My Senator's milquetoast comments following the Senate resolution supporting Israel

[cali]

<snip>

" "For its part, Israel used the ceasefire to pressure Hamas through a blockade that, in the absence of a long-term strategy, has caused extreme hardship for the Palestinian people collectively in Gaza but done nothing to change Hamas's militant policies," said the Vermont senator. "The blockade was not coupled with an effective strategy to address the underlying causes of the conflict."

"In the past 14 days, according to the United Nations, 758 Palestinians have died, including 257 children, as a result of Israel's military operations, and thousands more have been injured. Palestinian homes, schools and other civilian infrastructure have been demolished. Among Israelis, three civilians have been killed, and seven soldiers have died. Israeli homes have also been badly damaged from Hamas rocket fire. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which is the principal humanitarian organization functioning in Gaza, suspended its operations earlier today due to risks to the safety of its personnel as a result of Israeli attacks which killed two of its workers and injured one."

"As has been said here repeatedly, Israel has the right to defend itself," said Senator Leahy. "And I have no doubt that the Israeli Defense Forces, using powerful weapons supplied by the United States, can achieve tactical victories in Gaza by damaging Hamas's military capabilities. But the right response is one that will, over the long term, make Israel more secure, and that will be achieved only when Israel is accepted by its neighbors."

"Those of us who have long worked to support Israel should not lose sight of this crucial goal and this bigger picture," Leahy said. "This escalation will, I fear, have the opposite effect. The widening use of force has implications for Israel's long-term security that should concern each of us. This approach may increase support among Palestinians for Hamas as well as anger and resentment toward Israel and the United States within Arab countries and around the world."

"Israel seeks to deal a fatal blow to Hamas militants, to bomb them into submission and moderation," said Leahy. "If our country were attacked in a similar way by one of our neighbors we might respond the same way. But there is little if any reason to believe these tactics can work. This latest escalation, with bombs falling and tank artillery striking in heavily populated areas where civilians, more than half of whom are children, have no means of escape, obviously and tangibly is providing ammunition to extremists, inside and outside of Gaza. And in doing so it increases the dangers to both soldiers and civilians, Israeli and Palestinian, and of miring Israel in an open-ended mission in Gaza resulting in far more destruction and loss of innocent life than we have seen so far. Ultimately, extremism is what has hindered a political resolution that ends this conflict with two secure states living side by side."
<snip>

http://story.argentinastar.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/c08dd24cec417021/id/452243/cs/1/

This is a long article out of Argentina that covers the comments of many legislators.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Well, he clearly doesn't want AIPAC up his ass.

And I don't blame him - I've been in some of those meetings. They're not fun.

[cali]

2. AIPAC couldn't do a damn thing to Leahy. They certainly couldn't get

him out of office or take away his chairmanship.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. No, they really couldn't. I'm not saying that they could.

What they can do is make his life a nightmare. He can't exactly shut them out of his office - that actually would be jumping on a landmine that would lead him to get assigned to a different committee - so he does have to deal with them.

Would I prefer a much, much harder approach towards Israel? Absolutely - lord, you KNOW I would appreciate that. I still don't expect it to happen.