The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Is this the start of World War? Maybe. And that might not be a bad thing (Updated)
Note: I posted a first draft of this earlier and have made a few revisons that I am a bit happier with. I am no Walt Whitman, but it will have to do for now. Usually I am busy posting a lot of what other people are saying; today I feel a need to say some things on my own. -- DT
Things are happening at a dizzying rate today in the Middle East. One thing is certain: Israel is under no illusions that the rest of the World is going to give it good press. Been there, done that.
Israel has put up with a lot over the years. It seems like every time a disco or bus blows up in Tel Aviv, the world expects the Israelis to do...absolutely nothing. For a time they even complied; I can still remember during the Gulf War when the scuds were coming in, yet Israel did nothing, choosing instead to let the US do the heavy lifting, rather that disintegrating the "coalition". Now the tables seem to be turned.
I will say this about the Israelis: at least they are honest about who their enemies are. They do not pretend that Russia and China are their "good friends" while waiting for the United Nations to solve their problems--they are under no such illusions (of course, neither are we--but who wants to admit that?)
And so in our vain attempt to impress the world about how "civilized" we are, the United States continues to play the "game" of appeasement; giving lip service to allowing the United Nations to try and rein in rogue regimes, while knowing full well it will not work. Knowing this, it chooses the failure of real, lasting results and real progress just so it would not be seen by the rest of the World (it had saved multiple times...) as not being the "bad guy". While all along, the truth is that the US is seen by most of the world as "the bad guy" no matter what it does or does not do.
We are at the same time the envy of the world and the scapegoat for its own tragic flaws. If there is poverty somewhere, it's "why isn't the US doing more"? If there is even a possibility (far from a certainty) that man is causing the current global climate cycle to change, the world expects the US to bankrupt itself--just in case. And they are ALL willing to take our money. But when we dare to defend our interests our the lives of our citizens, or the interests of our Allies we are "the evil bully"; never mind that that "bully" made it possible for civilization to even exist through two World Wars and the Cold War.
Yet our true internal flaw is this: we want too much for everyone to like us. Because that is how we treat each other--we come from a civilized people and we want to be civil. Israel has no such illusions that the world will like them. Honed by thousands of years of anti-semitism, the Israelis have an us-against-the-world mentality that we secretly empathize with--secretly, because we are unwilling to admit to ourselves that the rest of the world really doesn't like us that much. Sure, the void (and our booming economy) would be hugely felt if we were not around; the world would be positivley overflowing with lawlessness and anarchy--as it has been for most of human history. But we want not only to be the strongest, most productive, most innovative, and wealthiest society; the beacon for the world, the "city on a hill"--we also want to be loved. Unfortunately it is beyond myopic to expect to be viewed as all of those things simultaneously. Isreal is under no such illusions.
The thing that sets Israel apart is they are honest about naming their enemies and dealing with them. They do not go out of their way to make war, but they do not shrink from it either. And they do not pretend to let diplomacy work where it has no hope of working. They have seen clearly what the rest of the world now is only beginning to admit: that the pipe dream of a Palestinian state which peacefully coexists with Israel is now DOA. The very nanosecond that Israel pulled its kicking and screaming settlers out of Gaza in the interest of peace, the Palestinians who they handed the land over to...started lobbing missiles into Israel! So much for the illusion the rest of the world had long harbored that if the Palestinians only had some land to call "home"-- they would let Israel be.
Instead they used their opportunity to democratically choose their future to elect an openly terrorist organization sworn to the destruction of Israel to lead them. And then they immediately set about...destroying Isreal.
And so now, Isreal does what it should have done all along--it takes the fight to these hypocritical murderers, giving little thought to what the world thinks about it. Because the Palestinians and Hezbollah in Lebanon have again shown their true aims: the obliteration of the Jewish state, and the death of as many of its citizens as possible. So Isreal did what they had to do--and damn public opinion--they did and are now doing what is necessary. I admire the hell out of that. I wish America had a lot more backbone like that.
I heard tonight that the missiles that have half a million Isrealis in bomb shelters in Haifa were supplied by Iran, even though they were launched from Lebanon. (This from the Isreali News Agency by the way... ) In any case, I suspect that if this is so, the Israelis will (once again) do whatever is necessary to protect itself--and that this might just include taking out Iran and Syria's warmaking and especially nuclear capabilities--perhaps with US help (one would hope so...). It is no mere coincidence that when it comes to a Nuclear-armed Iran and a its Hezbollah-sponsoring allies in Syria, our interests dovetail completely with Isreali interests: that is, in removing those threats once and for all. So how about--just this once--we drop the pretense of playing nice and instead make this world safer for ourselves and even for all those whining on the sidelines? How about a little honesty--and a little resolve to WIN this War for our very survival--and what say we simultaneously dispense with all of the hand wringing and gnashing of teeth which the rest of the world seems to be addicted to? Has it gotten us anywhere?
