Gaza

Fighting continues in Gaza, with Palestinian civilians taking a heavy toll. Neither side wants to talk cease-fire - the Israel military is slowly but surely gaining ground and Hamas continues to defiantly fire missiles into Israel. Both talk about the innocent civilians, but the sad truth of the matter is that neither side really cares about innocent civilians, because if they did a cease fire would be in effect.

Both sides are committed to achieving their goals. Israel, to insure their country will never be threatened from Gaza again and Hamas, showing the world that they will not be dictated to by their enemy.

For both to achieve their goals, the Palestinian citizens of Gaza have to pay the price. As all too often is the case, when zealots and radicals meet, innocents pay the price.

I do not understand why the United Nations has not gotten off its butt and sent in a peace keeping force, that will actually keep the the peace and hold both sides accountable to the agreement made in 2007. The peace keepers should have the right to take the necessary action to enforce the peace.

Okay, I know that our own beloved country is one of the reasons no peace keepers have been sent. George W believes Hamas is guilty because of their rocket attacks on Israel and I agree. I believe that as soon as Hamas broke the peace agreement, UN peace keepers should have entered Gaza and sealed the smuggling tunnels, arrest the Hamas militants responsible for the violations and allowed life to continue as normal as possible.

Of course that did not happen. The world had to wait until the situation escalated out of control and then were forced into calling for a cease fire.

The United Nations is a good idea in theory, but it has allowed itself to become so bogged down with politics, diplomacy and keeping face, that it has failed as an institution for international peace. To be effective, the UN has to be pro-active, anticipate the problem and act. Coming in after the fact will always be too little too late.

If the UN had sent peace keepers in six months ago, there would be no need for the massive relief effort that will be needed once the Israeli troops return home.

Death and destruction could have been avoided if the UN had acted quickly and effectively.

That's my opinion. Now, maybe I am hoping for too much from the UN, maybe I am a dreamer and not a realist, at least in this situation.

What should the UN do? How should they act? When should they step into a crisis?

Let your voices be heard.

Its Common Sense!