Awareness

  Looking beyond the news. It's something that has become apparent to me that few people are doing. It's the only explanation I can provide for ignorance. Ignorance, by definition, is the lack of knowledge. Oh, you can be passionately ignorant, no doubt about that, the evidence of that is on many of our college and universities campuses. That's the reason we are seeing the protests that we do. The sentiment is real, but the facts are conflated. I'm thinking of course of this notion that all Palestinians are just innocent bystanders in this war. And yes, the powers that be may call it a conflict, or any number of other generic names, but it is a war. Those fighting and those losing their loved ones in the fighting will tell you that it is a war. I'm old enough to remember when Korea was called a conflict, later a war. Vietnam was a police action, a conflict, and later a war. The truth is all of them were wars from day one. But that isn't what the media was reporting. 

 You have to look beyond the news to learn the reality of the situation and indeed, the motives behind that reality. In Korea it was the fear of the spread of communism. The possibility of China, Russia and Korea uniting to form an even larger communist block was something that could not be allowed to take place. North Korea invaded South Korea. Their objective was to take control of the land. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? That's what happened in Vietnam as well. The United States and others had signed a pact to "help" that nation in the event of attack. The attack happened and we were obligated to respond. Initially we sent advisors. Does that sound familiar? It should we have been actively engaged in sending advisors to just about every spot in the world. Currently we have close to 200,000 military personal serving abroad. Two hundred thousand! And what are they doing? Protecting our freedom is what the media will tell you. Serving as a deterrent to aggression. Supporting our allies. Protecting our interests abroad. All noble sounding causes. Is that the reality? 

  On the news, on campuses and in the streets of America there are many protesting the loss of life in Palestine. But where is Palestine? That is a question the experts stumble to answer. Google it if you have doubts and you will quickly see what I mean. There is no way someone like me can begin to get a grasp on that. It would take years of study just to arrive at an informed disagreement. So okay, we are talking about the Gaza strip. Is that Palestine? Well, it is, and it isn't. Technically it is a Palestinian territory, the west bank being another Palestinian territory. Gaza, now controlled by Hamas attacked Israel. Depending upon whom you listen to Hamas is either a terrorist organization or a bunch of freedom fighters. Does any of that sound familiar? It should, it's the same old story. Somewhat like a Stephen King horror novel, same story different characters. 

  The issue being protested is the loss of innocent lives. Israel is being accused of war crimes. Those making the accusations seem to have forgotten it was Hamas that attacked Isael, took over two hundred hostages, maimed an unknown number of civilians and killed fourteen hundred people! But that isn't a war crime? Well, it comes down to "who started it?" The blockade of the Gaza strip by Israel in defense of their nation is sometimes cited as the root cause. The Palestinians in the Gaza strip are justified in attacking and killing Israeli citizens. The taking of innocent lives was necessary. That's what the "freedom fighters" would have you believe. Those not directly involved in the battle are the ones protesting, proclaiming what a crime that is. My question to those protestors is what would you have the Israelis do? Should they ask for ID from those in Gaza to identify the combatants. 

  It's a problem as old as war itself. It's still debated today. Was the United States justified in the bombing of those Japanese cities? It certainly brought a speedy end to the war and saved thousands of lives in the big picture. It also killed somewhere between 129,000 to 239,000 people; most were civilians. It did bring an end to the Imperial Japanese military organization and government. What other choice could have been made? Would a prolonged fight possibly lasting for years have been better? 

  There were no signs the Japanese were ever going to surrender. Are there signs that Hamas intends to surrender? Are the Israelis to simply set back and wait patiently for Hamas to negotiate a truce? Why would they do that if they still possess the ability to fight, to cause harm? Do the strong surrender? No, the answer is no. They may retreat, seek a safe shelter but they won't quit. They will just rebuild, regain their strength and repeat. Evil takes no holiday! The fight is against Hamas, not Palestine. Know what you are protesting! Hamas must be defeated at any cost. That's the reality.

  All wars have been protested. There were those protesting the American revolution. There were those protesting the draft in the civil war. There were those protesting our entry into WW1. We only entered WW2 because the Japanese attacked Pearl. We would have gotten involved at any rate is my thinking but the Japanese provided the incentive. They did that by attacking us, taking innocent lives. They needed to be defeated! Sound familiar? It should. 

  It would be great if we could fight a war without the loss of life, either by the combatants or non-combatants. If those in combat simply asked for permission to harm the other person first, you know, be polite about it all. Maybe we should just require the combatants to wear a ribbon, you know a signal to others. What color should it be? Currently there are sixty-five recognized "awareness" ribbons being displayed, although not everyone knows what they are. We would need to select a color or combination of colors to signify I'm a combatant and will kill you if I can. It would also mean you are free to kill me first, if you can. No ribbon and you are safe! Until that happens how are we know? We don't and that, that is a war.