Posted on 08/16/2005 10:22:56 AM PDT by Sabramerican
Gaza: Tomorrow's Iraq
By Richard Cohen Tuesday, August 16, 2005; A13
It is the solemn obligation of a columnist to connect the dots. So let's call one dot Iraq and another the Gaza Strip, and note that while they are far different in history and circumstance, they are both places where Western democracies, the United States and Israel, are being defeated by a common enemy, terrorism. What is happening in Gaza today will happen in Iraq tomorrow.
....
In both cases politicians will assert that it is not terrorism that has forced their hands. President Bush says this over and over again: denunciations of evil, vows to get the job done, fulsome praise for Iraq's remarkably brave democrats. But the fact remains that Iraq is coming apart -- the Kurds into their own state (with their own flag), the Sunnis into their own armed camps, and the dominant Shiites forming an Islamic republic that will in due course become our declared enemy.
Similarly, Israeli politicians assert that it is not terrorism that has chased Israel from Gaza but the realization that a minority of Jews (about 8,500) cannot manage a majority of Arabs (more than 1 million), and this is surely the case. But it was terrorism that made that point so powerfully. After all, Israel took Gaza from Egypt in the 1967 war. It took 20 years for the Palestinians there to launch their first uprising. Without the violence, Israelis would still be farming in Gaza.
.......
Israel left southern Lebanon. Now it's leaving Gaza. America will leave Iraq -- not in success but in failure. These are all discrete events but they are linked by issues of culture and a willingness to use terrorism. Connect the dots. They lead, step by step, to the next exit.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Bitch bitch moan moan. I agree with you, but what's the author's point? That Arab Islamists aren't like secular Americans? And he's just now realizing this? Sigh...
The 24 hour news cycle and liberal ideas on how wars should be fought are the only things that stand in the way of victory. The terrorists may kill some here or there, even many sometimes. But they will never win a pitched battle against either our or the Israeli army.
IMHO, The only thing that holds the armies back from doing what needs to be done are the hand-wringing libs and the broadcast of how horrible war is, 24-7.
I read the article, but I didn't see Cohen's plan. What? Should we all learn to speak arabic?
Gaza is an abject land of poverty and no resources.
If the Sunnis keep it up, Iraq will be partioned and they will likewise live in an abject land of poverty and no resources, as the oil is in the Shia and Kurd regions.
In other words, the terrorists have won sand, and prevail only because what they are fighting for isn't worth fighting for. Israel is walling off its tormentors, leaving them to rot in the desert. We can do the same in Iraq, and no one will shed a tear, except for perhaps a few deranged ANSWER types.
I understand the reasoning behind the destruction of Saddam Hussein, but I'm a little fuzzy on the notion that we must leave a pristine democracy in his place. Failing that noble intention, perhaps we should harken back to the days where we installed our own iron-fisted dictators who we could count on to protect our interests.
Gaza will become another secure Al Qaeda basea, and probably for more terrorist groups than them.
Gaza will become another secure Al Qaeda basea, and probably for more terrorist groups than them.
Which will be an easy target for the Israeli military!
Agree with everything you write as well as this:
One giant differnce between Iraq II and Vietnam:
The leader of Iraq was deposed and faces life imprisonment or death. That is a message that will be heard loud and clear by other leaders around the world...sure a democracy might not be installed if we invade you (and a state that is not allied with the US might take the old one's place), but one thing is for certain: you will be out of power and probably executed.
Rationalizations are a nice psychological comforter but they don't solve anything.
Is this a war or not? Do we intend to win or not? If not, why should a single American soldier so much as cut himself shaving in Iraq today?
Cohen is wrong in that Israel isn't succumbing to the Arabs but to the US and other International pressure.
The US too will succumb in Iraq to internal US and International pressure.
Terrorism/Islam will be triumphant in both locations. What should we expect from them as their victories roll?
