Some of the liberals in Israel who advocated withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 are now admitting they were wrong. They see the current conflict as unavoidable, a struggle to prevent the destruction of Israel and the deaths of themselves and their fellow citizens. One of liberals who advocated withdrawal said that she thought that economic prosperity in Lebanon through engagement would help to insure peace. What she didn't realize is that Hezbollah would never allow economic prosperity to take hold. Instead, Hezbollah destroyed the market and destroyed the means whereby Lebonese could become prosperous through violence, fomenting ethnic tensions, and by putting all sorts of restrictions and controls on commerce, especially with Israel. Then they used money from Iran and Syria to make the Lebanese population dependent on them through various types of "welfare" or with positions in the Hezbollah organization.
In that sense Hezbollah operates exactly like the American Democratic Party -- hamstring the economy with taxes and regulations, make it impossible for most people to get a leg up, foment class and ethnic tensions, and then make the people dependent on you by giving them other people's money.
It's no wonder that there's so much sympathy among liberals and leftists for the terrorists.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Israel Has Found It
At this point the UN or someone is supposed to step in and save the terrorists so that they can go off, regroup, and then strike Israel again later. That's what happened in 1982 when the IDF had Arafat's PLO surrounded in Beirut. They could have wiped the PLO out, but instead they agreed to let them escape to Tunisia. And the rest is history recurring again and again.
Kofi Annan is trying to do a repeat of that, but Israel will have none of it this time. Israel will not be taking advice from the likes of Russia and France. Instead they are preparing along the lines of Colin Powell's classic battle plan, "First we cut them off, then we kill them." The bombing of ports and air strips is the cutting off part. The killing part is coming.
Iran and Syria, for their part, show no signs of wanting to leap to Hezbollah's defense.
At this point we should all pretty much know that it's not the occupied territories but the existence of Israel itself that is the "problem" in the Middle East. All that diplomacy and all of those concessions were offered to people who were bargaining in bad faith the whole time. Israel has given up territory for peace only to see it used to stage more terrorist attacks.
So now it's time to take care of business. Hopes for peace through diplomacy are dead in Israel. Instead the people are united and of one purpose behind the government's determination to secure the northern border once and for all.
Kofi Annan is trying to do a repeat of that, but Israel will have none of it this time. Israel will not be taking advice from the likes of Russia and France. Instead they are preparing along the lines of Colin Powell's classic battle plan, "First we cut them off, then we kill them." The bombing of ports and air strips is the cutting off part. The killing part is coming.
Iran and Syria, for their part, show no signs of wanting to leap to Hezbollah's defense.
At this point we should all pretty much know that it's not the occupied territories but the existence of Israel itself that is the "problem" in the Middle East. All that diplomacy and all of those concessions were offered to people who were bargaining in bad faith the whole time. Israel has given up territory for peace only to see it used to stage more terrorist attacks.
So now it's time to take care of business. Hopes for peace through diplomacy are dead in Israel. Instead the people are united and of one purpose behind the government's determination to secure the northern border once and for all.
Monday, July 10, 2006
The Whole Story From Iraq
Let me summarize the mainstream media coverage of Iraq for you:
1. Car bombs!
2. Soldiers rape Iraqis!
Having gotten that out of the way, you might want to know some particulars from the rest of the story:
1. Oil production in Iraq is up, and three weeks ago insurgent activity against oil production dropped to almost nothing, which accelerates the production time scale.
2. The insurgency is crumbling, according to Marine commanders, who describe the insurgents as "disorganized and ineffective."
3. The Iraqi Army has taken charge of all security operations in northern Iraq.
4. Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have responded to offers of amnesty. The US military has moved to encourage these agreements, which depend on the eventual withdrawal of US troops. General Casey has outlined a plan of sharp troop reductions, and the White House has confirmed the plan.
5. Work on new electrical power and water facilities is complete or near completion. Disruption of services by insurgent activity has been decreasing.
