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Israel knows how to fight a war

By Carol Devine-Molin
web posted July 17, 2006

Currying favor from the world community is not foremost on Israel's to-do list. Rather, Israel is focused upon doing all that is necessary to ensure its survival. That being said, Israel is not about to take the advice of its critics who are arguing for a "balanced" or "measured" approach in its response to Hezbollah attacks. The Israelis are fully cognizant that "tit for tat" half-measures, and any negotiations for that matter, are going to prove ineffective when up against brutal terrorists and rogue regimes that are committed to Israel's annihilation. For the Israeli leadership, the course of action at this pivotal juncture is clear-cut: Utilize massive military force against Hezbollah and essentially disarm and dismantle that terror organization. In other words, dispose of the Hezbollah threat for the foreseeable future. To their credit, Israelis are vigorously attempting to prevent the current conflagration from morphing into a regional war.

The Israelis understand the profound danger posed by Hezbollah and its patrons (Iran and Syria), and acting with moral clarity and sound judgment, Israelis are poised to protect themselves. In the world of "realpolitik", that's the duty of sovereign entities: Nations are expected to ensure their national security and promote their interests, and the interests of their allies. As an aside, it's worth mentioning the almost obligatory rhetoric that Hezbollah has an extensive network of social services and a political wing. That being said, it's still a heinous terrorist organization, and it's the terror infrastructure that the Israelis are rightly targeting. Moreover, Israel is now under siege by two terror organizations, Hamas, which heads up the Palestinian Authority, and Hezbollah. This current escalation of violence against Israel by tag-team terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah is another significant front in this global war on terror.

True to their despicable nature, Hezbollah terrorists have inserted themselves among the populace in Lebanon, placing these civilians at risk as human shields. Moreover, they've usurped the resources of Lebanon for the purpose of promoting their terrorist dirty work. In effect, the small nation of Lebanon has been established as a base of operations – a launching pad, if you will – for terrorists to strike out at Israel. It's quite unfortunate, but the reality of the circumstances is that Israel has no other choice but to apply military force where the enemy is dug-in and stationed, and that's in Lebanon. Certainly, all who are present in Lebanon are at risk. The US, the UK, and France, among other nations, are reportedly preparing to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon. These evacuations are especially prudent, given Hezbollah's proclivity to take hostages.

There exist valid concerns that the current fighting – initiated by the Hezbollah terrorists - could enmesh the entire region in war, or at the very least propel Lebanon into a civil war. In fact, it's felt by Secretary of State Rice and the Bush administration that Syria and Iran instigated Hezbollah's current aggression not only for the purpose of harming Israel, but with a view toward destabilizing the current fledgling democratic government in Lebanon. And, of course, these rogue regimes and their terrorist proxies are determined to thwart the emergence of democracies in the Middle East.

As usual, it's Israel and the US against the world. The Bush administration is standing with its close ally Israel, a tiny nation threatened by myriad enemies in the Middle East, giving it the green light to do whatever needs to be done militarily for Israel's security. World opinion – which is largely Left-leaning and anti-Israel in nature – has registered surprise by the so-called ferocity of the Israeli reaction to the Hezbollah attacks. The United Nations, the European Union, Russia, even the Vatican, are all denouncing Israel, insisting it demonstrate restraint in its response to Hezbollah's blatantly provocative acts of war including its ongoing barrage of deadly rocket attacks upon Israeli civilians, abduction of two Israeli soldiers, use of Iranian weaponry (particularly against an Israeli warship that's now damaged) and the presence of approximately one hundred Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon providing direct assistance to the Hezbollah organization. It's now de rigueur for members of the world community to call upon Israel to gauge its military actions with "proportionality" in mind. It's no secret that the chief representative of the international community, the feckless UN, consistently condemns Israel while taking the side of third world tin-pot dictatorships of the Middle East and elsewhere.

It's difficult to be anything but annoyed at UN hypocrites that react with chaste horror at Israel's response to Hezbollah, when in fact the UN is well aware of the abominable acts of terror planned and implemented by Hezbollah throughout the years. Is it a fair criticism that Israel's response to Hezbollah is over-the-top? Would a more tepid military approach by Israelis be more appropriate? The answer to both is "No"! Israel's military actions would only constitute "overkill" if it was tackling a trifling enemy, and that's not the case here. Israel is utilizing proper military strategy in the face of an existential threat posed by radical Islamists: Essentially, the Israelis know how to win a war. As the Israelis say, Israel cannot afford to lose a single war considering the multitude of enemies that it's up against. The way to fight this war against an atrocious enemy such as Hezbollah is to hit it with massive strikes that take out strategic sites, and other targets that are at least perceived to have high value by the enemy (in the spirit of Sun Tzu). Remember, psychological warfare is in play as well, and whenever you can demoralize a bunch of murderous thugs, it's a plus.

Currently, it's primarily the US and Israel that have citizenries willing to fight this war on terror, both on the battlefield and on the ideological front. That begs the following question: Over the long haul, will the world community, which is highly influenced by the political Left, have the wherewithal to fight and win this war against Islamo-fascism? The anti-war, anti-America, anti-Israel bunch, which craves the veneer of UN legitimacy and is given to emotionalism rather than logical thought, shares other commonalities as well: a) They have difficulty thinking critically and strategically, which makes it all but impossible for them to support military action, b) They're politically naïve and superficial, c) They often can't grasp the "Big Picture", which makes them short-sighted and eager to embrace the political quick-fix, d) They often can't grasp how they operate from weakness towards the enemy, (i.e. appeasing, enabling behaviors), thereby emboldening thugs, e) They can't properly evaluate dangerous circumstances, f) Because they often have little understanding of history and readily accept revisionist history, their political views reflect almost no proper context, and, g) Because of their poor political judgment and naïveté, they're prone to being manipulated and seduced by the tyrants of the world, which is thoroughly illustrative of the ultra-liberal glitterati set (Hollywood crowd) that worships Fidel Castro and other creeps. I also subscribe to the theory that liberals are basically a craven, emotionally immature lot, driven by their own coping mechanisms, who find it easier to lambaste and demonize the "good guys" (America, American leaders, Israel, etc.) that are safe targets posing no threat, rather than the scary "bad guys" of this world (terrorists, despots and psychopathic criminals that will chop your head off) who liberals excuse and even exalt. In any event, conservatives really have a responsibility to educate on politics, history and the military to ensure that the next generation is prepared to fight this long war on terror.

Carol Devine-Molin is a regular contributor to several online magazines.

 


 

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