RJ:
Quote:
"This is because Kathyushas carry thousands of metal pellets, nuts, nails, screws and bolts, and sharpened slivers of metal"
The amount varies. Lighter loads travel farther. The ones loaded to the hilt are short range missiles.
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it's all relative, in't it? With the enormous expanses Americans become used to, is 55 km (about 37 miles?) 'short range' or 'long range' ?
One monstrosa that landed just beyond the backyard of one of the places I was in (and which is about 55km from the border and <u>by Israeli scales of distance, considered really quite far from the border !</u>) was 4meters long. We were lucky. It did a perfect nose dive into a soft, recently turned agricultural field which is why, I was informed, we were spared it spewing its contents everywhere. I wish I could post the pic of the guys bringing it in so the IDF could deal with it.... very much a 'whew' moment. Three that flew so low (a few moments later) over us that we could almost touch them, having no advance warning that we ought to scoot, ripped out the road and some neighbor's homes....shredded them to bits.
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Kevin - "all right" is relative too. Is it better to be alive and badly maimed for life, or.... no, everyone I mentioned or know is not all right at all, but that's another issue.
Nor did I imply you made any statement specifically about Katyushas but that your statement referenced 'six years' and 'waiting'.
As for separating re loss of life: I will keep my points relative to the current discussion, concerning Israel: I am just tremendously saddened by the continued warring and refusal by Israel's near and far neighbors, to accept Israel's right to exist.
If (to paraphrase what has been noted on this thread in various forms) it is clear to all that it's not
really worth messing with Israel, then why is it not clear that the way to "not mess" is to clear up the dispute through negotiation and release of old-time hatred? (You may recall tht Israel's concessions re the Oslo accords was far from being just lip service, but those too were rejected, and instead, a new and more severe intifada was the 'reward' / result).
But that brings us back to square one: the hatred exists, and has for centuries, and hate-mongers have waged war, and have for centuries, whether by persecution during periods when Jews did not formally live in the area known since Biblical times as Israel, or whether by direct war since '48 and war-mongering forays (fedayeen) pre-'48. Even recently, the PA used UN funding to produce textbooks for school children, blatantly teaching hatred; and set up 'summer capmps' where youngsters were taught to use guns.
I am sorry, then, that the powers that drive dispute which in turn drives war, are not in turn sufficiently sorry themselves over the loss of life.
And the cycle continues.... the only loss of life I can truly accept, in a nonetheless not entirely accepting way, is loss incurred in self defense. So, if the Israelis recently captured were to escape by killing their captors, yes, that would be entirely acceptable. When a plane load of innocent travelers was hijacked to Entebbe and their release involved the death of certain terrorist-hijackers, I consider that in the range of acceptable. It falls into the sphere of self defense (unprovoked, you attacked me; ipso facto I am entitled to release myself in whatever way ensures I stay alive).
We all have the same drive to live, and right to live. Jordan and Egypt understood that their citizens have a right to live, and more importantly, the way to keep their finances directed toward betterment of 'home' is to simply accept that Israel exists, has a right to exist, that borders sometimes move, adapt, but that in general they are not going to gain, in the loooooooong run, by constant attack.
In fact, Jordan especially gained tremendously by fast turnover trade with Israel, including huge numbers of Israelis visiting there; Egypt also enjoyed such conditions until it made clear to Israelis that wandering its cities is highly dangerous and no protection will be offered; but Sinai is still a huge attraction, despite a couple of horrific terror attacks over the last few years.
And as a final note: I cannot fix humans who use their brainpower, superior to that of the animal kingdom, for behaving the way they do, but I keep in mind these two instances: when the Hebrews were led out of Egypt, their persecutors drowned while trying to follow, we are told. When Miriam breaks out in song, it is not to rejoice the deaths of the enemy but to celebrate the fact that the Israelites survived.
Similarly, much later, in Greater Persia, King Ahasuerus decreed that on a specific day, in accordance with advice received by his trusted advisors, all Jews in the kingdom were to be annihilated. When Jews celebrate the festival of Purim, it is not to celebrate the fact that a certain number of the enemy was killed (even though those deaths occured in self defence, by virtue of a second royal decree allowing the Jews to take up arms in defense) but that the people as a whole survived. These two examples are representative of my approach, too, in regard of your question.
and now it is September 11th, a day on which Americans were attacked, simply for being America. May widsom penetrate the minds of all humans, overcoming ego, and may there be a speedy end to all such sorrows. Sorry for the lengthy meander....
[This message has been edited by Seree Zohar (edited September 11, 2006).]