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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/01/AR2009010101780.html
Moral Clarity in Gaza
[Washington Post] Charles Krauthammer - Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity not only rare but excruciating. Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemy noncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger. Today in Gaza, one combatant is committed to causing the most civilian pain and suffering on both sides. The other combatant is committed to saving as many lives as possible - also on both sides. Israel has but a single objective in Gaza - peace: the calm, open, normal relations it offered Gaza when it withdrew in 2005. Doing something never done by Turkish, British, Egyptian and Jordanian rulers, the Israelis gave the Palestinians their first sovereign territory ever in Gaza. Gaza's Iranian-sponsored rulers turned it into a terror base - firing rockets unceasingly. Since Hamas' raison d'etre is the eradication of Israel, there are only two possible outcomes: the defeat of Hamas or the extinction of Israel.