Posted on 08/11/2006 2:49:18 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Scotland Yard’s magnificent “catch” on the planned bombing of six trans-Atlantic flights, reminds us that the West is NOT fighting a “war on terror.” Terror is a tactic in the war radical Islamic fundamentalists are waging against democratic societies, and our war is against terrorists and the states that harbor and support them.
Israel’s battle proves that terrorists need the attributes provided by states in order to maximize the damage they can pose. Hezbollah has thousands of long and medium range missiles, which they are shooting at Israel from Lebanese soil. Hezbollah has (actually had) more than 100 facilities/offices/bases/depots in Beirut, Lebanon. Hezbollah has bunkers under Lebanese towns and villages and puts its rocket launchers right in the middle of Lebanese civilians who provide (mostly-unwilling) cover against Israeli retaliation. Hezbollah has arms, training and money provided by governments of Syria and Iran. Hezbollah has political support from those three countries and others in the Arab world as well as seats in the Lebanese Parliament.
What would Hezbollah be without the territory, arms, money, training and political support? What would it be if it had no Lebanese civilians among which to hide? It would still be Hezbollah and would still hate Israel and America, but its ability to inflict damage would be much less. So Israel fights NOT to kill each terrorist (although knocking off leadership is important), but to dislodge the organization from its territorial base and remove the props. One state, Lebanon, has felt the effect. Syria and Iran may have to feel it as well before Hezbollah is defanged.
Those two countries are responsible for much of the support of terrorism in Iraq as well – aimed now mainly at Iraqi civilians. While the U.S. and the Iraqi army do their best to provide space for the elected government, Iran sponsors Shi’ite irredentism and Syria is a haven for terrorists of a variety of stripes. Both countries make territory, arms and passage into Iraq available.
Why? Because they believe they will not be held accountable. The goal of the West, then, must be to ensure that governments that encourage and support terrorism are not able to disassociate themselves from their responsibility.
Britain has a different sort of problem. While the British government certainly does not actively support terrorism, terrorists take advantage of the attributes of democratic countries to plan and train. Britain and other democratic societies have to balance freedom with the need to root out evil.
So we end with British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, howling mad that the U.S. stopped at Prestwick Airport on a flight to supply Israel with bunker-buster bombs. Would she prefer that Israel leave Hezbollah in the bunkers in Lebanese territory? If so, she fails to understand that Israel and Britain - and the rest of us - face the same threat, organized and instigated by states that harbor and support terrorists. We ought to face it together.
Simply put, the West is fighting against proxies of the SCO. We ought to destroy all of them, then tell the SCO they are next.
Bttt!
We're fighting against Islam, you guys can run around the bush all day (no pun intended) and dance around terminology such as "radical" Islam, "hijacked" Islam and other idiotic mealy-mouth labels but it's a "holy war" in their minds and they have simply stated that they are going to eradicate Jews and Christians.
I don't plan on going down easy, and I don't plan on having them answer a questionaire whether they tacitly support terrorism or they carry a bomb--ain't gonna happen.
Has anyone heard a thundering denunciation of these acts from our wonderful Muslims in the U.S.? Thought not. Point made.
The West is fighting? Coulda fooled me.
Nope, they're b-tching about having a fair trial for the terrorists.
ping
I think that Bush spoke of the "WOT" initially because he was afraid that vigilantes, militia, and just plain pisssed off people would attack innocents. (Some Sikhs were attacked after 911 as I remember.)
But we are fighting Islamism and to a large extent Islam itself. Eventually the so-called moderate Muslims will need to side with us or at least be more afraid of us than they are afraid of the jihadists.
I think Bush made a good move in that direction by naming Islamic fascism.
bttt
I agree... Muslims are too ideologically diverse to call the WOT a holy war. Those that do are feeding into similar media distortions that are facilitated by Al-Jazzera and Al-Manar. What most Westerners know of Islam is related to terrorist violence discussed in Western Media. There are many non-violent dimensions to the cultures and subcultures where Islam is the predominant religion. It is a fact that those dimensions rarely make their way into Western media. Even if they do happen to find their way into an educational segment, you can bet that its coverage is not accompanied by the same drama that naturally comes with a story about blood, guts and death. There is no conspiracy here, that’s just how the brain works. It’s a dangerous cycle with consequences. Bush made a good move to call a duck a duck, so to speak, but a difficult one. He’s fighting an uphill battle against a commonsense perception. It is essential that he and others take leadership on this because there are leaders in the Muslim world who accentuate violence to increase their power, in the name of Islam. They seek to dominate the globe to forge their utopia at the expense of every one else, including other Muslims. That’s fascism, no doubt about it.
I recall the President calling out all of the countries that harbor or support terrorists in the beginning. I am amazed to see that they are still carrying on with business as usual.
Yes, I agree, he's getting closer and of course I know that he knows better but he needs to just trust the Am. people that they can "handle it", just be up front.
You reminded me of the assault on the Sikhs, more dips (the thugs attacking) not paying attention and knowing what they're doing--dangerous.
bttt
bttt
ping
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.