Anger at Israel's actions misguided I

Published as a letter in the Connecticut Post, January 20, 2009.

Mark Trencher is vice president of PRIMER.

---

One can fully agree with letter writer Will Duchon on the overwhelming sadness of seeing children become the victims of war. In doing so, however, one must be astounded at the conclusion Duchon draws as to who is to be blamed.

No nation is as careful in its military actions as Israel is in preventing civilian casualties. But such losses become virtually impossible to prevent when the Arabs themselves seek the imposition of civilian casualties by placing their people within war zones and placing weapons storage depots in residential areas.

What Duchon demands of Israel is that this Western defender against Arab aggression forego responses to such attacks whenever there is a danger of civilian casualties. That would become a device to virtually disarm Israel and let Arab aggression go undeterred and unpunished.

Strangely, it is the Arabs who seek propaganda benefits from civilian loss and who justify their deliberate placing of children in jeopardy by claiming that they are enabling the children to become martyrs to the Muslim cause. Duchon's outrage is utterly misguided in holding Israel and the U.S. responsible for such tragedies and for not laying the blame where it belongs.

Mark Trencher
West Hartford