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Source: http://www.opinionjournal.com/
Arithmetic of Pain
[Wall Street Journal, 19Jul06] Alan M. Dershowitz - There is no democracy in the world that should tolerate missiles being fired at its cities without taking every reasonable step to stop the attacks. According to the laws of war, it is reasonable to attack military targets, so long as every effort is made to reduce civilian casualties. Hizballah and Hamas deliberately operate out of densely populated areas. They hide from retaliation by living among civilians. If Israel decides not to go after them for fear of harming civilians, the terrorists win by continuing to have free rein in attacking civilians with rockets. If Israel does attack, and causes civilian casualties, the international community pounces on Israel for its "disproportionate" response. This chorus of condemnation actually encourages the terrorists to operate from civilian areas. A bank robber who takes a teller hostage and fires at police from behind his human shield is guilty of murder if they, in an effort to stop the robber from shooting, accidentally kill the hostage. The same should be true of terrorists who use civilians as shields from behind whom they fire their rockets. Israel must be allowed to finish the fight that Hamas and Hizballah started, even if that means civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon. A democracy is entitled to prefer the lives of its own innocents over the lives of the civilians of an aggressor, especially if the latter group contains many who are complicit in terrorism.