Letter: Hezbollah forces Israel to defend itself

Monday, July 24, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.

"Israel not without fault in this crisis" is how the Sun headlined Dale Quale's July 22 letter, but nothing Mr. Quale writes is as level-headed as that headline implies.

Instead we get to read about "Israel's mad, berserk reaction" to the recent attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah, which he finds "mystifying." The rest of his letter goes on in that vein. In his rush to blame the victim, Mr. Quale sprints right past spurious moral equivalency to a reckless endorsement of terrorism.

Yes, the Israelis have had to keep a lid on Gaza. Does anyone doubt that if they didn't do so, Palestinian terrorists would murder them wholesale?

And, yes, Israel's counterattacks have resulted in the deaths of civilians - a consequence Israel does not seek and in fact tries to avoid. But has Mr. Quale ever wondered why no one ever speaks of "collateral damage" caused by Hamas and Hezbollah? It's because mass civilian casualties are exactly what they intend.

Jeff Nation, Las Vegas