Fear is a powerful emotion. It make rational people do irrational things. Democrats, trying to seize on public unease, like to refer to the Bush Administration's policies and pronouncements in the war against Islamofascists as fear mongering. If it weren't so dangerous, I'd laugh. This coming from a political party that has thrived on fear and ignorance for a generation. There is a big difference in encouraging vigilance against a ruthless enemy and peddling fear for political purposes. Bush and the Republicans remind the public of the actual threat from evil in the world. The Democrats warn people of imaginary threat from the evil Republicans. The groundwork has been laid regularly since the term of Ronald Reagan. Government social programs are going to be slashed, families will be homeless and dying in the streets, blah, blah, blah. If we don't act now, we will destroy the earth's environment, yadda, yadda, yadda. Basically whatever criticisms the left used for Reagan, they dusted off and are reusing for Bush. I only wish George W. Bush was more like Reagan. It's funny, it used to be the wacko right that was in constant fear of government. Now it's the wacko left. Bush is keeping secrets. Bush is trying to destroy the Bill of Rights. Bush wants to spy on Americans. Bush leaks classified information for political reasons. Etc, etc., etc. Could there ever be a danger of a government using a threat to abuse power or squelch the rights of its citizens? Hell yes. But if you look back at the history of the U.S., you'll see other examples of previous presidents doing the same type of thing (or worse) that Bush is doing. I mean FDR interned an entire segment of the population in camps for the duration of World War II because of their race! Was there a threat from the Japanese? Yup. Were internment camps a bit on the extreme side. Probably. But FDR is held up as one of the greatest presidents we've ever had. I would be curious to know the reaction of the New York Times to that action. Not in retrospect, but at the time. Of course Americans were different people back then. The Boomers weren't a gleam in their parents' eyes yet.
And another thing...
Israel is being attacked again. Just for the record, this is being written in July 2006. I only say that because it could just as easily be written just about any year since its inception. It's like the movie Groundhog Day. The same damned thing happens every time and I fear it will this time as well. A bloody terrorist group takes an action. It could be a kidnapping or bombing. Israel retaliates with force against the perpetrators. Because the terrorists fight from the neighborhoods of innocent Palestinians, there are civilian casualties. The world media plays the conflict as Israeli aggression against poor occupied people. The terrorists claim they want a cease fire. The international community pressures Israel to back off. They do. The terrorists use the time gear up to do the same thing all over again. For crying out loud, how can any reasonable person not see the insanity of it all? You would think that after September 11, 2001 that people would have been shocked into the realization that this is not Israel against its neighbors but radical Islam versus the free Western civilization. But sadly that isn't the case. There are enough people who simply loathe Jews or hate George Bush or just plain want to stick their heads in the sand and not get involved. This must end and it must end now. Israel must extinguish Hezbollah and Hamas and expose their benefactors in Syria, Iran and whatever other whackjob countries are supporting them. The government of Lebanon wants to expel Hezbollah and Syrian influence from their country. Events in the past year have indicated that a majority of the Lebanese would like that as well. It is unfortunate that because the terrorists are using them as human shields they are in harms way. I can only hope that Israel can keep civilian casualties to a minimum and that the people of Lebanon realize that Israel's operation will actually serve them well by doing what they do not have the strength to do themselves.
The Israelis want to kill the people who are targeting them. The Islamic terrorists just want to kill Jews. The hackneyed phrase used by the media way too often in this struggle is "cycle of violence". Well there are two ways to break out of that cycle. One resolution would be for the terrorists and their willing supporters in the Arab community to destroy Israel and exterminate the Jews. It is their stated goal. Forget what you hear about a Palestinian homeland and all that rubbish. While some people may actually desire that, they are not the ones who keep this conflict going. The other resolution is to allow Israel to take care of its own defense and eliminate the bastards who wage war by targeting innocent men, women and children. Which one would you choose? Remember, the Islamofacists do not negotiate. They claim to, but it is not in good faith. We have decades of history to prove it. While the familiar playbook I explained earlier is being executed step by step, there is one difference so far. Ehud Olmert is talking tough and the statements coming from his government seem to indicate that they will not stop until the job is done. Hopefully they mean it. And I hope that the United States and the United Nations will not step in and try to stop them from accomplishing what so badly needs to be done. I know this is all easy to say in the safety and comfort of Nashville, Tennessee, USA where there are no Hezbollah rockets landing on my house or Hamas homicide bombers blowing themselves up on the street outside my office. But really I would probably be even more steadfast if I lived in Haifa. Hell, I'd probably pick up a weapon and try to kill some of the bastards myself. My plea to the world would be to put aside your opinion of Jews and realize that the threat is against all of us. Israel is simply on the front line. We cannot fail them.
UPDATE: Well it's now August and as I predicted, it happened again. I guess I overestimated PM Olmert. He did not let loose the dogs of war against Hezbollah and agreed to a ceasefire. Yeah, I know. The bad guys will rearm. The Lebanese will not be able to reign them in. The United Nations peacekeeping force (Ha ha ha ha ha! That always makes me laugh!) will be impotent. The terrorists will once again kidnap IDF soldiers or attack Israel with bombs and rockets. Israel will respond militarily. Oh, let's go. This is where we came in. The only potential difference to this same old song and dance next time around would be a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv or Haifa.