6. Violence is not widespread in Iraq, according to the military. Almost all violence is confined to the Baghdad area, and even there the level of violence is declining.
7. Several more insurgent leaders have been killed or captured, including one of the people involved in the bombing of the Golden Dome mosque.
1. Car bombs!
2. Soldiers rape Iraqis!
Having gotten that out of the way, you might want to know some particulars from the rest of the story:
1. Oil production in Iraq is up, and three weeks ago insurgent activity against oil production dropped to almost nothing, which accelerates the production time scale.
2. The insurgency is crumbling, according to Marine commanders, who describe the insurgents as "disorganized and ineffective."
3. The Iraqi Army has taken charge of all security operations in northern Iraq.
4. Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have responded to offers of amnesty. The US military has moved to encourage these agreements, which depend on the eventual withdrawal of US troops. General Casey has outlined a plan of sharp troop reductions, and the White House has confirmed the plan.
5. Work on new electrical power and water facilities is complete or near completion. Disruption of services by insurgent activity has been decreasing.
6. Violence is not widespread in Iraq, according to the military. Almost all violence is confined to the Baghdad area, and even there the level of violence is declining.
7. Several more insurgent leaders have been killed or captured, including one of the people involved in the bombing of the Golden Dome mosque.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Netroots
David Brooks, writing on the netroots phenomenon:
...We're talking about the netsroots [sic] ... people generated by the Daily Kos and other web sites-- I find privately most of the Democrats despise those people because of the way they practice politics so viciously that they don't want to get in the crosshairs. And they don't want to offend the liberal base of primary voters.
So, the ultra left wing nut cases have buffaloed the leaders of the party.
But over the past few years [Lieberman] has been subjected to a vituperation campaign that only experts in moral manias and mob psychology are really fit to explain. I can't reproduce the typical assaults that have been directed at him over the Internet, because they are so laced with profanity and ugliness, but they are ginned up by ideological masseurs who salve their followers' psychic wounds by arousing their rage at objects of mutual hate.
Brooks elaborated on how absurd the claims by the netroots are concerning Lieberman:
So these days, for example, one hears that Lieberman is a crypto-conservative, a Bible-Belter. In reality, of course, this is a man who has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign. He has a Christian Coalition rating of 0.
All that is necessary for evil to thriumph is for good people to do nothing. So it is that over the past few years polarizers have dominated Congress because people who actually represent most Americans have been too timid or intellectually vacuous to stand up. Even today many Democrats who privately despise the netroots lie low, hoping the anger won't be directed at them. So it is that the monsters of history have risen to power.
http://newsbusters.org/node/6328
...We're talking about the netsroots [sic] ... people generated by the Daily Kos and other web sites-- I find privately most of the Democrats despise those people because of the way they practice politics so viciously that they don't want to get in the crosshairs. And they don't want to offend the liberal base of primary voters.
So, the ultra left wing nut cases have buffaloed the leaders of the party.
But over the past few years [Lieberman] has been subjected to a vituperation campaign that only experts in moral manias and mob psychology are really fit to explain. I can't reproduce the typical assaults that have been directed at him over the Internet, because they are so laced with profanity and ugliness, but they are ginned up by ideological masseurs who salve their followers' psychic wounds by arousing their rage at objects of mutual hate.
Brooks elaborated on how absurd the claims by the netroots are concerning Lieberman:
So these days, for example, one hears that Lieberman is a crypto-conservative, a Bible-Belter. In reality, of course, this is a man who has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign. He has a Christian Coalition rating of 0.
All that is necessary for evil to thriumph is for good people to do nothing. So it is that over the past few years polarizers have dominated Congress because people who actually represent most Americans have been too timid or intellectually vacuous to stand up. Even today many Democrats who privately despise the netroots lie low, hoping the anger won't be directed at them. So it is that the monsters of history have risen to power.
http://newsbusters.org/node/6328
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