SHOW RESTRAINT

War and Rumors of War

I unequivocally condemn Hamas’ brutality, and I am horrified by the bloodshed left in its wake, and deeply mourn the loss of innocent lives. The horror of these attacks beggars the imagination and can only be described as pure evil and acts of terrorism.

There is no moral equivalency between what Hamas did and what Israel is doing to defend herself. I completely support Israel’s right to defend herself, but she must do so in accordance with international law. I agree with the concerns expressed by international human rights organizations who are worried about civilian casualties in the war.

The U.S. and its allies have a moral obligation to uphold the laws of war and abide by the Geneva Conventions.

Palestinian civilians are not Hamas and had nothing to do with the shocking attacks. The United States must work to ensure innocent residents of Gaza are not indiscriminately punished for the actions of terrorists. The intentional attack on civilian populations is nothing less than a war crime.

War and Rumors of War

Lessons from History

(Image: Getty Images/stock photo)

Once we are through with the 1619 project perhaps, we could move on to the Vietnam War Project.

While we are at it and are stressing over our fighting a proxy war with Russia and fearing the possibility of a nuclear confrontation let us remember that we (the USA) are the only country in history to drop an atomic bomb on another country. And it was we who let the nuclear genie out of the bottle in the first place. One can only hope that we don’t inherit the wind.

And let us not forget we fire-bombed Tokyo, another civilian target, nearly burning that city to the ground. Robert Macnamara, the Secretary of Defense at that time, is quoted as saying that if we had lost the war he would surely have been tried as a war criminal.

This is not to say that we should not condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its merciless targeting of civilians, but as the saying goes, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. There is a reason we are not signatories to the International Criminal Court.

We can do better and we are doing better I think, but let us not forget from whence we came for he who forgets the lessons of history is forever bound to repeat them. Rather, let us be a beacon of hope to those who love freedom and a keeper of the eternal flame of remembrance for those who have fought and died in war.