People believe what they want to

And that’s what leads me to believe that the world is chuck-full of anti-Semites. They want to believe Israel commits war crimes. They suck it up like tapioca. It used to be that non-Western countries believed everything propagandists told them. Well, now it’s the West that likes fairy tales.

Has anybody remembered that Hamas is listed by the European Union and the United States government as being a terrorist organization? Forbid to think that terrorist organizations would commit war crimes. That a terror group would repeatedly violate the Geneva Convention. Oh–but that’s ok, because it’s not us.  The Palestinians have made their choice. They chose unwisely–yet again.

It’s starting to look  more and more like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World everyday.

The Myth of Proportionate Warfare

Muffling the screams of the Israeli jet engines over Gaza , protests decrying the Israeli response to Hamas’ rocket attacks as not proportionate, now fill the air.

 

     What some of these well-meaning activists don’t seem to consider, is the strategic necessity of disproportionate damage to an enemy’s war-fighting capabilities. When a country lends blood and treasure to fighting, that country’s leadership should have in mind exactly what it intends to accomplish. All military means must be brought to bear in order to see the political goals through. In the case of Israel ’s recent invasion of Gaza , the goal is clear: To put an end to Hamas’ rocket attacks, or more specifically, to stop the attacks by destroying as much of Hamas’ equipment and killing as many of its operatives as possible. The goal is not punishment, but decisive victory.

 

     When looking at historical wars, consider proportion. The more equally matched the opposing forces were, the longer and bloodier the fighting tended to be. As two equally matched wrestlers must expend all their energies so that the slightest advantage is gained, so in war does parity impel nations and armies to send more men to the thresher of battle.

A balance of power may well keep the peace, but if the peace is broken it is an oblique evil to intentionally limit your ability to win. Only those conveniently distant—either ideologically or geographically– from the battle, propose “ramping down” an army’s ability to defeat the enemy. It is in this holding back that men’s lives are thrown away for nothing, their blood spilled and nothing of value accomplished.

 

     Shattering the myth of proportionate warfare’s morality, the Iran-Iraq war stands in relevant and stark relief. Two armies of equal strength smashed themselves against one another for eight years. One million souls and half a trillion dollars later, the withered forces withdrew from a pointless fight. Iran and Iraq were not equal because they wanted to be. The countries cast everything into their fight. But to ask a soldier to intentionally make himself equal to his enemy, is to ask too much.

 

    Israel must bring its combat forces to focus. It must ignore even the most well-meaning calls for proportion, while doing all it can to minimize civilian casualties. If it quits the fight before Hamas’ military capabilities are destroyed, Israel will have only emboldened her enemies, wasted the lives of its soldiers and innocent Palestinian civilians, and resurrected the specter of its 2006 war with Hezbollah.

 

 

 

As Hamas fractures, Israel pushes for a decisive victory.

It appears that Israel has well-learned the lessons of 2006, when it waged war against Hezbollah in the streets of Lebanon.

Israeli leadership has steeled itself against the deluge of negative headlines and terrible (and oft-times faked) photos of what war really is. Hamas pushed too far, this time, hardening the will–the weapon-primus–of the Jewish state, and almost guaranteeing that Gaza’s people will be forced to choose a new government. This one is about to be smashed into a million pieces.

Hamas is scrambling for a cease-fire, but their bluff has been called. They’ve cheated one too many times, and now they teeter on extinction.

And what shall we see when Hamas meets its end? Will the protests against Israeli ”attrocities” get louder, shriller?

No. Because decisive victory is what silences the bored bloggers and politically distant sign-toters. There’ll be a deafening silence, just as there was when America quelled the Iraqi insurgency. We’ll hear the wind blowing, the leaves ruffling and the crickets creaking.

That is why there is no substitute for victory. Let future leaders  learn from Iraq and Gaza. The best way to defeat enemies domestic and abroad is to calmly go about doing your business, knowing that there will always be dissent. And that the dissenters are in many cases those who would ask of others what they themselves would never consider doing themselves. If there were people across the street on which they lived, shooting at their house, the dissenters would call the police, who are endowed with the legal authority to use force to bring order and enforce the law. But when aggression takes place in far-off lands, the dissenter feels empowered to beg restraint–and then brings out the tired old accusations of fascism and attrocity if a state’s military is used to end aggression.

Obama inherits a Not-So-New World Order

Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments. ~Frederick the Great

 

Here we go.

Obama’s off to a tough start. His pick for Treasury Secretary has lost his moral authority, Leon Panetta has no experience in a field which is incredibly complex and has immediate and powerful consequences.

Israel–whatever Obama decides is the proper course of action in Gaza– will remain a country that strongly divides Obama’s own constituents; Many liberal Jews for instance support Israel’s actions, while the “War is Never the Answer” crowd despise Israel.

Russia will continue to test the world’s limits, seeking an identity that convinces its people that the years between 1965 and 1990 were the Good ‘Ol Days. Every failing culture has to remember the Good ‘Ol Days, because the Right Now Days are bitter and it’s too painful to admit one’s own guilt.

Our southern neighbor, Mexico, teeters on the verge of collapse, and is getting little media attention. Narco-terrorists, governmental corruption and impending finacial disaster have colluded to bring down a country that was once considerd hopeful.

International terrorism, or more plainly put–the global jihadist movement–will continue to threaten the United States, and even more so–Europe. Europe is still slumbering after a half-decade of American military protection. Under Obama’s term, I believe that we will witness several major attacks against Europe from Islamist extremists.

