Saturday, February 07, 2009
On the ground in Israel
This is an interesting piece of reporting on the situation in Israel.
It is clearly more down to earth (read honest) than we we seem to get from our regular media outlets...
It is clearly more down to earth (read honest) than we we seem to get from our regular media outlets...
Michael Yon is a freelance writer who spends time in the Middle East. He recently visited Israel to report on what's really going on. He begins:
"There had been a light, cold drizzle just before the Muslim taxi driver picked me up in Jerusalem. It should be a 90-minute drive to Sderot, in southern Israel. Along the wet highway, I asked the driver to stop at a small town so that I could buy a juice, and inside the Muslim store a television was turned to news in English, showing success of the most recent Iraqi elections.
In the past, candidates often hid their faces, but this time photos were posted all over the walls and buildings. A fundamental change has occurred. A wave of satisfaction filled me, but also sorrow for the many losses we and the Iraqis suffered. Was it all worth it? This cannot be answered with mere logic, but I suspect that it will be worth it, though only if we continue to progress and stay engaged with the Iraqi people, and government.
The Israeli taxi arrived at Sderot just before noon. Thousands of terrorist rockets have rained on Israeli towns within range of Hamas-ruled Gaza, as the world mostly ignored the thunder. Those who knew about the attacks seemed to dismiss the rockets as just a nuisance, like mosquitoes. Yet the rockets have grown more and more powerful, to the point where the largest these days carries about 60 times more explosives than a hand grenade."
