[COMMENT MADE ON GUARDIAN 1-28-09 UNDER ANOTHER SCREEN NAME]
I appreciate the emphasis on how governments who do malignant things don’t represent the will of the peoples they serve so often.

I am grateful to have a website with electic views so I can explore my thoughts and feelings about the present Gaza crisis. I have read that there are more objections to the Israeli leadership’s behaviors among the Israeli citizens and US citizenry itself than my US Congress

I am confounded by the choices of Israel but even more by the US Congress, our political class, ignoring the grave judgments of Amnesty Intl, Intl Red Cross, UN, of crimes against humanity. Instead of being an honest broker for peace, the Congress declared Israel’s leadership’s choices 100% okay.

When the Gaza attacks began Rep. Howard Berman D. of Calif. insisted the Congress “formally” back the Israeli actions. Senators Reid and McConnell led the confirmation in the Senate. It passed in the Senate 100%, in the House, 435 supported it, 5 against, 20 voted present. What incredible agreement.

Glenn Greenwald reported that polls on how US citizens feel about our appropriate degree of involvement was according to Univ. of Maryland 71% wanting US not to take sides in this conflict. A Rasmussen study in Jan, went 41-44% about support for Israel and a poll among Democrats showed 55% against to 31%. Clearly the political class is not representing its constituents.

The more I read about my country’s overt and covert meddling in the affairs of other countries the more I understand anger and distrust of us. And the profound callousness of Israel and US leaderships to the massive humanitarian horrors and the US providing ever more deadly weaponry.

A new US weapon was used, DIME “dense inert metal explosives,” Powerful blasts within small areas, crushes the whole limb not just parts, no longer knife-like cuts, but uses a nuclear-like fusion process

It has been reported we provided phosphorous which was illegally used in populated areas on civilians. Times of London reports it adheres to flesh, its flames continue for 5 to 10 minutes often penetrating to the bone.

For the air strikes, assaults that necessarily include civilians, 2300 air strikes total, 226 US supplied F-16s were used. And US smart bombs penetrating 3 feet of steel reinforced concrete.

The casualties for the Israelis: a number of damaged buildings, 13 dead, including 3 civiians and 3 soldiers from friendly fire. Yes, any number of deaths is tragic.

The latest statistics for the Gazans: 1400 dead, 5500 wounded, hundreds of children dead (over 400), 4-5000 homes destroyed, 20,000 homes damaged, 14% of all buildings, 50 UN facilities, 21 medical buildings, 1500 factories, $2 bn damage on land 25 miles long, 7.5 miles wide. Farms bombed out, or swamped with sewage. Traumatized children. 50,000 people malnourished. Destroyed mosques, a university, most govt buildings, courts, 25 schools, 20 ambulances, bridges, 10 electricity generating stations, sewage lines, 1500 factories, 100,000 Palestinians into refugeedom.

Despite the refusal to allow journalists in, there were horrifying anecdotal stories such as 40 people in UN shelter killed. Emaciated children found too weak to stand up, beside corpses of their parents. How can this kind of massacre be defended?

So, the country that brought us the Iraq War is asserting Israeli neocons’ devastation should be regarded as righteous. Minimizing the above described bloodbath. Have we learned nothing from our mistakes? Iraq?

And according to Article 2 of Geneva Convention on Genocide, 3 requirements of such a crime seem to fit this situation: 1) killing members of a group, 2) causing serious bodily and mental harm to members of a group, 3) deliberately inflicting on a group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

I have heard of Hamas savagery in the past. Also, I know the chronic shooting of rockets by Hamas was a nightmare. But the blockade was provocative to say the least. I am not an apologist for Hamas. But to punish the Gazans for voting for Hamas against what sounds like a corrupt and weak Abbas regime is illegitimate. And our collusion is crazymaking and more of the same imperially exploitive and destructive path. Obama is a member of this groupthinking political class, enabled by corporate media.

Thanks if you waded through all this. I have started calling my Congress persons to protest, but it seems sadly futile.