It may be that I was the last to know but a state of war has broken out in the Middle East. Hezbollah, the long time client of Iran, captured Israeli soldiers patrolling Israel's northern border with Lebanon. For some reason, the soldiers were out there without additional support. This is not the usual state of things because the Israelis know their soldiers will be attacked.

Some people here at TPMCafe may believe this was a deliberate tactic. Israel wanted an excuse to attack so they put soldiers out there to be vulnerable. I disagree strenuously. If the Israelis wanted to launch an assault, they have had plenty of other provocations. If they were using the soldiers for bait, I would think they'd wait for Hezbollah to make a move and then move in with guns blazing. Honestly, I do not believe that Israel needed another provocation. The IDF has an obligation to defend its soldiers and Israeli citizens. Hezbollah attacks both regularly.

I wanted to make my opinion on Israel's rights and obligations clear before going on. This post is likely to draw flames and trolls anyway but I want to be in the right. Israel's response has been horrifying from thousands of miles away. Like the United States, Israel has military might that completely outclasses all its neighbors. When one has such an advantage, one has an obligation to use it carefully. I hoped for hours that the reports of attacks on civilian targets were propaganda.

Unfortunately, they seem to be legitimate. An ally of the United States has been killing women and children to get at the enemy. Sometimes, this is what you have to do but it seems Israel has crossed a line. It's difficult to express my revulsion at their tactics. I expected Israel to follow the same high standards that are expected of American soldiers. According to this New York Times article, Israel warned a village to evacuate and then attacked the evacuation convoy. How are we supposed to not label that a war crime?

In the civilized world, one has difficulty attacking a guerilla enemy. They hide among the people and civilized armies do not simply attack the civilians hoping that God will sort them out. (I am not quoting any modern person there. I cannot remember who said this but it was not in reference to the Middle East much less Israel.) That gives the guerilla army an advantage but civilized people live with that. The individuals who break this rule are not always morally culpable but the actions are still wrong.

That's the moral argument but there's also a practical issue. By attacking cities and villages, the Israelis are giving their enemies a propaganda victory. It is said that the American army creates two insurgents for every one it kills in Iraq. I believe that the ratio would be even worse for Israel. I went to pre-school at my local Jewish Community Center and so I have strong ingrained positive beliefs about Israel. Even I am angered at their tactics and have been for some time.

Recently, I've written some of my favorite political webloggers about the Middle East hoping they would do a post on my thoughts. We all know what a just peace would look like in the Middle East. Israel would retreat to its 1967 borders with the exception of a few tradeoffs here and there for established settlements. A fund would be established to compensate Palestinian refugees for the loss of ancestral homes.

The Palestinians would give up the literal right of return in favor of cash and help in making their own settlements. After all, two wrongs do not make a right and the Israelis living in these places are not the ones who committed the alleged crimes against the Palestinians. Instead of these refugee camps, international help would build real cities and towns with reliable access to water. Jerusalem would be split with a neutral party taking care of the various holy sites and ensuring nothing is done to restrict access or harm them.

Of course, this likely will not happen in our lifetimes. There is too much hate for rational minds to overcome. (I mean the rational minds within the haters too.) In 2000, it seemed that peace was inevitable. After all, commerce was established and people seemed more interested in trade than killing. I know I cannot truly understand what either side has gone through but it galls me. We know what the end will look like but no one will accept it.