[Rhodes22-list] Politics--Ted Koppel on Iraq

[Robert Skinner]

Thanks again, Brad.

How do you find time to dig up these 
very-much-on-target references?
I'm retired (mostly) and marvel at 
your bredth of interests and 
bibliography.

V/R Robert Skinner
----------------------------------
Brad Haslett wrote:
> 
> Robert,
> 
> You may find the attached editorial interesting as well.  It supports some
> points you made.  BTW, Friedman's book "The World Is Flat" is a great read
> on globalization.
> 
> Brad
> 
> ------------------------
> 
> [image: deseretnews.com]
> 
> Deseret Morning News, Saturday, July 22, 2006
> 
> *U.S. needs help from World of Order*
> 
> *By Thomas L. Friedman*
> 
>  TEL AVIV, Israel — There was a small item in The Jerusalem Post the other
> day that caught my eye. It said that the Israeli telephone company, Bezeq,
> was installing high-speed Internet lines in bomb shelters in northern Israel
> so Israelis could surf the Web while waiting out Hezbollah rocket attacks.
> 
> I read that story two ways: one, as symbol of Israeli resilience, a
> boundless ability to adapt to any kind of warfare. But, two, as an
> unconscious expression of what I sense people here are just starting to
> feel: This is no ordinary war, and it probably won't end soon. At a time
> when most Arab states have reconciled to Israel and their dispute is now
> about where the borders should be, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah Shiite
> militia, armed with 12,000 rockets, says borders are irrelevant. It is
> Israel that should be erased.
> 
> That's why I find, in talking to Israeli friends, a near total support for
> their government's actions — and almost a relief at the clarity of this
> confrontation and Israel's right to defend itself. Yet, at the same time, I
> find a gnawing sense of anxiety that Israel is facing in Hezbollah an enemy
> that is unabashedly determined to transform this conflict into a religious
> war — from a war over territory — and wants to do it in a way that threatens
> not only Israel but the foundations of global stability.
> 
> How so? Even though it had members in the national cabinet, Hezbollah built
> up a state-within-a state in Lebanon and then insisted on the right to
> launch its own attack on Israel that exposed the entire Lebanese nation to
> retaliation. Moreover, unprovoked, it violated an international border with
> Israel that was sanctified by the United Nations.
> 
> So this is not just another Arab-Israeli war. It is about some of the most
> basic foundations of the international order — borders and sovereignty — and
> the erosion of those foundations would spell disaster for the quality of
> life all across the globe.
> 
> Lebanon, alas, has not been able to produce the internal coherence to
> control Hezbollah and is not likely to soon. The only way this war is going
> to come to some stable conclusion anytime soon is if The World of Order —
> and I don't just mean "the West," but countries like Russia, China, India,
> Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia too — puts together an international force
> that can escort the Lebanese army to the Israeli border and remain on hand
> to protect it against Hezbollah.
> 
> I am not talking about a U.N. peacekeeping force. I am talking about an
> international force, like the one that liberated Kosovo, with robust rules
> of engagement, heavy weapons and troops from countries like France, Russia,
> India and China that Iran and its proxies will not want to fight.
> 
> Israel does not like international forces on its borders and worries they
> will not be effective. But it will be better than a war of attrition, and
> nothing would set back the forces of disorder in Lebanon more than The World
> of Order helping to extend the power of the democratically elected Lebanese
> government to its border with Israel.
> 
> Too often, assaults like Hezbollah's, which have global implications, have
> been met with only "a local response," said Gidi Grinstein, who heads Reut,
> an Israeli defense think tank. "But the only way that these networks can be
> defeated is if their global assault is met by a global response."
> 
> Unfortunately, partly because of China, Russia and Europe's traditional
> resentment and jealousy of the United States and partly because of the
> foolish President Bush approach that said unilateral America power was more
> important than action legitimated by a global consensus, the global forces
> of order today are not at all united.
> 
> It is time that The World of Order got its act together. This is not
> Israel's fight alone — and if you really want to see a "disproportional"
> Israeli response, just keep leaving Israel to fight this war alone. Then you
> will see some real craziness.
> 
> Bush and Condoleezza Rice need to realize that Syria on its own is not going
> to press Hezbollah — in Bush's immortal words — to just "stop doing this
> s---." The Bush team needs to convene a coalition of The World of Order. If
> it won't, it should let others more capable do the job. We could start with
> the elder George Bush and Bill Clinton, whose talents could be used for more
> than just tsunami relief.
> 
> The forces of disorder — Hezbollah, al-Qaida, Iran — are a geopolitical
> tsunami that we need a united front to defeat. And that united front needs
> to be spearheaded by American leaders who understand that our power is most
> effective when it is legitimated by a global consensus and imbedded in a
> global coalition.
