Nah, actually, I agree with you on the subject of Israel vs. Palestine. It's a mess, and if there's a way out of it, it escapes me completely.

I'm actually starting to understand the people who say that we're left with no other choice than to simply pick a side and make that side the victor. I don't agree, but I understand it. When overwhelming force is an option, it's really tempting sometimes to use it.

We need Israel where it is. It is, for all intents and purposes, our colony in what might be the most important strategic region in the world right now. The importance of having a colony of western thought in the Middle East cannot be overstressed.

But on the other hand, the price we have to pay to keep that colony going might be more than I'm willing to accept. I just don't know.

Israel launches a missile at an apartment building, killing civilians (including children) and one terrorist leader. Was it worth it? Knowing only what we know right now, I'd have to say it wasn't, just like I'd say it isn't worth it to drop bombs on little girls in Afghanistan (especially considering we have yet to kill a single terrorist leader that we're aware of).

It seems to me that there's a lot of talk about what things are and aren't worth risking your life for. It seems to me that being the good guys is worth risking your life for.

And c'mon, this is America we're talking about. If we're too wussy to be the good guys -- 'cause make no mistake, being good requires a lot more courage and strength than being evil -- what can we expect from any other nation in the world? We're the biggest, baddest monkeys in the jungle. If we act like sniveling little cowards, insisting that "the end justifies the means," what we're really saying is that we aren't strong enough to do it the right way. I have more faith in us than that.