I had a conversation with a bright woman on Sunday last about the use of force. In particular we were arguing over when is force justified in the eyes of the Lord. Admittedly, I am ill-equipped to answer this question.  I am poorly educated as compared to others in the questions of “moral war”.  However, I am certain in my belief that to fail to protect others who are under attack if you are able is being complicit in the attack.  The woman who was taking the other side of this argument was espousing the perspective that you never know when diplomatic efforts may finally get through to the “evil doers”, to borrow a phrase, and avoid violence.  The question centered on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the hope that war would not flare up in the wake of Mr. Obama’s inelegant articulation of the issues in his latest policy speech on the “two state solution”. Once again, I found myself flabbergasted to come to the understanding that the fact that Israel is under attack from Palestinian rockets every day is not germane to the folks that hold this view.   The fact that our allies and friends are under attack every moment of every day by folks who have stated their intense desire to see Israel wiped off the map and every Jew exterminated is not a theoretical possibility.  It is real and relevant.  It is happening.  It is tragic. And, it is stoppable.  The U.S. and it’s allies are more than able to put an end to daily hostilities with swift and severe military action.  Why then would we stand back and see our friends and allies decimated? What possible motive could we have to stand idly by when we have it in our ability to protect the innocent?  Why wouldn’t we act if for no other reason than to make diplomacy possible?  The Israeli’s can only negotiate under duress and a sense of surrender as long as they are forced to endure endless rocket attacks without being able to pursue a lasting and certain response.  But, if the world were to really slap down Hamas run Palestine and end the attacks and aggression, then true negotiations for peace can start. So…why not? The answer lies only in the most base of reasons.  We are afraid. We are afraid that standing up to the Arab world as regards Israel will put our economic lives at risk. We are afraid that we might not be understood as open-minded and understanding.  We are afraid that our political base will abandon us if we stand for an absolute; any absolute.  Even the absolute commitment to our allies in a time of constant attack and tragedy.  So, we rely on the canard that we must give time for diplomacy to work.  Because, tomorrow maybe the sun will come up.  Even Orphan Annie knew that tomorrow was always a day away.  The time for diplomacy is before the bombs have started going off.  The time for diplomacy is for when the academics have time to craft a clever and acceptable solution.  After the bombs start going off is time for fighting fire with fire.  After the bombs start exploding is time for official policy to take flight.  And, our official policy is that we will stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies in time of war and incursion.  Where are we when our allies need us standing with them?  We are in the UN waiting on diplomacy as if dead Israeli’s were just numeric factors in an academic exercise.