Then there’s the economy…

All of the finger pointers can’t hide. The world knows who you are, because you’ve trumpeted your message for so long and with so much hyperbolic vitriol. Those who blamed Bush for their plugged toilets and burnt toast will soon get a firm dose of reality. The world is a bad place, and when one takes the seat of the toughest job in the world, it all comes caving in on you. The finger pointers will lie, they’ll try to hide, they’ll make excuses for what happens to America and the world over the next 4-8 years. That won’t change the truth.

So this new world–which bears a striking resemblance to the same world I’ve lived in for 37 years–is now Obama’s to manage. The near-impotent State Department will continue to put on a smart charade, to which ultra-leftists can applaud. But in the end, only the strong survive.

Israel invades Gaza.

A man cannot lay down the right of resisting them that assault him by force, to take away his life. ~ Thomas Hobbes

To my admitted surprise, Israel has wisely committed ground forces to Gaza, resisting the urge at a self-congratulatory admiration of their air power’s fireworks.

Men and boots get real work done.

Hamas will use civilians and sacred areas as a defense. Not only will this hinder Israeli attempts at killing militants, it will also be food for fawning cameras should the civilians be killed. There will be no photos of dead Israeli soldiers. Only, limp children in the arms of crying mothers, only the torn bodies of Hamas militants splayed on stretchers. What could be a trillion words will be reduced to a thousand–in a single photo of a leveled mosque or a school reduced to pebbles.

Many will secretly hope that Israel fails in its quest to destroy Hamas, all the while spouting hollow words about Zionist attrocities and conspiracies. They may as well present us with the updated version of, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Most of these people don’t really want peace, they want Israel to lose, and peace can be the simple and convenient tool of the hatemonger.

Palestinians will be better off with Hamas gone.

Relevent article from back in July.

https://magus71.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/the-medias-unceasing-war-on-america/

I wrote this back in July, but I think it fits the situation we’re seeing in Gaza.

The biggest lie

The lie has been told since before I knew it was a lie. It’s been told since I cared that it was a lie. The biggest lie was uttered, in various shades of grey, (but many times it was just black), for thousands of years. Now, people who pretend to be sympathetic to the suffering of others are uttering the lie–again.

The Jews are committing attrocities.

Really, has another lie survived as long as this one? been told as many times and in as many ways throughout history?

These liars, these sly-foxes–defend Hamas. Hamas–they strap bombs to the bodies of Palestinian teenagers, and intoxicate with dreams of virgins and grapes. Hamas, who uses it’s own people, sacred buildings, schools, as shields against reprisal attacks.

This Hamas is whom the liars defend.

The cruelest attrocities, the most wanton destruction and evils that can pour from men’s minds have been unsheathed against the Jewish people, as recorded in the tomes of culture new and ancient.

Nebuchadnezzar, Ramses, Pompey, Nero, Hitler, Stalin. These all uttered the biggest lie.

No populace is ever devoid of guilt at some level. Purity is the thing of fantasy.
But the Israeli people want peace. They have removed themselves from Gaza–from the land that belongs to Israel and Israel alone. They gave it to the Palestinians, who in turn converted it into a terrorist enclave. Palestinians have rejected the offer of a state of their own, on several occasions, and instead commenced to carry out the charter of Hamas: The destruction of all jews.  They elected Hamas to lead them, and Hamas leads them down a road that will dead-end in their destruction. The willingly walk that road.

Hamas predictably gains the sympathy of Left. But Israel must push on.

The worst thing, that can happen as this article points out is that Israel should suffer from the international disaproval that always comes when a country invades another and then, not acheive its military goals. Hamas must be extinguished. Israel must push through the castagations of tie-dyers. Easy answers are plyed on easy problems. Easy this isn’t.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. What was Hamas’ response? Over 6000 rockets rained onto Israeli civilians. They had their chance, and in classic Arab fashion, they fouled it up. Now, the only people they have for allies are people who would never fight for them in the first place.

The best military writer in the business agrees with me

Ralph Peters makes the same point I made in my previous article on Israel and Hamas: To end the terror, Israel must sweep Gaza with ground troops and commit to an aggressive, full-on invasion of the territory.

It won’t happen, but it should.

In the real world, Israel must destroy, not just hurt its enemies.

The policy of containment will not work for Israel. Containment rarely works and it drains money and morale. Media entities rush to the defense of the punished aggressors.

Israel did what many peace activists asked it to do. It backed off. It gave and gave. But Hamas’ reason for existence is the destruction of Israel. All of the peace signs and tie-dye in the world will not stop Arab extremists.

Over and over we can see through history, that merely stinging the nose of an opponent in war only leads a motivated enemy to believe that a jab is the best you’ve got. What you usually need is a left hook. Then a cross. And if need be–a blasting uppercut.

George Orwell once said: “The quickest way to end a war is to lose it.”

Israel’s recent response to Hamas’ rocket attacks must be overwhelming, to the point that even Western allies stand in shock. War serves a political purpose. That purpose is to bring about peace by breaking the will of your enemy, and the damage you do to him must far outweigh what he has done to you. Otherwise, he still thinks he has a chance. And sometimes it’s a chance that you’ve handed to him, just like America did to North Vietnam.

The Holy Land needs a Decisive War. Israel must strike at their opponent’s center of gravity and stop pitter-pattering around. Yes, it will be painful, because the media will portray them as unjust. But the words of pundits will be less painful then the next few decades will be, if newly energized extremists are allowed to attack at will.