By MARC BONEM
Los Alamos
We are coming up on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was a surprise attack with little or no warning. However, the Empire of Japan specifically and precisely attacked military, not civilian targets. Nor did they did not take any hostages.
After the declaration of war, no one complained. No one asked for a cease-fire. Instead, our leaders decided to fight until the enemy was vanquished.  And this we did. Were there horrible civilian casualties from our aerial bombing? Unfortunately, yes. Did it save lives in the long run? Yes, on both sides. After 70 years, perhaps the best we can say about that war is that it brought about a lasting peace. Japan, now a solid democracy, is our firm and trusted ally.
When VietNam invaded Cambodia to rid the country of the murderous Khmer Rouge in 1979, no one complained. No one asked for a cease fire. The Vietnamese drove out the Khmer Rouge and established a government to their liking. Maybe not our most hoped for outcome, but the region has seen peace since then.
Now, there is a war in the middle east. It started with a surprise attack – on civilian targets. Civilians, including United States citizens, were captured and are still being held as hostages. The architects of this war, Hamas, does not represent the Palestinian people any more than Pol Pot represented the Cambodians. Yet, people complain. They ask for a cease fire.
If anyone doubts that Hamas is a terrorist organization or what their intentions are, please watch this interview (Below) or Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a co-founder of Hamas.
The upshot is that it is virtually impossible that there can be any peace in the Middle East as long as Hamas exists.
Israel, like the United States in World War II, must defeat Hamas to create the possibility of peace.  Israel, like the Vietnamese in 1979, must drive out a corrupt and murderous government of a neighboring state to create the possibility of peace. The United States (that’s us) must support Israel and the Palestinian PEOPLE to create the possibility of peace.
