mixed feelings

Optimist kayak cllub paddlers welcome Gilad Schalit home

We are all patriots

And will open a bottle to celebrate at the drop of  a hat

The world is changing as we watch,dictators are falling at an increasing rate and our comfort zone is being challenged daily.
As a father with a young girl in the IDF my heart goes out to the Shalit family, and I would expect the same if it was my daughter who was kidnapped. So I am really happy that Gilad is back home.
On the other hand, and there is always another side, is it the right thing to do to negotiate with terrorists and is the price paid not too high? If a unit is sent into enemy teritory to bring back captured soldiers there is always the risk of more casualties, but the point should be that the enemy must pay for their transgressions, war is a costly event in terms of lives lost and we do not take it lightly. But every soldier knows that they will be helped and that they are never alone in a combat situation. So the price is paid.
Maybe in our strange war on terrorists, where the playing field is not level we should change tactics. Why should we play by our rules when the other side has a different set of rules and morals.Surely its time to change our behaviour and talk the same language. We do not have to descend to the horiffic levels that we have seen of beheadings and lynching, but we could make a policy of not taking any prisoners,who become currency in future prisoner swaps, or maybe we should bring back the death penalty. This way we will not be pressured into releasing thousands of murderers who will just return to their evil ways.
I know that this post has nothing really to do with kayaking but our country is so small and everybody serves in the army,so probably my fellow kayakers are also thinking about the events of the last few days.