Worry about the West — not Israel

Jewish World Review ^ | 8-10-06 | Victor Davis Hanson

[SJackson]

If so many of our politicians, intellectuals and media will not or cannot fathom moral differences in this war, they will hardly be able to see them anywhere else

The reactions and media coverage coming out of the West regarding this latest war in the Middle East are as bewildering as they are instructive.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., for example, recently said, "I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah or for or against Israel."

Meanwhile, the Western news agency Reuters, responding to scrutiny by bloggers, withdrew wire photos taken by a freelance photographer of a smoky and burning Beirut. Reuters had failed to catch the freelancer's doctoring of the photos to emphasize unduly the damage from Israeli bombs.

And the Associated Press notes that initially reported Lebanese claims of 40 "civilians" killed by Israeli air strikes at Houla, Lebanon, in fact, were mistaken — and that the latest reports have lowered the death toll to one.

In Qana, where the Israeli military had hit an apartment building (and were quickly censured by European statesmen), the number of civilian fatalities reported also kept decreasing as reports were scrutinized. Plus, we have learned that several hours lapsed between the dropping of the bombs and the fatal collapse of the building, raising further questions about the relationship between the bombing and the fatalities that followed. Finally, based on photographs from the scene, the onsite rescue appeared staged for reporters.

[Tolik]

Victor Davis Hanson:

...On one side of this conflict is a true democracy that was attacked. On the other are terrorists who hijacked the sovereign government of Lebanon, instituted theocratic rule over a third of the country -- and started a war.

Hezbollah, of course, has been enabled in large part thanks to Iranian petro-dollars and intimidation. But the nature of Hezbollah's patrons doesn't seem to matter to many Westerners, either.

Those now calling for "dialogue" with the "major players" ignore that Iran promises to wipe out Israel. The French foreign minister was quick to praise the regional role of theocratic Iran as "stabilizing."

Then there's Hezbollah's other patron, Syria, a country that brutally occupied Lebanon, harbors terrorists and is suspected of being behind the assassination of Lebanese reformist Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

So, what then does matter to so many Westerners about this war?

Our fear, of course. We want to avoid messy complications like stirring up another 9/11 or Madrid bombing, spiking oil prices to over $80 a barrel, or treading on politically incorrect ground by criticizing the "other" of the former Third World.

The Western press -- usually so careful to condemn hate speech -- is utterly silent about Arab racism. But a European paper recently published a cartoon portraying Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a Nazi, secure that no rabbi would issue threats that could cost the editors their heads.

Still, when this is all over, we should not worry about the survival of Israel. For weeks, pundits have been lecturing how canny and adept Hezbollah has proved -- and how a clumsy Israel could only respond by destroying Lebanon's infrastructure. Yet, when the dust settles, the world will learn that Lebanon outside Hezbollah's domain is not destroyed. And, one hopes, those who have suffered in the Hezbollah-controlled south will reexamine their support for a terrorist organization that has brought them -- and itself -- to near ruin.

Instead far more worrisome is the moral crisis in the West itself. If so many of its politicians, intellectuals and media will not or cannot fathom moral differences in this war, they will hardly be able to see them anywhere else.

 

Nailed It! Moral Clarity BUMP ! This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for the perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author all 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of the good stuff that is worthy of attention. You can see the list of articles I pinged to lately  on  my page. You are welcome in or out, just freepmail me (and note which PING list you are talking about). Besides this one, I keep 2 separate PING lists for my favorite authors Victor Davis Hanson and Orson Scott Card.

Victor Davis Hanson Ping !         Let me know if you want in or out. Links: FR Index of his articles:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson  His website: http://victorhanson.com/     NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp

 

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.

also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

[RoadTest]

"Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., for example, recently said, "I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah or for or against Israel.""

-or for or against God or for or against Satan.

[afnamvet]

Victor's piece draws a sharp focus on the Western media and it's all too apparent role as ministers of propaganda. The MSM has entered the WOT as enablers of terrorism.

[dogcaller]

John Dingleberry...'I am neither for or against Hezbollah or Israel'. This is precisely the intellectual and moral bankruptcy we can expect if the compassless Democrats regain power in the fall elections.

[bitt]

bump and ping

[GVnana]

This is precisely the intellectual and moral bankruptcy we can expect if the compassless Democrats regain power in the fall elections.

BLOAT

[TheRobb7]

"If so many of its politicians, intellectuals and media will not or cannot fathom moral differences in this war, they will hardly be able to see them anywhere else."

Someone needs to post this and re-post it in the Rush Live Thread. MAybe he'll see it and further drive the nail in........

