'Genocidal' 

Editor:

What if you could stop a prolonged military attack with a phone call? Someone can: Joe Biden (Mailbox, Aug. 29). 

The attack I'm referring to is the genocidal attack on the Gaza Strip. Genocidal is the only word that accurately describes what's going on there. The Israeli military is destroying health centers, schools, religious centers and the actual buildings that people live in. Fifty percent of the buildings that 2 million Palestinians have lived in have been destroyed, thanks, in part, to massive 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs supplied by the U.S. government. In general, over 130,000 bombs and missiles have been dropped on Gaza. Clearly, Netanyahu wants to make Gaza uninhabitable. Additionally, 165 Palestinian journalists have been killed. The prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet, wrote recently that the actual death count could be over 186,000 if indirect deaths due to a lack of medical care, food, water and shelter are included.

So why is our government supplying weapons, intelligence, diplomatic cover and military back-up in this attack? Noam Chomsky has said that Israel is a forward base to project U.S. power in the Middle East. Support of Israel, support of the oil monarchies and anti-Iranian policies are three pillars of maintaining U.S. dominance in the Middle East, thus keeping it safe for U.S. and European investors. Arms makers also profit handsomely when there's a war. There's also AIPAC, a powerful lobbying organization, which provides money to legislators and lambastes those that don't submit.

Alas, we have two presidential candidates to choose from, but both want to keep the weapons flowing to Israel. Isn't our two-party duopoly ("democracy") great!

Go to democracynow.org or watch Democracy Now! on KEET TV at 6 p.m. for on-the-ground reports that you won't find on the major corporate networks.

Unfortunately, Joe won't be making that phone call.

David Ross, Eureka