..................
if you don't like that approach, then the only alternative is to continue to fight for what's right. Read some Churchill, someone, please.
I was under the impression that this was a war against terror. So the leader of Iraq was deposed, so what? Now Iran- immeasurably more dangerous and terror supporting- will spread its influence. What would we have gained?
I agree with you.
The difference between my view and Cohen's is that he believes we are doomed to fail no matter what. I believe we will fail because we don't have the will to win. Forcing Israel to surrender is a prime manifestation of that lack of will and bad policy.
Defeatism alert.
Israel didnt have to leave Gaza. They left because the world told them they had to, to make Palestine its own state.
Is Richard COhen now on the side of the Zionist settlers who want to stay in these areas?
Amazing how Choen can see the future and KNOW what is going to happen. He wrong. The line about "being defeated" show he is part of the Hysteric Leftist wing of the Dinasour Media writing what he WANTS to happen instead of the facts. Wonder if people will find him so "insightful after they read this he said about Senator Dick Durbin. Piling On Dick Durbin By Richard Cohen Tuesday, June 21, 2005; Page A21 Those of us who have read accounts of the gulag or of the interrogation methods of the Nazis and similar barbaric regimes are familiar with the infinite varieties of torture. Maybe for that reason I did not feel it was anything of a stretch for Sen. Dick Durbin to refer to those regimes when reciting what an FBI agent had seen at Guantanamo Bay
Please explain to me where anything in THIS Resume qualifies Mr Choen to render ANY judgement on how things are going in Iraq? Cohen's columns have appeared on the op-ed page of The Washington Post since 1984. He joined The Post in 1968 after attending the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and after doing, as he puts it, "some post-graduate work" at Fort Dix, N.J., and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. At The Post he covered all sorts of stories--night police, city hall, education, state government and national politics. As the paper's chief Maryland correspondent, he was one of two reporters who broke the story of the investigation of former Vice President Agnew. In 1976, he began writing a column that ran on the front of the Metro section. Its popularity, and the notice of newspaper editors around the country, led to national syndication by The Washington Post Writers Group in 1981. Cohen was born in New York City, and earned his undergraduate degree from New York University. Before coming to Washington, he worked as a copy aide at The New York Herald Tribune and as a reporter for United Press International in New York.
understand the reasoning behind the destruction of Saddam Hussein, but I'm a little fuzzy on the notion that we must leave a pristine democracy in his place. Failing that noble intention, perhaps we should harken back to the days where we installed our own iron-fisted dictators who we could count on to protect our interests
Ah yes that worked so well to protect America on 9-11-01 didn't it?
The writer is comparing Iraq and Gaza. My point is that the Israelis are fencing off the terrorists and leaving the Palestinians who supported the terrorists nothing but sand. The Israelis gave the terrorists what they wanted - Gaza - and the Palestinians are screwed as a result - they whine day and night about the wall. There should be a lesson for the Sunnis there - that if they keep it up, they will not be ruled by Kurds or Shia - but they will end up with nothing but sand, just like the Palestinians.
No matter how hard we fight this war, if the Sunnis want to keep engaging in terrorism, it will keep happening if they are allowed the means to attack their enemies. So screw 'em. Give the Kurds the north and the Shia the south, with US bases in both areas. And let the Kurds and Shia deal with any Sunnis who try to come into their domain and cause problems. The Sunnis will be stuck with no oil and no egress to trade. And they'll deserve it.
did you see the article in the Jerusalem Post, I guess it was today? It's here on FR somewhere. The long and short is that this is move that had to be made in order to set up PA for military accountability. It's very believable. Unfortunate for the residents, though. Perhaps a step closer to Armageddon....
did you see the article in the Jerusalem Post, I guess it was today? It's here on FR somewhere. The long and short is that this is move that had to be made in order to set up PA for military accountability. It's very believable. Unfortunate for the residents, though. Perhaps a step closer to Armageddon....
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