[Valin]

Man! I wish I could disagree, but it does appear that way.

[My2Cents]

Politicians who cannot discern the differences between the two sides in this war should be considered unqualified for office.

[My2Cents]

That should be a GOP ad for this fall.

I really wish the Republicans would take off the gloves and lay into the appeaser Democrats. It makes me sick that they don't.

[Billthedrill]

One wonders if Westerners remember or know that, until Sept. 11, Hezbollah had killed more Americans than had any other terrorist organization.

It's been 23 years since then, so for folks under about, say, 30, it would be impossible to remember anyway. Hezbollah has been careful not to attack Americans since which is one reason that organization has either flown under our radar or actually been conferred legitimacy by people who don't know them better.

It proves a strategic error (but not necessarily a political one) for other Muslim radicals to persist in reminding the United States that we're their eventual target. In the absence of the disco bombing in Germany Qaddafi might have the atomic bomb by now. Had not al-Qaeda attacked New York they'd still be training armies in Afghanistan. Had they not overstepped in Riyadh that cash pipeline would still be flowing unabated.

The London bombings seem to have awakened that sleeping giant but from a distance it is difficult to tell how much and whether that much will be enough or in time. But the Madrid bombings brought in an opposition government and what amounted to capitulation. That's one for their side.

I think that history will eventually show the Islamists to have struck too soon. But even now history has rendered one verdict - we can't complain we weren't warned.

[Kenny Bunk]

What is so hard to understand? We gentlefolk of the formerly Christian West, alongside our new allies in Israel, are engaged in another chapter of the millenial struggle against Islam. Hezbollah ain't about rocket science.

OK, it is just plain embarassing to be anti-any religion for us sophisticates. However, I can deal with it, when many hundreds of millions of the members of this sect think it their Islamic duty to kill, enslave, or convert me, Al Franken, Bill Maher, and Ned Lamont. (I wouldn't wish Hillary upon even them.)

Islamic "moderates" want me usefully around, but to have no rights, live under Sharia Law, docilely pay my dhimmi tax, and then serve them in Paradise.

I am not describing a new phenomenon. Battle of Tours? Siege of Granada? Siege of Vienna? Battle of Lepanto? Crusades? Sudan? Kosovo? Ring any bells?

Democrats like this Ned Lamont don't seem to get that to be "Anti-War" when the foe so clearly wants you dead is just plain stupid. We have a 14-century history with Islam. The way to secure peace with Islam is no great mystery. It is to send very substantial numbers of Muhammed's Warriors to service the virgins in their Happy Hunting Grounds, enough so that they will not attack until they renew their generations. Just the way it is on this planet. We, and now the Israelis, are 'merely' doing civilization's normal maintenance.

Onward Christian (and Jewish) Soldiers! ¡Santiago y a ellos!

[Kenny Bunk]

Ping

[attiladhun2]

John Dingleberry has a brain both the size of and made of the same stuff as dingleberries.

[Salem]

---

Zec 12:6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.





If you'd like to be on or off this
Christian Supporters of Israel ping list,
please FR mail me ~
High Volume During IDF offensive operations!
    
MikeFromFR ~
There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had
spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45)
Letter To The President In Support Of Israel ~
'Final Solution,' Phase 2 ~
Warnings ~

"The West has given more significance to the myth of the genocide of the Jews, even more significant than God, religion, and the prophets...."—Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Holocaust Chronicle ~



" ... It's time we recognized the nature of the conflict. It's total war and we are all involved. Nobody on our side is exempted because of age, gender, or handicap. The Islamofacists have stolen childhood from the world."—FReeper Retief
"Palestine is the wrong name for their State. It should be called Anarchy."—FReeper sgtbono2002
"Then let's wait and see what the Arabs do after they take Gaza. There's nothing like Arab reality to break up a Jewish fantasy."—FReeper Noachian
A student told his professor he was going to "Palestine" to "fight for freedom, peace and justice,"—Orwellian leftist code words that mean "murder Jews."
The Nature Of Bruce ~

[Mr. Jeeves]

The MSM is infected with the mindless "white man bad; brown man good" attitudes of the 60's. Israel's Jews have become The Man in their eyes. "They are wealthier and technologically superior to Hezbollah, so they must have stolen it all! Fight the Power! Free Huey! Kill Whitey!" (LOL!)

A generation of ex-hippie pseudo-journalists and their next-generation proteges is probably going to have to die off before we see any significant improvement in MSM reporting. Thankfully, the Internet renders them irrelevant.

[bitt]

like it!

' OK, it is just plain embarassing to be anti-any religion for us sophisticates. '..............