Operation Protective Edge and Its Non-Protective Effect

Operation Protective Edge, launched on July 8, 2014, involved 6,000 airstrikes, the firing of almost 50,000 military and tank shells, the killing of over 2,200 Palestinians --- of whom some seventy percent were civilians and over 500 were children -- and the partial or complete demolition of many thousands of Palestinian homes or housing units. Hamas forces in Gaza executed at least twenty-three alleged collaborators. Seventy-one Israelis (including sixty-six soldiers) were killed during the period. [1]

In a February 2015 report, UNICEF estimated that nearly 300,000 children -- approximately one-third of Gaza's youth -- were still in need of psychological and social support six months after the war. The Israeli military demolished twenty schools in Gaza during the war, including eleven kindergartens and 450 other educational facilities damaged. Dr. Elena Arerepanov, a mental-health specialist, described the typical play of Gaza's children: "The children built structures themselves and then destroyed them, and were [playacting] funerals. In most cases, it's a normal way for children who have been exposed to severe trauma to process their experiences." "Without exceptions, everyone surveyed for the CPRA [the Child Protection Rapid Assessment Report], [exhibited] significant changes in behavior. Boys were more likely to demonstrate aggression, while girls were more likely to exhibit general sadness, crying, nightmares, and bed-wetting." The CPRA found that traveling far from home to attend school creates significant post-hostility stress in children. [2]

According to the World Bank, Gaza's unemployment rate -- forty-three percent overall and more than sixty percent for youth -- is one of the highest in the world.

ADDENDUMS:
*Dying Young - "The mortality rate for Americans between fifteen and nineteen years old is nearly twice what it is for those between the ages of one and four, and it's more than three times as high for those ages five to fourteen. The leading cause of death among adolescents today is accidents; this is known as the 'accident bump.' " [3]

"A teen driving driving with other teens in the car, for example, is four times as likely to cause a crash as a teen driving alone." Sixteen-year-olds rate of fatal crashes is three times as high as the rate for drivers eighteen and nineteen. [4]

*U.S. Overseas Military Bases - The United States has about ninety-five percent of the world's foreign military bases. These bases are located in about 160 countries and added to these bases are eleven aircraft carriers, which are, in effect, floating military bases. About 250,000 U.S. troops are based in foreign installations. In 2014, the nation's taxpayers spent about $85 billion on foreign bases.

Rather than maintain these costly bases, the U.S. could preposition supplies or share the use of bases with our allies. The U.S. also has a major airlift capacity to ferry troops and equipment to areas of conflict.

Footnotes
[1] Jen Marlowe, "The Children of Gaza," The Nation, July 20/27, 2015.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Elizabeth Kolbert, "The Terrible Teens," The New Yorker, August 31, 2015.

[4] Ibid.