Mark Souder: “as we depart for the Christmas and the rest of the holiday season, we all pray for peace and justice in the world. But I…”

“as we depart for the Christmas and the rest of the holiday season, we all pray for peace and justice in the world. But I think that I have some concerns, as do others, that some people are having difficulty sorting the differences between terrorists and those who are trying to respond to terrorism. The people who attacked the World Trade Towers and who blew Americans up are not the same as when people like us try to respond. We need to understand that same difference in Israel. For example, when a terrorist who attacks innocent people who are going about their daily routine with the sole purpose of causing terror, that is different than trying to respond with as much precision as possible, although there may be innocents killed, which is unfortunate, but it is still different. We cannot hold Israel to a different standard than we hold ourselves. We now see the same problem in India. Once again, terrorists have stormed their Parliament and they have attempted to kill and assassinate the leadership of a democratic country. These are difficult times. They are difficult for us when we try to figure out how to respond, too. We all need to be carefully and prayerfully thinking of any response that might lead to more death in the world. At the same time, it would be wrong for the United States to say that it is okay for us to respond to terrorists, and not for other countries. We all, including us, should be wise and careful in our responses, but respond we must.”