Posted on 08/23/2003 3:51:24 AM PDT by Clive
According to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the seven-week ceasefire with Israel is over because an Israeli helicopter attacked and killed the terrorist leader who plotted the recent suicide bus-bombing that killed 20 Jews.
By most criteria, the vaunted "road map" that was supposed to lead to Mideast peace, is now a goat trail. If that. And a goat trail littered with land mines.
What does it take to convince the optimists, wishful thinkers, peace-at-any-pricers that run the U.S. state department, that "peace" cannot be imposed on those who don't want it.
Think about that.
To Palestinian militants, the "road map" and ceasefire were intact as long as it was terrorists blowing up -- not Israeli soldiers or politicians, but religious Jews, including six kids, two of them American.
That's okay, but by knocking off Abu Shanab as he and a couple of Hamas conspirators drove their car near Gaza, Israel has violated the truce, and is justification for Hamas taking revenge. Ignored is that Shanab plotted the attack on the Israeli bus.
This sort of thing has been going on for 30 years.
What does it take to convince the U.S. state department and wishful thinkers that Palestinian terrorist groups don't want peace. They want victory and Israel destroyed.
Ever since president Richard Nixon, American presidents and administrations have sought to negotiate, cajole, bribe, threaten, intimidate peace in the Mideast. All to no avail.
Even George Bush is slithering into the "peace" quagmire, which he once vowed to avoid.
A couple of points should be considered.
First, the U.S. was justified in hoping that when Mahmoud Abbas became prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, he was potentially a catalyst to end the violence. While understandable, this hope is ill-conceived.
Regardless of what Mr. Abbas may or may not want, as long as Yasser Arafat is alive and a symbol, there will be no peace. Worse, Abbas is powerless while Arafat lives.
Second, history is replete with evidence that unless there's desire for peace, it cannot be imposed peacefully.
Peace, or at least order, can be forced on to the unwilling, but that implies military action. Winners can inflict peace on the losers which, at the moment, seems the only realistic possibility for the Mideast.
Peace came to Vietnam when the North won the war, the Americans accepted defeat and the South learned to live with it.
Peace, of sorts, descended on the Balkans by force of arms. Various factions aren't fanatics and want to get on with their lives. When it was "peacekeeping," the Balkans seethed.
Eritrea earned "peace" by winning a war against Ethiopia, which learned to accept it.
There is something resembling peace in the Korean peninsula only because the South and its American ally could pulverize the North if Kim Jong Il chose to attack -- which he won't do because, while crazy, he's not stupid.
Perhaps it's time for the U.S. to admit or acknowledge defeat in the Mideast peace process. Perhaps President Bush and Congress should announce that there'll be no more "road maps," or Camp Davids, until the Palestinian Authority proves it's ready to be serious.
In the meantime, the U.S. should say loud and clear that it believes Israel wants peace, needs peace, and that whatever military action Israel feels is necessary to ensure peace, the U.S. will support, finance, and provide whatever tools or weapons are necessary.
Ruthlessness can be merciful in the long run if it deters violence.
Until the likes of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, etc. are eliminated, peace in the region is a myth.
Great point. Maybe that is an unwritten part of the 'Peace Plan' (roadmap). ;-)
It is often overlooked that de-Nazification and de-Bushidoization was not possible until the will to resist Allied invaders was crushed.
This process took years and required horrific violence to be inflicted on civilian populations, with millions of dead, maimed, and raped.
"Reoccupation" of the Palestinian territories is a simple task for IDF, and it can and no doubt will be carried out nearly bloodlessly by IDF, given the propensity of Arabs to run away.
But crushing the will of the Arabs to resist so that the will of Israel can be imposed on them is not a simple task, and will not be bloodless.
It is probably kinder to expel them than it would be to kill 2/3 of them and brutalize the rest.
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