Why we fight [View all]

[DUIC]

It is natural for soldiers to continually wonder why they fight, but I spent last week with several Israeli soldiers who were in no doubt about their mission. University students, in their mid-20s and all active reservists, were recalling their battle experiences prior to a major speaking tour of campuses around the world.

Yair told me about being in a pitched battle with Hezbollah terrorists during the Second Lebanon War of 2006.

Hezbollah fighters do not wear uniform and operate specifically from civilian areas, where ordinary residents are essentially human shields. On this day, Hezbollah decided to make the situation more complicated. A truck arrived in the middle of the battle. Ten boys, about eight years of age, got out of the truck, armed with guns.

They had been driven into the conflict. In the middle of battle, Yair saw the moral depravity of the enemy and knew in that moment why he fights.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=258645