> 
>  ------------------------------
> 
>  *New York Times News Service*
> ------------------------------
> 
> (c) 2006 Deseret News Publishing Company
> 
> On 7/22/06, Robert Skinner <robert at squirrelhaven.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Brad, thank you for the Hanson article.  It is a very
> > interesting and relatively coherent analysis of the
> > current dynamics in the Middle East.  If you take as
> > a postulate that Bush had as his initial intent the
> > destabilization of the Iran-Iraq detante and the
> > exposure of the jihadist sociopathy, then you could
> > make an argument for his foreign policy.
> >
> > As for me, I believe that even a blind pig can find
> > an acorn now and then.  To me, it is likely that
> > the situation and options that Hanson describes are
> > more the result of good luck than prescient planning.
> >
> > Whatever the causes, however we arrived at this point,
> > I'm all for loosing the hounds on the jihadists.  I
> > have been and still am of the opinion that vandals of
> > any origin are the true enemies of peace, and the
> > current group has weapons of far greater power than
> > any before.  I am sure that many misbegotten
> > psychopaths are dreaming of the day when they can
> > drive a nuke or dirty bomb into Manhattan.
> >
> > I'd say that any nation who actively advocates the
> > obliteration of another nation or supports another
> > with that goal (including our own) has no business
> > with nukes.  Further, any nation that has a
> > territorial boundary issue with another (including
> > our own) and refuses to submit the issue to
> > international arbitration is on the ragged edge of
> > outlawry.
> >
> > As Stephen Hawking observes (paraphrasing), if we
> > continue to fight over who owns this ball, there
> > won't be a ball to fight over.
> >
> > /Robert Skinner
> >
> > Brad Haslett wrote:
> > >
> > > You may recall the discussion we had a couple of years ago after the US
> > sold
> > > some bunker busting bombs to Israel.  It is my hope that before the
> > shooting
> > > stops in the current fight,  Israel "tests" a couple of these on Iran's
> > > nuclear reactor.  Here is Victor Hansen's latest assessment.
> > >
> > > Brad
> > >
> > > Private Papers
> > > www.victorhanson.com
> > >
> > > *July 21, 2006**
> > > **A Strange War**
> > > Israel is at last being given an opportunity to unload on jihadists.*
> > > by Victor Davis Hanson
> > > *National Review Online*
> > >
> > > *S*um up the declarations of Hezbollah's leaders, Syrian diplomats,
> > Iranian
> > > nuts, West Bank terrorists, and Arab commentators — and this latest
> > Middle
> > > East war seems one of the strangest in a long history of strange
> > conflicts.
> > > For example, have we ever witnessed a conflict in which one of the
> > > belligerents — Iran — that shipped thousands of rockets into Lebanon,
> > and
> > > promises that it will soon destroy Israel, vehemently denies that its
> > own
> > > missile technicians are on the ground in the Bekka Valley. Wouldn't it
> > wish
> > > to brag of such solidarity?
> > >
> > > Or why, after boasting of the new targets that his lethal missiles will
> > hit
> > > in Israel , does Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ("We are ready
> > for
> > > it — war, war on every level") now harp that Israel is hitting too deep
> > into
> > > Lebanon ? Don't enemies expect one another to hit deep? Isn't that what
> > "war
> > > on every level" is all about?
> > >
> > > Meanwhile, why do the G-8 or the United Nations even talk of putting
> > more
> > > peacekeeping troops into southern Lebanon, when in the past such
> > rent-a-cops
> > > and uniformed bystanders have never stopped hostilities? Does anyone
> > > remember that it was Hezbollah who blew up French and American troops
> > who
> > > last tried to provide "stability" between the warring parties?
> > >
> > > Why do not Iran and Syria — or for that matter other Arab states — now
> > > attack Israel to join the terrorists that they have armed? Surely the
> > > two-front attack by Hamas and Hezbollah could be helped by at least one
> > > conventional Islamic military. After promising us all year that he was
> > going
> > > to "wipe out" Israel , is not this the moment for Mr. Ahmadinejad to
> > strike?
> > >
> > > And why — when Hezbollah rockets are hidden in apartment basements, then
> > > brought out of private homes to target civilians in Israel — would
> > > terrorists who exist to murder noncombatants complain that some
> > "civilians"
> > > have been hit? Would not they prefer to lionize "martyrs" who helped to
> > > store their arms?
> > >
> > > *W*e can answer these absurdities by summing up the war very briefly.
> > Iran and
> > > Syria feel the noose tightening around their necks — especially the ring
> > of
> > > democracies in nearby Afghanistan , Iraq , Turkey , and perhaps Lebanon
> > .
> > > Even the toothless U.N. finally is forced to focus on Iranian nukes and
> > > Syrian murder plots. And neither Syria can overturn the Lebanese
> > government
> > > nor can Iran the Iraqi democracy. Instead, both are afraid that their
> > > rhetoric may soon earn some hard bombing, since their "air defenses" are
> > > hardly defenses at all.