When my President stood before the world after our collective loss of innocence on 9/11, he said "you either are with us, or you are with the terrorists." Israel lives by those words; isn't it time we gave them meaning again? Isn't it time that the two nations who the world loves to hate--for no reason other than they have been successful, and they have been FIRM--join forces to wipe out this scourge once and for all? Isn't it time that a President's lofty words once again actually were to STAND for something other than mere rhetoric? When President Bush said those words on that terrible day I had tears in my eyes--tears for the fallen and tears that here was a man who was showing the world what the American fighting spirit was really about. Those words have lost a little bit of luster over the intervening years--but they still ought to be etched into the soul of every American patriot.
There is no question here: the Islamofascist enemies of Western Civilization want to see us either all dead or submissive to sharia law, facing Mecca and wearing burkas. Period. I truly beleive there is no in between for these sociopathic religious zealot killers. Isreal knows this already; and truth be told I think our leadership knows this too--yet the stalling tactics of relying on the UN isn't getting it done. It is a complete waste of time and money. ( Frankly I think we should toss the entire UN overboard...) So isn't it is high time that the US is as honest about the real world as Isreal is? How can we even pretend otherwise: it really is down to US or THEM. Pretty easy choice for me.
In the coming days I suspect that this War will grow rapidly in scale; I truly believe that, as with the assasination of Franz Ferdinand in Serbia, the abduction of these Isreali hostages will be viewed by history as having been akin throwing a molotov cocktail on a tinderbox, and the flames will engulf all of the Middle East and beyond. If I am right, eventually America will join (better sooner than later)--and when it does the evil regimes of Iran and Syria will eventually be taken down. This is the only end result that can result in a lasting peace. Of course I could be wrong that World War III has just started--it's simply a gut feeling I have. In any case, I doubt that a better opportunity to to rid the world of these monsters will come along in a good while--especially if we wait until Iran has nukes for certain. That nightmare scenario would usher in a real holocaust and possibly nuclear war.
My country--the greatest hope for freedom and civilization this World has EVER known--hopefully will reluctantly but resolutely will join this Global fight for Civilization; not because it is easy, but because it has to be done. And this means doing what is necessary: to preserve our Western Civilization by defending it. Not to do what is easy or non-confrontational, or touchy-feely--but rather what is necessary. Like the Israelis. We could learn a thing or two from them.
Things are happening at a dizzying rate today in the Middle East. One thing is certain: Israel is under no illusions that the rest of the World is going to give it good press. Been there, done that.
Israel has put up with a lot over the years. It seems like every time a disco or bus blows up in Tel Aviv, the world expects the Israelis to do...absolutely nothing. For a time they even complied; I can still remember during the Gulf War when the scuds were coming in, yet Israel did nothing, choosing instead to let the US do the heavy lifting, rather that disintegrating the "coalition". Now the tables seem to be turned.
I will say this about the Israelis: at least they are honest about who their enemies are. They do not pretend that Russia and China are their "good friends" while waiting for the United Nations to solve their problems--they are under no such illusions (of course, neither are we--but who wants to admit that?)
And so in our vain attempt to impress the world about how "civilized" we are, the United States continues to play the "game" of appeasement; giving lip service to allowing the United Nations to try and rein in rogue regimes, while knowing full well it will not work. Knowing this, it chooses the failure of real, lasting results and real progress just so it would not be seen by the rest of the World (it had saved multiple times...) as not being the "bad guy". While all along, the truth is that the US is seen by most of the world as "the bad guy" no matter what it does or does not do.
We are at the same time the envy of the world and the scapegoat for its own tragic flaws. If there is poverty somewhere, it's "why isn't the US doing more"? If there is even a possibility (far from a certainty) that man is causing the current global climate cycle to change, the world expects the US to bankrupt itself--just in case. And they are ALL willing to take our money. But when we dare to defend our interests our the lives of our citizens, or the interests of our Allies we are "the evil bully"; never mind that that "bully" made it possible for civilization to even exist through two World Wars and the Cold War.
Yet our true internal flaw is this: we want too much for everyone to like us. Because that is how we treat each other--we come from a civilized people and we want to be civil. Israel has no such illusions that the world will like them. Honed by thousands of years of anti-semitism, the Israelis have an us-against-the-world mentality that we secretly empathize with--secretly, because we are unwilling to admit to ourselves that the rest of the world really doesn't like us that much. Sure, the void (and our booming economy) would be hugely felt if we were not around; the world would be positivley overflowing with lawlessness and anarchy--as it has been for most of human history. But we want not only to be the strongest, most productive, most innovative, and wealthiest society; the beacon for the world, the "city on a hill"--we also want to be loved. Unfortunately it is beyond myopic to expect to be viewed as all of those things simultaneously. Isreal is under no such illusions.
