Great article from Michael Yon.
There had been a light, cold drizzle just before the Muslim taxi driver picked me up in Jerusalem. It should be a 90-minute drive to Sderot, in southern Israel. Along the wet highway, I asked the driver to stop at a small town so that I could buy a juice, and inside the Muslim store a television was turned to news in English, showing success of the most recent Iraqi elections.
In the past, candidates often hid their faces, but this time photos were posted all over the walls and buildings. A fundamental change has occurred. A wave of satisfaction filled me, but also sorrow for the many losses we and the Iraqis suffered. Was it all worth it? This cannot be answered with mere logic, but I suspect that it will be worth it, though only if we continue to progress and stay engaged with the Iraqi people, and government.
The Israeli taxi arrived at Sderot just before noon. Thousands of terrorist rockets have rained on Israeli towns within range of Hamas-ruled Gaza, as the world mostly ignored the thunder. Those who knew about the attacks seemed to dismiss the rockets as just a nuisance, like mosquitoes. Yet the rockets have grown more and more powerful, to the point where the largest these days carries about 60 times more explosives than a hand grenade. On February 1, 2009, the day of my visit, The International Herald Tribune reported:
At least two rockets and several mortars were fired into Israel on Sunday, lightly wounding two soldiers and a civilian, and Palestinian militants opened fire on an army patrol along the border, causing no injuries, the military said.
Residents said that one of the rockets landed near a kindergarten in an Israeli village east of Gaza but failed to explode.
The playgrounds in Sderot come equipped with bomb shelters, decorated with kid-friendly art. When the alarms sound, the youngsters have 15 seconds to dash, tumble or waddle into a shelter before impact, or risk being torn asunder.
Earsplitting detonations, spewing searing hot steel, must be terrifying for the kids. It is truly sad to imagine that a ten year-old can have more experience diving for cover than many combat experienced soldiers.
