Posted by
arandomguy on Thursday, August 03, 2006 11:21:39 PM
To the cheers of many, Condoleeza Rice is purportedly going over to Israel to help discuss peace between the warring sides, Israel and Hezbollah. The "international community" (I will explain my use of quotation marks here a little later on) is persistently calling on Israel to have restraint, and some even want an outright ceasefire.
I honestly hope Condi doesn't go, and that if she does, her success is measured in photo-ops and rhetoric. I hope that the Israeli's disregard her, and that they continue on the mission they have set out for themselves. Let me put it simply. I believe Israel has a moral and strategic obligation to invade Lebanon and conquer Hezbollah. I believe that to do anything less would be a tragic failure on Israel's part, and failure in this mission may result in more future terrorists.
For days now, Israel has been pounding various areas of Lebanon, crushing Hezbollah strongholds and taking out weapons caches. Just today they dropped a full 23 tons of explosives on one underground bunker, believing that the terrorist leaders were there (though unfortunately, they were not). On the first day of their campaign, Israel bombed all of the roads leading out of Lebanon, and all of the runways at the Lebanese International Airport, effectively cutting off all travel to and from the country. This is in line with the general strategy for war, "cut off and kill."
It is a simple concept really. Hezbollah by itself, is an organization of angry Muslims. They are angry at the Jewish state of Israel, for being free and democratic (and hence prosperous), while their totalitarian ways lead their country into further backwaters of human existance. Unfortunately, the two largest troublemakers in the region, Iran and Syria, are directly involved in sponsoring Hezbollah. It is Iranian technology that allowed Hezbollah to hit the Israeli warship. It is Syrian technology that is in the explosive cones of many of the rockets being fired into Israeli cities as deep inland as Nazareth. Hezbollah by itself would have almost nothing - a few angry muslims with AK-47's and evil rhetoric.
But with the backing of Iran and Syria, they have grown into the most powerful armed milita in the muslim world, and quite possibly the rest of the world as well. They possess over 13,000 rockets and missiles, of varying technological advanceness. They are thousands strong, and are ready to fight at the drop of a hat (or in this case, the drop of Israeli weaponry).
This is why the bombing was necessary - to eliminate contact with Damascus and Tehran, effectively isolating Hezbollah, allowing the Israeli military a chance to systematically finish them off. However this is no easy task. As evidenced by the difficulty the Israeli forces are having at taking down Hezbollah, defeating well organized terrorist militias is never easy (look at Waco, Texas if you have any doubts).
Hezbollah, like almost every other terrorist group, has learned the benefits of hiding their weaponry (and themselves) in highly populated civilian areas. Nobody would dare bomb a hospital, even if there are 500 rockets in the basement. And for the most part, they are correct. Few world leaders would dare bomb civilian areas intentionally, even to take out weapons that would destroy them. Even if a military defeat occurs, it can still be twisted into a public relations victory for Hezbollah. "Yes they destroyed 200 of our rockets that were aimed at their hospitals and schools. But they killed 10 innocent Lebanese civilians. Those evil Jews!" Hezbollah's "brave" soldiers might as well strap babies to their torsos as shields. Morally, what they're doing is no different and, who knows, it might give them a P.R. boost.
Many world leaders are calling on Israel to show "restraint." However, what the rest of the world seems to be forgetting, is that Israel is showing restraint. They are not carpet bombing Lebanon. They are not using their advanced nuclear arsenal either. And they are restraining from a ground invasion. They are even dropping leaflets in Lebanese cities, warning citizens to leave because bombs will soon be coming. If this isn't restraint, then what is?
Some have argued that Israel's response is disproportionate, which is actually correct: It wasn't nearly strong enough. I know this because there are parts of South Lebanon still standing.
The loose alliance of Israel-haters, terrorists, anti-americans, the French, and idiots (non-French) seems to be forgetting that Hezbollah is deliberately targeting civilians. Israel is not. Civilians die, and it is horrid to be sure. But Hezbollah is not only hiding amongst civilians, but they are intentionally targeting Israeli's. This alliance also chooses to ignore the massive discrepancies between the two nations reasons for waging war.
Hezbollah is waging war against Israel because they want to see Israel (and all people with Judeo-Christian religious leanings) destroyed because they are "infidels" to the greater Muslim state. Israel is waging war because they must to survive. Hezbollah moved into Israeli territory and kidnapped Israeli soldiers.
I ask, where are the people encouraging "restraint" on Hezbollah? Where is Jacques Chirac (that blithering idiot in France) encouraging the Hezbollah terrorists to avoid targeting civilians, and to lay down their arms. Furthermore, whose idea was it to try to negotiate with terrorists anyway? Isn't it clear what the terrorists want? They live to spread terror and chaos. If there is terror and chaos as a result of their actions, they have succeeded. They are not like two warring nations, where they can sit down and come to a sort of peace treaty. Terrorists have no nation. They operate everywhere and live nowhere. You cannot sit down and negotiate with them any more then you could try to get the wind to stop blowing, or the rain to stop falling.
Israel must have a larger purpose then terror and bloodshed. They mean to defend themselves, and their citizens from violent attacks from terrorists directly across the border - terrorists, I might add, funded by two of the most powerful countries in the region, Iran and Syria - and destroy a terrorist group that is a threat not only to Israel, but the whole world.
So I ask, instead of encouraging restraint, the United States government, and the free and democratic governments around the world should rally with Israel, and indeed help them take out Hezbollah. The more people there are working toward this goal, the faster it will be achieved. Hezbollah could be destroyed quickly, and the cause for war will then end. But this is not something that will happen I am afraid, because the US has been caught in the grip of crazy peace-loving liberalism for too long. We would rather take the seemingly high road and encourage restraint, cease-fires, and peace, when the truth is, the high road is the elimination of a deadly threat from this earth.
Think of terrorists like Smallpox. Smallpox wreaked havoc on every continent (save Antarctica) for centuries. It was a deadly disease, effecting everyone from the Ancient greeks to the American revolutionaries. Now however, it is eradicated. It no longer exists. The vaccine worked so well, that nobody gets this deadly disease any more. Surely it is more morally just, more virtuous and more righteous to eliminate small pox is it not? Can anyone say we would be better off WITH the disease plaguing humanity in this day and age? Of course not.
So why should terrorists be any different? They shouldn't be. They need to be systematically eliminated like the scourge they are, and pounded into an oblivion greater then anything they could ever dream of. They seek paradise. They get 70 virgins in paradise.
I'd rather them have 70 tons of Israeli and American high caliber explosive weaponry. I truly believe this war, in the words of Newt Gingrich, "is World War III." We are engaged in yet a third global war, against the remnants of fascism and socialism the two primary causes of the devastating World War II. And it will not be over until several Iranian ex-cities are reduced to smoldering ash by American made nuclear weapons.
EDIT: This is so the blog gets more hits. Just ignore it please.
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