Israel Blamed for Defending Itself

New York-based Human Rights Watch (an ironic name) claims that Israel
committed war crimes during the latest offensive in Gaza. The basis for the claim:

Israel used disproportionate force and deliberately targeted
civilians...

And

...Gaza's only flour mill was severely damaged by Israeli fire

Many in the West believe that Israel has no right to defend itself. The Gaza offensive was only begun after years of rocket attacks from Hamas. Human Rights Watch and the UN are insisting on an investigation but, fortunately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives no indication that he will cooperate. But the fact remains that modern altruist philosophy embraces the "proportionality" of warfare. This has been evident in the way that Bush and Obama have been fighting the war on "terror", endangering American soldiers to spare civilians in enemy territory. Israel should be heralded for its decision to fight back against Hamas despite strong condemnation from the West, and should develop a greater commitment to protecting its people by any means necessary. Which in practice would mean the utter devastation of its enemies, even if that means the civilians whose efforts go to support actual combatants. Therefore, destroying a flour mill (and killing those inside of it) is a legitimate tactic as it attempts to remove the sustenance the enemy requires to continue fighting. Geneva Convention be damned. To paraphrase Ayn Rand, all blood shed in war is on the hands of the aggressor.

Also making news today was Iranian advancement in their attempt to enrich uranium for use in a nuclear weapon. This bodes ominously for Israel, since they have for years been the bane of the Islamic world and would be a likely first target. But the West will do nothing to help, instead trying to make deals with the regime:

Obama said Iran appears to have spurned his offer of engagement and appear to be continuing to pursue a course that would lead to nuclear weapons. Earlier, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believed the U.N. should slap new sanctions on Iran in "weeks, not months," according to his spokesman. France and the U.S. said Monday Iran's action left no choice but to push harder for a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions to punish Iran's nuclear defiance.

Fourth set? The first three have worked wonders. The tests that were conducted by Iranian scientists to enrich uranium to weapons grade levels were witnessed by UN inspectors. Iran submits to UN scrutiny and flaunts there defiance in its face. And now they think more talk is the answer:

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, meanwhile, said Tuesday that Germany is "very concerned about the developments in Iran," and that "if Iran insists on refusing to join negotiations, talks at the United Nations will be unavoidable and we will then have to talk about new measures."

Another plan cooked up was for Iran to turn over its raw uranium to Western counties who would enrich it and return it to Iran. Our leaders have committed to suicidal policies. No amount of engagement, sanctions or other feel good rhetoric is going to stop the regime:

On Tuesday, the spokesman of Iran's Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast said any plan by the West to impose new Security Council resolutions would not be helpful. "If they attempt another resolution, they are making a mistake. It is not helpful in resolving the nuclear dispute between Iran and the West," he said. "They are completely wrong if they think our people will back down even a single step."

They only understand one thing: force. And it is force that we should show them. Iran has too long been granted legitimacy by the West. Western leaders can't even bring themselves to openly support the growing unrest in the Iranian populace that rejects the theocratic regime.

Since our leaders don't have the backbone to actually do something about Iran, we can only hope that Israel does.