War on Terror is Lost

[Michael Z]

The current Israel/Hezbollah skirmish is the tipping-point in the War on Terror.

If it wasn’t already clear, Israel’s lack of will to fight (mirroring the US lack of will)

Um, what?

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Oh, so it is a war against Islam. Thanks for clearing that up.

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No sweeping generalisations there, nuh-uh.

This post says more about the mindset of the far right than it does about the state of the War on Terror, and I personally find the Christian fundamentalists, with their wishes for an Apocalypse (Rapture) just as frightening and unsettling as the likes of Al-Qaeda, as they both want the same thing: a religiously inspired apocalypse in the name of fulfilling "prophecies".

[Michael Z]

May I ask what you think Israel should do? It seems to me like they've pulled out all the stops, short of nuking Lebanon.

They attempted to win with only a few ground troops backed by air support.  The result is a Muslim populace that now believes, for the first time in a generation, that Israel can be defeated.  The impression of a vulnerable Israel is a sure recipe for a much wider war.  And if the Muslims believe Israel is vulnerable, then they will surely attack BOTH Israel and its main ally, the US.

The damage is already done, hope of destroying Israel has been rekindled in the hearts of Muslims.

My worry is not whether people believe Israel to be weak, but the amount of Lebanese citizens who will have been radicalised by the bombing campaign. Many people who otherwise wouldn't have supported Hizbollah will certainly do so now because they regard Hizbollah as defending their country.

[Michael Z]

May I ask what you think Israel should do? It seems to me like they've pulled out all the stops, short of nuking Lebanon.

They attempted to win with only a few ground troops backed by air support.  The result is a Muslim populace that now believes, for the first time in a generation, that Israel can be defeated.  The impression of a vulnerable Israel is a sure recipe for a much wider war.  And if the Muslims believe Israel is vulnerable, then they will surely attack BOTH Israel and its main ally, the US.

The damage is already done, hope of destroying Israel has been rekindled in the hearts of Muslims.

My worry is not whether people believe Israel to be weak, but the amount of Lebanese citizens who will have been radicalised by the bombing campaign. Many people who otherwise wouldn't have supported Hizbollah will certainly do so now because they regard Hizbollah as defending their country.

Of course, it was Hezbollah who caused Lebanon to be attacked in the first place.  I suspect that the population in the Hezbollah-dominated parts of Lebanon was already radicalized before this war.  Even if they weren't, that didn't stop Hezbollah from using the area as a staging ground for attack.

There are no easy answers, but I really don't see toleration of a threat from Hezbollah in a vain attempt to win the 'hearts and minds' of the Lebanese as a real answer.

That's not what I am arguing for. It's one thing for Israel to defend itself against Hizbollah, but I fail to see how bombing roads, hospitals, airports, warehouses, entire urban districts, UN buildings, etc, and destroying the entire country's infrastructure will help matters. All it achieves it turning all of Lebanon against Israel and thus playing right into Hezbollah's hands.

This isn't about appeasing or tolerating terrorists, it's about ensuring that the response is proportionate to the terrorist threat at hand. If we had gone and bombed the living daylights out Belfast when the IRA were at their peak we'd probably still see bombs going off in London and Birmingham.