Photos are starting to come out of Gaza as the cease fire comes into effect.
Gaza has been pumelled and punished. Everywhere around there, there are destroyed houses and markets, schools and hopitals and very little running water or electricity. And for what?

A sense of retribution? A sense of "We'll show them!"
Does war EVER "fix" anything?
No, it just picks at the wound and opens it up.
This was a cruel revenge, plain and simple.

TODAYS HEADLINES:
Israel plans to pull out of Gaza by inauguration. Officials say Israel wants a smooth beginning to the Obama administration.

Well, why do you think they went in there just before the inauguration with the blessings of Bush and Rice?
It was to create as much destruction and hardship for the Palestinians before they could be condemned by a new US administration.

Those who cry for the wanton death of civilians....(women and children included) remind me of the jingoists who supported us going into Iraq and killing off the "towelheads", and revelled from the comfort of their living rooms that 500 lbs of shock and awe were being dumped on an innocent people.
THOU SHALT NOT KILL.

>"Palestinian casualties were steep and large swaths of the tiny seaside territory were devastated by the Israeli air and ground assault. Gaza municipal officials said an initial assessment showed some 20,000 residential and government buildings were severely damaged and another 4,000 destroyed. Some 50 of the U.N.'s 220 schools, clinics and warehouses were battered in shelling and crossfire. "