The madness of proportionality

I cannot believe how much play this concept of proportionality (or lack of it on Israel's side) has had during this conflict. It is really the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. The concept that during a conflict such as this, that one side should be bogged down with whether they are being too effective against the enemy, is mind-boggling.

When I was in high school playing basketball we were not the best team. We were lucky to win half the games in the season. Once we played a team that was far worse than us. When it became obvious that we were going to cream them, the second string was put in to play. We still did much better than their team and the score was quite high against them. During those years I recall we played a team that was far better than us. They did not worry about how badly they were beating us. Rather, they seemed to be shooting for a record high score. Finally, in a more current game where one of the teams in my son's school was playing, we had moved ahead by about 25 points. We put in our second string and when the score got closer, we put the starters back in. Suddenly the other team had a lucky streak and nearly beat us.

The point is that in sports proportionality is an option. It sometimes seems like a good option, but as you see it can come back to bite you. In war, however, the concept is so beyond the pale of being silly that I am shocked that it has even passed the lips of world leaders. The idea in war is to win. The swifter the win, the better. To hold back in any way is to risk the lives of your own soldiers. To look at a body count and determine that today you should relax and not be so aggressive is foolish. Why should even one of your soldiers die because the enemy was given a chance to regroup.

In a final analogy, how would it turn out if two were arm wrestling proportionately? It would keep going and going and going. The same is in war. If Israel fights proportionately, this conflict will keep going and going and going. Y0u can only ever win anything by disproportionately engaging your opponent. That is what Israel is doing.

There is also talk of disproportionate civilian casualties. Because Israel is invading Lebanon and because Israel has actually prepared bomb shelters for their civilians, of course the Lebanese civilian casualties will be higher. How many liberals were criticizing the US government over the timing and methods used to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon? Yet we do not hear one word over how the Lebanese government is completely failing at moving their people to safety. Hezbollah continues its tactics of hiding behind the skirts of the UN, women and children. So when Israel targets known Hezbollah hot spots and the civilians they are hiding with get killed who is blamed? None of the appeasers and Israel haters are blaming Hezbollah. None are criticizing the Lebaneze government. The fact is that every time Hezbollah hides among the civilian population, the blood of their dead civilians falls on their heads.

A final word on disproportion: if the attack from Israel is so disproportionate, why is not Hezbollah surrendering by now? The goal of Israel is either the destruction or surrender of Hezbollah. Yet the amount of force they have used thus far has not been enough to enable that end. Why then should the world body expect them to use less? Israel did what the world asked in giving back land. Land for peace was a bill of goods not worth the paper written on it. Instead the enemy got closer and attacked from there. When Israel instead of responding built a wall of protection, the world body criticized that. With "three" arms handcuffed, Israel still did what was asked of them and still they were attacked. Talk about disproportion. The response of Israel was not simply the capture of a couple of soldiers. It was a response to being attacked even after all they did to cooperate in hope of peace.

The next word cropping up from the media is "provoked". The claim is that Israel was provoking Hamas and Hezbollah to send suicide bombers, rockets and kidnappers. In other words "the devil made me do it" is the excuse for targeting innocent civilians. In a rational world that would not fly. However, the world body is not rational. They have chosen sides in their hatred of Israel and all reasoning dribbles from that premise.