By Mark David Blum, Esq.
If the world does not shut up and get out of the way, not only is Hezbollah going to “win” the current war, but as goes the Israelis, so go us Americans. Unless the world steps aside and lets Israel hunt down every single terrorist who wishes to do them harm, any stopping now will cause irreparable harm to be felt for two dozen generations.
I am not a bloodthirsty warrior. It is not my personality to see people dead. I disagree with my President strongly on how our national policies have been directed in response to September 11th. It is also no secret that on many occasion, I have been openly hostile to the politics and policies of the government of Israel.
But, I have to play the cards I am dealt and thus I am forced to demand that the world leave Israel alone and let them finish the job they started. To an Israeli, Hezbollah is a terrorist organization bent on Israel’s destruction. Lebanon is the country that gives these terrorists a safe haven. Syria and Iran, among others, are offering funding, manpower, and armaments. As an American, I wholly sympathize with Israel because it is not difficult to substitute Al Qaeda for Hezbollah and Afghanistan for Lebanon to see the moral justification of ridding the planet of this threat once and for all.
However strongly I disagree with my President on the question of Iraq, the issue of Afghanistan was never in dispute. That nation gave safe harbor to those who had taken strong criminal action against us. Bombing them back into the stone age was a “moral cause”. So too is the Israeli assault upon Hezbollah a just cause for all the same reasons.
Three decades ago, having seen first hand the Israeli model of response to terrorism, I cheered them. Blood for blood, eye for an eye, and overwhelming collective punishment was the typical response. Yet, for 30 years, the situation has worsened. Israelis gave up more freedom and peace of mind for security and defense to the point that though we tout them as a ‘democracy’, theirs is a police state like any other.
Subsequent to the attacks here in the United States in 2001, our initial knee-jerk reaction was to mimic the Israeli model. First, we wrongly assumed “terrorism” was a religious or social theory advancing a political agenda. In reality, “terrorism” is just a military tactic used over the millennia where weaker less supplied forces defend against invaders. Call it guerilla warfare or an insurgency. Ultimately, it is the native population’s response to stronger alien invaders.
In treating terrorism itself as an ideology, our national attitude shifted to one that reacted to ‘terrorism’ with the same zeal as we did to communism, Hitler, and even King George. We did all we could to defend against “terrorism” and set off on a worldwide crusade to eradicate it.
Obviously, that tactic did not work. The Taliban are back in Afghanistan and soldiers are dying again. (Notably too is that they are being financed by opium distribution; once banned under their regime). Iraq is fast turning into a national disaster. Only the Israelis are now fighting the so-called war on terrorism. America is fighting to defend itself from an insurgency in Iraq.
So yes, we have followed the Israeli model. It did not work in Israel and if you have any doubts, look back 30 years in history and see how effective their policies have been at stopping the problem. American soldiers face the same hazards in Iraq; except they are the alien invaders.
No number of homicide bombers or falling airplanes can change us as a people or end our government. Ours is a nation that to the last person, will carry the spirit of the constitution and battles for liberty fought over the centuries. Killing three thousand of us in one day proved that we are just too big in spirit, size, and power to be destroyed militarily. Even Abraham Lincoln early on recognized that no foreign power will ever have boots on the banks of the Ohio River; that which will destroy us will come from within.
But the terrorists used weapons far more effective than any dirty bomb. They used fear. Where they failed through violence, they won through legislation. Freedom has been lost not because the Pentagon was attacked but because freedom was attacked through such entities as the Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security, closing the borders, the Gitmo and Abu Ghraib sagas, airport searches, and invasions of privacy at every level of government. This is all done in the name of security. These are the weapons of terrorism; attacking one’s own people.
Likewise, we have surrendered our soul. Screaming meanies like Mel Gibson, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly and the rest of the bloodthirsty theo con militia now speak for the heart and soul of America. ‘Anger’ and ‘revenge’ and the politics of “attack--attack--attack” has become who we are as a community.
It is not the terrorists, but we who have changed our society. We are allowing the poison of the extremist ideology to infect our hearts and souls. What we call “terrorists”, are nothing more than extremists of one political ideology or another. Be they Islamic Terrorists, IRA, or Rudolph and McVeigh; it is the extremist who is the enemy of freedom loving people. Extremists in government do not get a free pass. Having learned from the Senator Durbin fiasco; not being as bad as Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot or Josef Stalin has become the new standard for who we are as a People.
What extremists could not with their bombs, we have done to ourselves. We are surrendering our rights. We are starting to factionalize and mistrust our own. Half our nation hates the other half. Few trust the government or the media or academia to tell the truth. We are closing our borders to our oldest friends and building giant fences guarded by the militia. We are isolating ourselves from the world community. What was once the bright shining star of nations is dulling from the tarnish of blood and despair.
Look at the Israeli model to see how this all plays out. Generation after generation of attacks will keep coming. The attacks will be more sophisticated and violent. Our children and theirs will grow up in a world of mistrust, fear and revenge. The natural instinct to punish and retaliate against weaker opponents begins to give the impression of being a bully. Over the years, the nation works harder to make herself safer and the only real result is further isolation and condemnation in the international community.
Second, American society is transitioning to one without privacy. Everything done, every movement made, every thought written, and every word read is being scanned and investigated. Reporters are going to prison. People strip down to their skivvies just to get on an airplane. Privacy and personal liberty is being replaced with security-first policies. Israeli citizens have very little freedom left – oops, I meant Americans.
Heavily armed soldiers are now present on our subways and trains and busses. Is this the world you want to live in? Do you really want to stare down the barrel of an M-16 every morning on your way to work? Israelis do. I hate it.
Third, being the nation that gave the world security after the second world war, the Berlin airlift, massive aid and assistance, and the internet … is now a nation that is feeding upon its own. American citizens are being held indefinitely without lawyer, trial, or even charges. We are prosecuting common criminals under terrorism statutes. The Patriot Act, intended for terrorist investigations has been used to for routine criminal matters. Every day, Senators like Rick Santorum and Charles Schumer call for more police powers, more restrictions, and more laws … not aimed at getting terrorists, but rather targeting normal everyday American life. Have you tried to enter into a public building without having to show identification (as if identification is going to say TERRORIST TERRORIST TERRORIST).
The terrorists have won because we gave them the victory. Instead of punishing ourselves because “they” are did wrong; go get “them”. There are so many more of us than there are of them. Punish the attackers, chase them down and slaughter them like dogs. We have to stop killing our own. Too many Americas are dying in Iraq.
I say return America to Her original intentions. One nation of free people unrestricted in thought and action; a nation of human beings with hearts and compassion and a desire to make a better world. We should care about all those who die from brutality; whether they be from Rwanda or Baghdad. Recognizing one and ignoring the other is pure unadulterated racism and exposes the true blackness currently enveloping the American heart.
To hell with the terrorists. They don’t scare me – at least not enough for me to want to give up my freedom. The odds are against them; unless we join their team.
Today, the best thing we can do is sit still and let the Israelis do their job. If we or the world stops Israel and intervenes while there is still a single Hezbollah fighter alive, then it will all be for naught. ‘Hate’ and ‘Anger’ are infectious and a lot of people are making money and gaining power by spreading this disease called religious fundamentalism. The time has come to demand unconditional surrender … or death.
