The mentality of CIVILIAN TARGETING must be eradicated

I have seen a disgusting statement frequently being written in the comments section of blogs that says: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". I wonder how many would view as freedom fighters those who would blow up planes in mid-air when one of their loved ones is on the flight. Picture your mother and your sister flying back from a trip to London. They have had a wonderful time seeing the rich history, wonderful London sights and the beautiful English countryside. While you wish you could have gone, you were not able to afford the trip but you are happy they could enjoy it. They get on the flight laughing and talking about their favorite parts of the journey. When the flight reaches maximum altitude, they are just dosing off to sleep when a terrorist sets off a bomb that rips a hole in the side of the aircraft depressurizing the cabin. Your mother and sister are swept through the hole and gone forever. They harmed nobody, they were not involved in the Middle-East conflict and they were definitely not part of any military.

An analogy I gave my kids when growing up is walking through an untrod field. In Illinois where I live we have fields where the grassy vegetation grows up to our chests. In a virgin field it takes quite an effort to walk through one, pushing the grass down as you go. The next trip through is a little easier but it still takes effort. Finally after enough trips a hardened path is created and nothing will easily grow there while the traffic continues. The world body in their hatred of the US and Israel has allowed this path to form where the TARGETED taking of innocent civilian life by random opportunity to become acceptable behavior.

The stance of the world body must be that this terrorist activity is unacceptable under ANY and ALL circumstances. Even the least of this behavior must be met with strong retribution against those who do this and those who support it from a financial or authoritative standpoint. No excuse for such activity can be acceptable. At no time can such activity be met with ambivalence or apathy. The inconsistent and ineffective leadership of Kofi Annan is a perfect example the UN being a part of the problem. Kofi slams Israel for a rocket hitting a UN post where an eyewitness tells of Hezbollah firing next to it to draw the fire. Yet when a Hezbollah rocket hits a UN post, Kofi has no words of rebuke at all.

The foiling of the plot in the UK actually risks an apathetic viewpoint by the world. One would think that that attacks of 9-11, Bali, Spain, the London Subway and others would be enough to forever know that this mentality must be met aggressively without pause or yielding. Yet there have been no successful terrorist attacks in the US or the UK since. Memories grow short. People begin to be distracted with other things. Another successful attack might wake people up in the short term, but soon they will begin to yawn again. It takes diligence, courage and focus to remain on permanent guard. The leadership in the world and the blurring of facts in the media sway people from this. Slowly, but surely the path is being created and hardened that CIVILIAN TARGETING is an acceptable practice.

Of course when this "acceptable practice" comes to the doorstep of you and me, at some point it will no longer be acceptable. In a final analogy look to the forest fire. In old forests the dead and dry growth accumulates and becomes a time bomb. A lightning strike will set off the "powder keg" and start a blaze that will destroy many thousands of acres of forest. This is what will happen in the world if they appease this mentality until it hits the right point. People will take so much and no more. All thoughts of appeasement, tolerance and understanding will be out the window and the wrath of the West will be unleashed with far less control than desired. Today forest rangers practice a controlled burn. By safely burning off the dry kindling, the whole forest can be saved. The world body needs to do a controlled burn to eradicate this mentality. While they can try diplomacy, it is obvious that this mentality does not react well to diplomacy. In fact it is encouraged by it, because it is viewed as weakness. So what are you going to do? Encourage the "powder keg"? Nothing? Or particpate in the controlled burn?