Why no mention of Israel blockade?

Scan the newspaper or flip on cable news and there is virtually no mention of the ghastly blockade of food, medicine, fuel and other critical supplies to the Gaza Strip that Israel imposed three weeks ago in response to renewed rocket attacks into Israel. The collective punishment being meted out to Gaza's 1.4 million citizens has prompted a rare plea from U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon, who called Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to "express his deep concern over the consequences of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza." Olmert put the entire blame for Gaza's woes directly back on its citizenry for allowing Hamas to continue to rule this Godforsaken sliver of suffering since their assumption of power in 2007. OK, we get it. "Overthrow your leaders and we will allow you to survive" has been the mantra of powers without humanitarian scruples since the beginning of warfare. America's decade-long blockade of critical supplies to Saddam Hussein's Iraq led to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told news program "60 Minutes" in 1996, "We think the price was worth it." It was easy for Albright to suggest that Iraqis merely had to rise up and slay the satanic Saddam to get needed relief. When they didn't, we increased their pain by invading the entire country and adding over a million unnecessary deaths to our economic death toll. Nazi Germany made collective punishment a high art in subduing populations that couldn't control their resistance forces during World War II. Apparently, Israel's leaders feel collective punishment is fine as long as they are the ones practicing it.

Walt Zlotow

Glen Ellyn