War by Another Means

Israeli commandos boarded five ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, and according to the Israeli military, came under assault with clubs, knives, and gun fire by people on one ship. A gun fight ensued, and current press reports indicate nine people on the ship were killed with a number injured, including Israeli soldiers.

Since 2007 after the terror group Hamas took control of Gaza, Israel and Egypt have worked to prevent Hamas from smuggling arms into Gaza, which has included Israel enforcing a naval blockade of Gaza.

The ostensible purpose of the flotilla was to bring humanitarian supplies to Gaza. But considering that Israel announced last week that the ships' cargo could be delivered to Gaza so long as the ships first stopped in an Israeli port so the cargo could be screened to make sure military supplies weren't included, the fact that the flotilla's organizers proceeded with the attempted landing in Gaza indicates the mission was about something more:

The purpose of the trip was to provoke a confrontation with Israel, and hope that the resulting casualties would stir up an international uproar directed against Israel.

Clearly, if the purpose of the trip was merely to deliver the ships' cargoes to Gaza, Israel's offer to allow that would have solved the matter without incident or bloodshed. But the organizers instead proceeded with the mission, got its desired bloodshed, and will now get its international uproar.

If there were no condemnation of Israel, then terrorists and their supporters would not pursue tactics to create "incidents" that cause a PR storm for the terrorists' opponents.

So it is up to Americans, and everyone in the international community, to realize the game that the terrorists play to fight their battles. If you want to stop terror, then you need to recognize this reality, blame the flotilla's organizers for embarking on their deadly game, and come to Israel's defense.