By Ryan Jones
March 22, 2004
Courtesy of Jerusalem Newswire.
In case anyone was still wondering, the IDF's aptly named "Operation Continuing Story" has betrayed the fact that Sunday's attempt by Palestinian terrorists to gas thousands of Jews in Ashdod will not be the final straw before Israel truly declares war on its enemies.
The deaths of 10 Israeli Jews, and the intent to massacre many times that number in a single day, are apparently not sufficient to justify wiping out the terror groups plaguing this nation.
When will Israel launch an "Operation End Of Story"? When will enough Jews have been killed to justify militarily defeating the likes of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Brigades?
What is the magic number? Nearly one thousand have been killed in the current terrorist campaign already. Must that number reach 3000, 5000, even 10,000 before real action will be taken, before Israel finally goes on the offensive?
Or is the slow, monotonous murder of Israelis not enough, no matter how high the overall death toll reaches? Must thousands die in a single day to justify what U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell likes to call "overwhelming force" against the backyard Islamic foes of Israel?
The Ashdod port bombing, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the Knesset, was just one more example that there is no "Palestinian authority" brave enough to combat terror, and that as such Israel must act alone.
But Israel is not acting, at least not in a way that will end terrorism. Sharon could have just as easily said there is currently no Israeli leader brave enough to really fight terror, and still have been correct.
The kind of pinpoint, nitpick response the cabinet approved following Ashdod is not a whole lot better than the nothing the PA was doing. The terrorists are still there, still operating, still plotting the slaughter of Israel's Jews.
As someone recently commented, it is time for Israel to stop swatting at the mosquitoes, and start draining the swamp.
But tragically, those atop Israel's power pyramid still believe trying to please Israel's implacable antagonists in the West is the best path to securing peace and tranquility for the Jewish state.
And so Israel will continue to allow itself to be bound by international pressure. Israel's Jews will continue to live under the threat of "Palestinian" terror, under the threat of one day facing a successful "mega-attack" that wipes out an entire Israeli town, all so that Kofi Annan can sleep better at night.
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