The thing that sets Israel apart is they are honest about naming their enemies and dealing with them. They do not go out of their way to make war, but they do not shrink from it either. And they do not pretend to let diplomacy work where it has no hope of working. They have seen clearly what the rest of the world now is only beginning to admit: that the pipe dream of a Palestinian state which peacefully coexists with Israel is now DOA. The very nanosecond that Israel pulled its kicking and screaming settlers out of Gaza in the interest of peace, the Palestinians who they handed the land over to...started lobbing missiles into Israel! So much for the illusion the rest of the world had long harbored that if the Palestinians only had some land to call "home"-- they would let Israel be.
Instead they used their opportunity to democratically choose their future to elect an openly terrorist organization sworn to the destruction of Israel to lead them. And then they immediately set about...destroying Isreal.
And so now, Isreal does what it should have done all along--it takes the fight to these hypocritical murderers, giving little thought to what the world thinks about it. Because the Palestinians and Hezbollah in Lebanon have again shown their true aims: the obliteration of the Jewish state, and the death of as many of its citizens as possible. So Isreal did what they had to do--and damn public opinion--they did and are now doing what is necessary. I admire the hell out of that. I wish America had a lot more backbone like that.
I heard tonight that the missiles that have half a million Isrealis in bomb shelters in Haifa were supplied by Iran, even though they were launched from Lebanon. (This from the Isreali News Agency by the way... ) In any case, I suspect that if this is so, the Israelis will (once again) do whatever is necessary to protect itself--and that this might just include taking out Iran and Syria's warmaking and especially nuclear capabilities--perhaps with US help (one would hope so...). It is no mere coincidence that when it comes to a Nuclear-armed Iran and a its Hezbollah-sponsoring allies in Syria, our interests dovetail completely with Isreali interests: that is, in removing those threats once and for all. So how about--just this once--we drop the pretense of playing nice and instead make this world safer for ourselves and even for all those whining on the sidelines? How about a little honesty--and a little resolve to WIN this War for our very survival--and what say we simultaneously dispense with all of the hand wringing and gnashing of teeth which the rest of the world seems to be addicted to? Has it gotten us anywhere?
When my President stood before the world after our collective loss of innocence on 9/11, he said "you either are with us, or you are with the terrorists." Israel lives by those words; isn't it time we gave them meaning again? Isn't it time that the two nations who the world loves to hate--for no reason other than they have been successful, and they have been FIRM--join forces to wipe out this scourge once and for all? Isn't it time that a President's lofty words once again actually were to STAND for something other than mere rhetoric? When President Bush said those words on that terrible day I had tears in my eyes--tears for the fallen and tears that here was a man who was showing the world what the American fighting spirit was really about. Those words have lost a little bit of luster over the intervening years--but they still ought to be etched into the soul of every American patriot.
There is no question here: the Islamofascist enemies of Western Civilization want to see us either all dead or submissive to sharia law, facing Mecca and wearing burkas. Period. I truly beleive there is no in between for these sociopathic religious zealot killers. Isreal knows this already; and truth be told I think our leadership knows this too--yet the stalling tactics of relying on the UN isn't getting it done. It is a complete waste of time and money. ( Frankly I think we should toss the entire UN overboard...) So isn't it is high time that the US is as honest about the real world as Isreal is? How can we even pretend otherwise: it really is down to US or THEM. Pretty easy choice for me.
In the coming days I suspect that this War will grow rapidly in scale; I truly believe that, as with the assasination of Franz Ferdinand in Serbia, the abduction of these Isreali hostages will be viewed by history as having been akin throwing a molotov cocktail on a tinderbox, and the flames will engulf all of the Middle East and beyond. If I am right, eventually America will join (better sooner than later)--and when it does the evil regimes of Iran and Syria will eventually be taken down. This is the only end result that can result in a lasting peace. Of course I could be wrong that World War III has just started--it's simply a gut feeling I have. In any case, I doubt that a better opportunity to to rid the world of these monsters will come along in a good while--especially if we wait until Iran has nukes for certain. That nightmare scenario would usher in a real holocaust and possibly nuclear war.
My country--the greatest hope for freedom and civilization this World has EVER known--hopefully will reluctantly but resolutely will join this Global fight for Civilization; not because it is easy, but because it has to be done. And this means doing what is necessary: to preserve our Western Civilization by defending it. Not to do what is easy or non-confrontational, or touchy-feely--but rather what is necessary. Like the Israelis. We could learn a thing or two from them.
