Perhaps Restraint is Part of the Problem

So here we go again.........Four rockets fell this morning on the northern town of Naharia, one scoring a direct hit on an old age home. By some miracle, nobody was killed although some where injured. It wasn't us cried Hezbollah. Al Jazeerah's reporter in Lebanon was quick off the mark with what appeared to be a questionably high level of inside information; to confirm that indeed the rockets were very old Katushas, and that if Hezbollah wished to open a second front with Israel it would have done so in a far more aggressive manner. The likely culprit say the Lebanese government is a rogue Palestinian group looking to show solidarity with their southern brethren in Gaza.

Predictably the first call from the UN and International forces in the area was for maximum restraint from parties on both sides. However the question arises if it is not this very restraint shown by Israel in recent years which has led groups like Hezbollah in 2006 and Hamas since they took power in Gaza; to get the impression that they can bombard Israeli civilians and expect "restraint in return". Israel is quick to point out how restrained it has been over the past eight years in the face of thousands of rockets fired from Gaza on its southern population. This restraint was in part to pacify and garner support from the international community and also in because Israel has no desire to reoccupy Gaza and finds its option severely limited. Well, we can see where this restraint has led. Perhaps if from the beginning, Israel had replied in force to each and every rocket over the past eight years, the rocket fire would have stopped early on and there would have been no need for the current operation which is extracting a terrible price from the Palestinians in Gaza. Perhaps it is the constant call for restraint which only encourages irresponsible behaviour by terror groups who assume that their attacks will go unanswered. Nasally himself said after the second Lebanon war, that had he known that Israel would have responded in such a forceful manner, he would never have started the venture. Think how many innocent lives would have been saved, if it had been clear to all that for every terrorist action against Israel, the consequences would be harsh indeed. I would venture to guess that Hamas would also have thought twice before refusing the cease fire, had they known the consequences. All in all, if one wants to do the macabre maths, one might argue that all these calls for restraint have actually added an untold number of civilian casualties (on both sides) to the already unacceptable number in this conflict to date. Perhaps the message to the terrorists has to be clear and unequivocal, there will be severe consequences for each and every one of your actions. Perhaps the international community might wish to ponder the possibility that restraint ultimately costs lives.