"Is anybody there? Does anybody care?"

"Does anybody see what I see?"

OK, first, no I am not THAT arrogant. This is a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time. 1776, Peter Sherman's Pullitzer and Tony Award winning play turned into a wonderful movie starring William Daniels as John Adams. (It also starred a young Ken Howard as TJ, Blythe Danner as his wife, William DaSilva as Ben Franklin, and in the biggest show stopping tune, John Cullum as Edward Rutledge, the South Carolina representative largely responsible for eliminating Jefferson's anti slavery clause. The song - 'Molasses, to rum to slaves' ) .

Adams asks this question rhetorically, alone in the bell tower of Independence Hall as he thinks about all he has done and his vision for the new nation.

However, it does apply to today's post.

It was one year and one week ago that 2 Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by armed forces of Hezbollah. Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were taken from their base inside Israel as they slept. In addition, of course, one week earlier, Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in the Gaza strip by Hamas.

I debated writing a post about this incident, but events of the last week sort of dictated that I must.

In the last week, as a way to prop up the Fatah government in the West Bank, and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel has released almost 200 hundred convicted terrorists.

A few things: Israel's criminal justice system is much like our own, or England's. i.e It uses a system of common law and codified criminal law.

So, those caught in the act, etc are not thrown in some dungeon somewhere, but tried in a court with representation provided if need be.

That is not the point (although it is a minor one).

Here is the point. Israeli jails are regularly visited by all manner of international watchdog groups from Amnesty International to the International Red Cross.

The American Prisoners in Guantanomo are regularly visited by the Red Cross. Despite protestations from the left, they are treated better than our general prison population here in the states. Yet we here a constant drumbeat about this.

Meanwhile, despite protestations from all manner of governments, international aid organizations, etc, Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah will not allow the Red Cross to even confirm that the 2 soldiers are alive.

Both boys families, one with his newlywed, remain totally unsure of whether their sons, husbands, fathers, are alive or dead, or if alive, what condition they are.

This is simply unprecedented.

Gilad Shalit was seen in very bad condition, either starving, or beaten, in a video released by Hamas recently so at least his family knows he is alive, although clearly not well.

However, Hamas also refuses to allow the Red Cross or anyone else to confirm his condition.

Meanwhile, the Israelis release criminals to prop up Abbas.

The American left complains about Guantonomo.

Why is no one saying anything.

This is emblematic of the differences of the 2 sides of this conflict.

There is death and horror on both sides. However one side, the Israelis, consistently and without fail, does everything to act as humanely and morally as possible.

The jihadists, just the opposite.

Why can't everyone see this? I simply don't understand.

Why is everyone afraid to say there is evil when there is evil?

Is it unreasonable to think, that if Goldwasser and Regev are alive they are thinking....

"Is anybody there? Does anybody care?"