And do the same to Hamas, too.

That is the proposal of libertarian columnist Vin Suprynowicz, who acknowledges that war is a terrible thing and should be avoided in most instances.

But there are two major exceptions.

Rather than live as slaves, rather than watch our loved ones picked off one at a time while we stand by and do nothing, it is better to risk our lives -- and to kill as many of the enemy as humanly possible, by whatever means -- until such danger is decisively eliminated. It is better to respond to aggression by going to war. Not "going to social work." War, as in, "If everything around you is exploding, that's probably us."

Indeed, demanding cease-fires and temporary truces allows one side to initiate war with impunity, knowing that it will never be permitted to lose. Instead, those who cry "Peace!" will serve as the guarantors that there is no cost to unpovoked aggression by a weak party seeking to improve its position vis-a-vis a stronger and more restrained neighbor.

War in the Middle East has been a constant for some 58 years, since the founding of the modern state of Israel. That state has survived endless assaults upon its people and territory, but has never been allowed to follow through on its right to guarantee its own security by crushing its enemies. Instead, international pressure has been the basis for providing succor to the enemies of the Jewish state. The result has been more war and a constant threat to Israel's survival.

If war is evil, how much more evil is it to impose on anyone an endless stop-and-start war, which the righteous and aggrieved victim is never allowed to pursue to a victorious end -- the aggressor always allowed to rest and refit and then to come again at a time of his choosing, pecking relentlessly at the victim's liver?

Some will say Israel has committed aggression simply by existing. But to say that is to violate the U.N. charter, which guarantees the right of all member states to exist.

"But the Palestinians have no state!" the war-lovers cry.

Sure they do. It's called Jordan. In fact, the Palestinian Arabs got by far the larger part of the old British protectorate of Palestine -- and no one attacked them for daring to set up an essentially one-religion nation where Jews find scant welcome. The masses now huddled around the borders of Israel were kicked out by King Hussein in 1972 after they tried to overthrow him. How is that Israel's fault?

The defeatists cry that "Nothing can be accomplished by violence; war only breeds more terrorists who will fight forever."

Really? Sixty years later, is America still under attack by the aggrieved suicide-belted grandchildren of the Germans and Japanese whose cities we flattened and burned to rubble in '44 and '45?

No. Because wars usually do resolve these issues -- if one side is allowed to fight to a decisive victory. It's just that the pink petticoat gang shriek hysterically and threaten to faint dead away when confronted with the reality of how real wars really end.

Someone raises a white flag, and promises to fight no more if only you'll give the survivors some food and water and stop burning them out of their holes. Many of the conquered women marry the conqueror's soldiers and move home with them, giving up their native dress and learning to drive Buicks.

Israel can and has made peace with its neighbors. Nearly three decades ago, the actions of Begin and Sadat proved that. So, too, did the decision of King Hussein to follow the path that resulted in his grandfathers murder -- for Jordan and Israel are at peace as well. But when one side is unambiguously opposed to peace, no good can come of giving in to peaceful impulses -- for the end is ever the same.

But things could be different.

Today, Hezbollah and Hamas have a problem. All their planning was based on the fact that the world and the United States have never allowed Israel to really win a war -- they always call a cease-fire after a maximum of 20 days.

Can anyone see the terrorists looking around now, wondering when they get their next three years off for rest, refit and resupply? "Hey, it's been the full three weeks. Guys? Anyone? Hello?"

We started out saying war is horrible and is to be avoided whenever possible. But there is a corollary doctrine. If you want a generation of peace, those who launch wars have to be shown this, good and hard.

And that means forcing Hezbollah to its knees in southern Lebanon and Hamas in the territory it controls. That means a stark refusal to make nice when the world community demands it -- for the destruction of these two forces will not only pacify them in the long run, but may also have a salutary effect on those who seek to harm Israel while counting on being shielded by the international pacifist movement.

Posted by: Greg at 07:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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