Tell Them Now

The Columbus Dispatch had an editorial about Israel today entitled "Lethal Litter" that surprisingly enough I agree with.  Me agreeing with the Dispatch or not is not the important part. The important part is what the editorial urges Israel to do, and what Israel actually has the  power and ability to do. The important part is: will they?

 

Right now, there are innocent civilian Lebanese men women and, perhaps most importantly, children who are attempting to rebuild their lives, homes, and routines after the tragic violence that we bore witness to this summer.  As they go about this task of rebuilding, there are some who are alive right as you read this.  Right now they are sitting down to eat dinner with their family, they are sleeping, they are studying for school, they are LIVING. But tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that, they will be dead.  And they don't have to be. Of course I could go on and on about the destructiveness of war, the necessity or stupidity of it all. It doesn't matter. What matters is that if you have the ability to save innocent lives, you MUST take that ability and do everything you can with it. Right now, Israel has some ability to do that, to save innocent lives. 

 

Currently, there are between 350,000 and 1 million unexploded "cluster bombs" scattered throughout Lebanon. According to the Dispatch,

Newer cluster bombs are designed so that the bomblets deteriorate if they don't explode, lowering the chances that a child, farmer or other innocent will be blown up.

But the U.S.-made bombs employed by Israel are older and lack the automatic-disarmament feature, leaving southern Lebanon covered with a deadly litter.

They suggest, and I give a hardy second that

To ensure that the bloodshed really is ended, Israel should provide detailed information on where the bombs were used, so United Nations workers can find and neutralize them.

Many of you know that Marla received the nickname "cluster bomb" girl, because of her strong advocacy in this area. She would identify areas where cluster bombs were known to be sitting unexploded, where they would most likely be picked up by an unsuspecting child drawn to the colorful objects, and would notify those whose job it was to neutralize the bombs where they were. It was a no-brainer for Marla: innocent life + possible harm + ability to deter said harm = duh! deter it!! 

 

Here's to hoping that it is seen so obviously by the Israeli government as the right thing to do.

 

There is no need to wait. Israeli citizens don't have time to wait. Lebanese citizens don't have time to wait. The world doesn't have time to wait. Tell. Them. Now.