of innocent Israeli deaths - yet Sharon is ostracized for taking steps to eliminate this constant threat to his people.

shamrock_uk mentioned earlier that my perspective would probably be different if I lived in Palestine. I agree that it undoubtedly would. But now I ask each of you to consider the perspective an ordinary citizen of Israel.

It's a frightening day in your home, because you're low on food and need to go to the market. The prospect is frightening because there is a very real chance you could be killed or maimed by a bomb worn by a suicide bomber. It might be in a car near the market or he might climb on the bus you are riding to get there. Or he may just be walking down the street until he gets to an area with a large enough crowd. Then he will gladly pull the detonation cord on his bomb, killing himself instantly. But his own death doesn't matter (in fact, his religous beliefs tell him that his actions will assure him of favor in Allah's sight and of eternal bliss in Heaven). The only thing that matters is that he kill as many people as possible with his bomb. The fact that he is deliberately attacking innocent civilians (rather than military targets or personnel) is of no consequence. In fact, it helps assure that he will be able to target a larger group of people - and since ALL Israeli's are "the enemy", it doesn't matter that he is killing civilians who don't have the means to stop or harm him, even if they wanted to.

Now just imagine - if you can - what it must feel like to live with this reality every single day of your life. Any trip outside of your home could be potentially fatal, not just for you, but for your family as well. Your children could be killed riding the bus to school. Your sister, brother, cousins, uncle or aunt could also be killed. The phone could ring at any given moment informing you that a member of your family has been brutally injured or killed by a suicide bomber. And there is no sign of these terrorist attacks ever ending. There is no reason to even hope they will stop any time in the near future. Even though you have never taken up arms against a Palestinian, there is still a very good chance that you will die today due to the hatred ALL Palestinians feel towards you and your people.

Given this type of existence, don't you think you would fully endorse your government taking any means necessary to make the streets safe again? Do you think that you would not only support - but would actually DEMAND - that your government officials use your country's military to WIPE OUT the threat these terrorists represent? Do you think you would finally reach a point where you feel it is either "us or them"? And the obvious choice to that equation is "them".