[AlaskaErik]

I'm sorry, but Israel has NOT suffered a defeat.

Yes they did. And the sooner Israel admits it to itself, the sooner they can fix all that went wrong. Israel accomplished nothing except setting Lebanon back several decades. Hezbollah still has its rockets, they still have the two kidnapped soldiers and they have far more support and sympathy within the muslim world. None of that bodes well for Israel. In fact, this ceasefire will just be an interlude to the next war. Hopefully Israel will be ready to do what needs to be done after the ceasefire collapses.

[hellbender]

The really scary thing is that all this applies to the U.S. as well: Hedonism, materialism, liberal treason, corruption, cultural decadence, adverse demographics. People simply will not fight and die to preserve libertine morality, atheism, free access to drugs (so beloved by liberaltarians), cheap gas, and the like. Cultures in their prime are expansionist, confident of their values, and religious. After the 1967 war, Israel built settlements in the occupied territories and welcomed thousands of religious Jews. Now the settlers are being uprooted. The same thing happened when the Europeans abandoned their empires, leaving the world open to socialist dictators like Mugabe.

The Islamists are confident that the West in decadent and in decline; it is part of the source of their confidence. We let their scum into our country, we let them preach their hate in our prisons and cities. We are committing suicide, and they know it. If I were a Muslim, I would see the incredible self-destructive behavior of the West as a sure sign that Allah was in control of destiny.