General Sherman first uttered the memorable quote; "War is hell." While everyone remembers the short version, here's the rest of it: "War is hell. War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over."
His assessment is as chillingly true today as it was in the civil war, as it was over the history of wars across the ages. There's nothing even remotely human about what happens in wars; just barbarity, butchering and blood-letting.
As a long-time Peter, Paul and Mary fan, their song "No Man's Land" summarized it all in their chorus:
"Well I can't help but wonder now, Willie McBride
Do all those who lie here know just why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did you really believe this war would end all wars?
But the suffering the sorrow the glory the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain
For William McBride it's all happened again
And again and again and again and again."
It is the sad and tragic story of human's failing to understand starting a fight they cannot and never will win is fool-hearty. No one ever does win, death just keeps on keeping on. That said, Hamas has asked for this and the Israelis are giving them what they asked for. Again and again and again.
Thanks for "The War Prayer". I had never read it before. Samuel Clemens was a great writer. His books and short stories were the basis for a lot of my seventh-grade class time. My teacher used it as a lead-in to her talks about the evils of segregation which she hated. To say that was unusual in northeast Georgia in 1952 would be a gross understatement. If she was criticized for her views, it did not faze her. She continued to teach seventh grade her way until she retired.
The Gaza death toll is unfortunate. I agree that Israel is probably not doing all it can to reduce civilian casualties. I can't agree that keeping the casualties "as low as possible" is Israel's responsibility unless you're saying they should not pursue the war. There seems to be no way to free the hostages and deny Hamas the tunnels, the launch sites and the human shields without doing a lot of damage to the civilian population that largely supports Hamas. After wreaking a lot of havoc, Israel is probably at the point they could flood the tunnels almost certainly killing some hostages and other innocents. I hate to say so, but that might be the best option. Israel could then spend years tracking down the main villains who already have replacements waiting in the wings.
One thing to note: many American Jews - typically on the left - have been saying for years that criticism of Israel for political actions is not inherently anti-Semitic.
Believe you got down to the heart of the matter.
General Sherman first uttered the memorable quote; "War is hell." While everyone remembers the short version, here's the rest of it: "War is hell. War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over."
His assessment is as chillingly true today as it was in the civil war, as it was over the history of wars across the ages. There's nothing even remotely human about what happens in wars; just barbarity, butchering and blood-letting.
As a long-time Peter, Paul and Mary fan, their song "No Man's Land" summarized it all in their chorus:
"Well I can't help but wonder now, Willie McBride
Do all those who lie here know just why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did you really believe this war would end all wars?
But the suffering the sorrow the glory the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain
For William McBride it's all happened again
And again and again and again and again."
It is the sad and tragic story of human's failing to understand starting a fight they cannot and never will win is fool-hearty. No one ever does win, death just keeps on keeping on. That said, Hamas has asked for this and the Israelis are giving them what they asked for. Again and again and again.
Thanks for "The War Prayer". I had never read it before. Samuel Clemens was a great writer. His books and short stories were the basis for a lot of my seventh-grade class time. My teacher used it as a lead-in to her talks about the evils of segregation which she hated. To say that was unusual in northeast Georgia in 1952 would be a gross understatement. If she was criticized for her views, it did not faze her. She continued to teach seventh grade her way until she retired.
The Gaza death toll is unfortunate. I agree that Israel is probably not doing all it can to reduce civilian casualties. I can't agree that keeping the casualties "as low as possible" is Israel's responsibility unless you're saying they should not pursue the war. There seems to be no way to free the hostages and deny Hamas the tunnels, the launch sites and the human shields without doing a lot of damage to the civilian population that largely supports Hamas. After wreaking a lot of havoc, Israel is probably at the point they could flood the tunnels almost certainly killing some hostages and other innocents. I hate to say so, but that might be the best option. Israel could then spend years tracking down the main villains who already have replacements waiting in the wings.
Defining “as low as possible” is itself an exercise in devilry. And there is no best option, only a buffet of least worse ones.
One thing to note: many American Jews - typically on the left - have been saying for years that criticism of Israel for political actions is not inherently anti-Semitic.
You haven't said what else Israel can do, though, unless you mean that it CAN'T do more without unacceptable consequences to its own safety.
I don't know and I wish I knew. But pretending the problem doesn't exist is not the answer.