Jan 04 2009
Israel uses disproportionate force. Solution? Use exactly the same force.
Critics of Israel call this “disproportionate force.”
They like to cite casualty figures as proof that Israel’s response to Hamas rocket attacks is excessive. One hears things like “look how many Palestinians died compared to how many Israelis died.”
It should be obvious that the reason so many more Palestinians have died is that they are more densely populated around Hamas targets than most Israelis are to rocket impact areas. And that is because Hamas simply can’t shoot well, and the Israelis can. After all, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets into Israel. It’s not really Israel’s fault they didn’t kill more people, is it?
In effect, Israel is being penalized in public opinion simply for winning. This is a common theme among liberals, even though this is a lot like claiming that the team that wins the game by outscoring their opponent is using excessive skill.
There is a solution, however. Israel could always use literally “proportionate force.”
Let’s use a suicide bombing as an example.
The next time a bomb goes off in a crowded Israeli market place, killing and injuring dozens of Israelis, Israel should not bomb Hamas targets. They should not go after the terror cell that did the bombing. Doing so would result in disproportionate force and “innocent” Palestinians could die.
Israel should instead simply round up the exact number and composition (sex, age, etc.) of people from a Palestinian market place. The number of dead Israelis would be matched by the exact same number of Palestinians, and then blown up with a similar bomb. The same number of wounded would also be recreated, and buildings damaged. Then the Israelis could leave the bodies, body parts, blood, debris, and screaming wounded in the Palestinian market. To make it properly proportionate, a second bomb could be detonated to catch rescue personnel. This is what Palestinian bombers do on a regular basis. Then the Israelis would simply call it even and leave.
There is your “proportionate force”in action. Does anyone really believe that if Israel did this it would be okay with the people now screaming about Israel’s current response? After all, this would result in a one-for-one casualty rate, which seems to be the only thing the Hamas sympathizers consider “fair.”
It really doesn’t seem likely, does it?

The Israelis are only saying “We’re sick of being your punching bag and we’re not taking it anymore!” to Hamas. Hamas has consistently attacked Israeli citizens for years - where are all the people crying out against that? Hamas is the only one to blame for the current death toll - Israel is simply defending itself. I just blogged about this earlier - http://beprepared.today.com
The media portrayal of Israel is down right sinister. A people deserve to be able to protect themselves from constant shelling. Imagine living in New York City and bomb sirens keep going off. Imagine being able to hear bombs whistling in from New Jersey with no guidance system falling helpelssly on civilians on 5th Avenue while they are shopping. Imagine being able to hear the sounds of bombs hitting somewhere in the not to far away area while police, rescue, ambulance, and fire truck sirens are blaring to get to the area.
There is no such thing as disproportionate force in war. You are supposed to try to destroy the enemy.