> > >
> > > So they tell Hamas and Hezbollah to tap their missile caches, kidnap a
> > few
> > > soldiers, and generally try to turn the world's attention to the
> > collateral
> > > damage inflicted on "refugees" by a stirred-up Zionist enemy.
> > >
> > > For their part, the terrorist killers hope to kidnap, ransom, and send
> > off
> > > missiles, and then, when caught and hit, play the usual victim card of
> > > racism, colonialism, Zionism, and about every other -ism that they think
> > > will win a bailout from some guilt-ridden, terrorist-frightened,
> > Jew-hating,
> > > or otherwise oil-hungry Western nation.
> > >
> > > The only difference from the usual scripted Middle East war is that this
> > > time, privately at least, most of the West, and perhaps some in the Arab
> > > world as well, want Israel to wipe out Hezbollah, and perhaps hit Syria
> > or Iran
> > > . The terrorists and their sponsors know this, and rage accordingly when
> > > their military impotence is revealed to a global audience — especially
> > after
> > > no reprieve is forthcoming to save their "pride" and "honor."
> > >
> > > After all, for every one Israeli Hezbollah kills, they lose ten. You are
> > not
> > > winning when "victory" is assessed in terms of a single hit on an
> > Israeli
> > > warship. Their ace-in-the-hole strategy — emblematic of the entire
> > pathetic
> > > Islamist way of war — is that they can disrupt the good Western life of
> > > their enemies that they are both attracted to and thus also hate. But,
> > > as Israel
> > > has shown, a Western public can be quite willing to endure shelling if
> > it
> > > knows that such strikes will lead to a devastating counter-response.
> > >
> > > *W*hat should the United States do? If it really cares about human life
> > and
> > > future peace, then we should talk ad nauseam about "restraint" and
> > > "proportionality" while privately assuring Israel the leeway to smash
> > both
> > > Hamas and Hezbollah — and humiliate Syria and Iran, who may well come
> > off
> > > very poorly from their longed-for but bizarre war.
> > >
> > > Only then will Israel restore some semblance of deterrence and
> > strengthen
> > > nascent democratic movements in both Lebanon and even the West Bank .
> > This
> > > is the truth that everyone from London to Cairo knows, but dares not
> > speak.
> > > So for now, let us pray that the brave pilots and ground commanders of
> > the
> > > IDF can teach these primordial tribesmen a lesson that they will not
> > soon
> > > forget — and thus do civilization's dirty work on the other side of the
> > > proverbial Rhine.
> > >
> > > In this regard, it is time to stop the silly slurs that American policy
> > in
> > > the Middle East is either in shambles or culpable for the present war.
> > In
> > > fact, if we keep our cool, the Bush doctrine is working. Both Afghans
> > and
> > > Iraqis each day fight and kill Islamist terrorists; neither was doing so
> > > before 9/11. Syria and Iran have never been more isolated; neither was
> > > isolated when Bill Clinton praised the "democracy" in Tehran or when an
> > > American secretary of State sat on the tarmac in Damascus for hours to
> > pay
> > > homage to Syria 's gangsters. Israel is at last being given an
> > opportunity
> > > to unload on jihadists; that was impossible during the Arafat fraud that
> > > grew out of the Oslo debacle. Europe is waking up to the dangers of
> > radical
> > > Islamism; in the past, it bragged of its aid and arms sales to terrorist
> > > governments from the West Bank to Baghdad .
> > >
> > > Some final observations on Hezbollah and Hamas. There is no longer a
> > Soviet
> > > deterrent to bail out a failed Arab offensive. There is no longer
> > empathy
> > > for poor Islamist "freedom fighters." The truth is that it is an open
> > > question as to which regime — Iran or Syria — is the greater
> > international
> > > pariah. After a recent trip to the Middle East, I noticed that the
> > > unfortunate prejudicial stares given to a passenger with an Iranian
> > passport
> > > were surpassed only by those accorded another on his way to Damascus .
> > >
> > > So after 9/11, the London bombings, the Madrid murders, the French
> > riots,
> > > the Beslan atrocities, the killings in India, the Danish cartoon
> > debacle,
> > > Theo Van Gogh, and the daily arrests of Islamic terrorists trying to
> > blow
> > > up, behead, or shoot innocent people around the globe, the world is sick
> > of
> > > the jihadist ilk. And for all the efforts of the BBC, Reuters, Western
> > > academics, and the horde of appeasers and apologists that usually bail
> > these
> > > terrorist killers out when their rhetoric finally outruns their muscle,
> > this
> > > time they can't.
> > >
> > > Instead, a disgusted world secretly wants these terrorists to get what
> > they
> > > deserve. And who knows: This time they just might.
> > >
> > > (c)2006 Victor Davis Hanson