Aren't we supposed to be accountable for those we vote into power and accountable for removing them when we think they are doing a bad job?

But, yeah, if you vote in inane leadership then you deserve the consequences of doing so. The Western world is suffering the consequence of recession for voting in incompetent leadership, Gaza is suffering the consequences of military aggression for voting in terrorists.

Oh, you're being beaten to death by a gang of white extremists?  Guess you shouldn't have decided to live in a country where there are racist people...infant

It's exactly those people who the Hamas leaders should be thinking about when they're provoking airstrikes and infantry attacks. Instead of hiding in exile they should be seeking a solution that isn't going to get their people blown into oblivion. Any suffering exacted on the people of Gaza is the fault of those leaders, but I guess that is what happens when you vote terrorists into power isn't it?

So, did the Gazan people have it coming? In a harsh way, yes.

It's entirely possible to be an intelligent person without the need for compassion or emotion. Maybe immoral would be a better word to use?

Really? David Hume was one of the most respected philosophers of his era. But I guess you didn't know that...

The original quote came from a Greek philosopher, I think, but it was brought back into common thought by Hume during the enlightenment.

In addition to its military wing, the so-called Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade, Hamas devotes much of its estimated $70-million annual budget to an extensive social services network. Indeed, the extensive social and political work done by Hamas - and its reputation among Palestinians as averse to corruption - partly explain its defeat of the Fatah old guard in the 2006 legislative vote. Hamas funds schools, orphanages, mosques, healthcare clinics, soup kitchens, and sports leagues. "Approximately 90 percent of its work is in social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities," writes the Israeli scholar Reuven Paz. The Palestinian Authority often fails to provide such services, and Hamas's efforts in this area—as well as a reputation for honesty, in contrast to the many Fatah officials accused of corruption—help to explain the broad popularity it summoned to defeat Fatah in the PA's recent elections.