Both Hamas and the Israeli government bear some of the blame, but the Israeli slaughter of civilians far exceeds that inflicted by the ragtag rockets fired from Gaza.
The craven response by the American political class to the use of American planes and weapons to slaughter civilians is what any reasonable cynic should have expected. Obama is maintaining his silence – perhaps because there is little hay to be made from victims outside of Darfur.
This conflict may be even more ludicrous than the typical Mideast carnage. The New York Times, in a front page story headlined, “Israel Reminds Foe It Has Teeth,†noted, “Israel’s military operation in Gaza aims to expunge the ghost of its flawed 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and re-establish Israeli deterrence.â€
“Teeth�
Blasting the hell out of an overcrowded prison-like slab of land that has no anti-aircraft defenses? This is the New Macho??
Whom does Israel think that this will deter? Other groups of hungry and discontent convicts throughout Eurasia?
For Israel to “flaunt its strength†by using airstrikes against Gaza would be like the Bush administration seeking to regain its military swagger after Iraq by having the U.S. Air Force blast the hell out of a few Indian reservations in Arizona.