Posted on 08/25/2003 5:42:14 AM PDT by GOPBlonde
"He pulls out a knife, you pull out a gun. He puts one of your men in the hospital, you put one of his in the morgue. That's the Chicago way." -- Sean Connery, "The Untouchables". The lesson? When you're dealing with thugs, whether street gangs, mafiosos or terrorists, brute force invariably trumps all.
Like most Americans, I'm still heartbroken over the recent Palestinian terror-bombing of a bus, now known as the "Massacre of the Children". This latest abomination, involving the targeting of Israeli children, is one of a long line of kamikaze-style attacks on Israeli civilians motivated by unmitigated evil.
How much longer can we expect the Israelis to endure significant hits without permitting them to respond expansively and effectively? The Israeli missile strike that wiped out Hamas senior official Ismail Abu Shanab was certainly a nice touch, but it wasn't going to halt the ongoing Palestinian Intifada that plagues Israel. Nor will the usual Israeli "crackdowns" on Palestinian terror organizations suffice.
The irony is that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict actually needs to escalate before Israel reaps much needed relief from terror assaults. Essentially, Israeli "restraint" is wrong-headed and counterproductive. Peace is not going to be achieved by current policies of limited response and half-measures. In fact, Israel's failure to cogently confront the Palestinian terrormeisters has only emboldened these thugs to commit further horrors. It's time for the Israeli leadership to declare full and unequivocal war upon Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and any other militant groups that seek the obliteration of Israel.
As noted in an article by Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post, an Israeli officer "contrasted the goal of the IDF with the goal of the US army in Iraq. 'They are there to win,' he said of the US army. 'We are not supposed to win. Our goal is just to survive'". How true! And what a travesty! President Bush must unleash Israel to crush its enemies, and the heck with the bogus "peace process". The US government, particularly the State Department, must not hamstring Israel any longer.
The pivotal lesson of Vietnam is that a doctrine of measured response and incrementalism is a waste. The "Rolling Thunder" campaign of the 1960's is infamous for that reason. If you want to achieve military victory, bring overwhelming force to bear and squelch your enemies. Then a real peace can be achieved. Why is it that America goes full throttle into war, but expects Israel to hold back? The hypocrisy is palpable.
Not surprisingly, the State Department maintains that a "diplomatic solution" is necessary for Israel, not a military one. Well that's pure drivel and reflects the naiveté of the Left-leaning crowd. The short-lived ceasefire was nothing more than rank manipulation and deception on the part of Israel's enemies. And the so-called "clampdown on militants" by Palestinian security forces is illusory smoke-and-mirrors for international consumption.
The truth is simple - the Palestinian Authority is committed to terror warfare and never had any intention of following through with a peace deal. It's widely acknowledged that Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is Yasser Arafat's hand-picked successor, and the two share the same agenda. In essence, the Palestinian Authority and its terrorist cohorts want to wipe Israel from the face of the earth. The Intifada represents a war of attrition being waged in an effort to demoralize and drive out the Israelis from their tiny homeland.
Continued bouts of Palestinian terrorism require President Bush to reevaluate the US role as broker in this "roadmap to peace" two-state plan, which is now in ruins. Clearly, the Israelis are loathe to establish an adjacent "terror state" that will be a launch pad for never-ending attacks. Understandably, President Bush asserts that "terror networks must be dismantled", and civilized people are certainly in agreement. But it's not going to happen unless President Bush unties Israel's hands so that it can get the job done. The nation of Israel must be permitted to utterly defeat its enemies.
There is one bit of encouraging good news on the horizon. President Bush has appointed Middle East expert Daniel Pipes to the US Institute of Peace, since Pipes well understands the dangers posed by Islamic fanaticism. As noted by Daniel Pipes: "The implication is clear: if Israel is to protect itself, it must achieve a comprehensive military victory over the Palestinians, so that the latter give up their goal of obliterating it. Ending the Palestinian assault will be achieved not through some negotiated breakthrough but by Palestinians (and Arabic-speakers more generally) concluding that their effort to destroy the Jewish state will fail, and so give up this ambition". ***
_______________________________________
© 2003 Carol Devine-Molin
Photo of the author courtesy of GOPUSA
COPYRIGHT © 2003 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN. All writers retain rights to their work.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.