Common sense, perspective and Israel's fight

Essential weekend reading would have to include Bill Bennett's piece titled, Why Israel Fights. It sheds some much needed perspective on what everyone should know about Israel. Here are a couple of paragraphs:

Israel, which comprises some 10,000 square miles, compared with Arab countries that total over five million square miles -- not including Iran -- has shown itself to be a model of democracy and decency. Over one million Arabs live in Israel with full rights of citizenship, they vote and serve in Israel's parliament. Syria wants Israel gone and Iran's president openly calls for Israel's destruction. With the exceptions of Egypt and Jordan, no Arab state officially recognizes Israel as a state. And yet, bereft of oil, Israel's per capita gross domestic product tops 24,000 dollars (compared with the oil-rich Saudi Arabia whose per capita GDP hovers at 13,000 dollars), and it remains a thriving bastion of democratic liberalism in an ocean of oligarchies and dictatorships.

Israel has been the state sponsor of no terror, has kidnapped no innocent citizens of other countries, and has fought for its life ever since it was founded in 1948 as its neighboring states have started war after war to wipe it off the map. And yet, Israel is continually asked to cease defending itself by the United Nations, by the European Union, and by a coterie of other international organizations that have called on Israel's neighbors to cease their terrorist activities and human rights violations almost never. It is an expectation of Israel that it act like a civilized nation. Fair enough. But the expectation of the terrorists is zero. A contemporary, international version of 'boys will be boys' governs in the form of 'terrorists will be terrorists.' That is all they have to live with, and up to, in the way of judgment. Meanwhile, it is illegal for Jews or Christians to become citizens of Saudi Arabia, it was Zionism the U.N. once condemned as 'racist.'

It would be one thing if France and the other Euro-weenies came together to demand a cease-fire, but for the U.S. to co-author such a bill is unconscionable! This isn't just Israel's war against Hezbollah. It's every bit as much our war against Iran and every other terrorist who wants a piece of us.

Bennett continues:

Which brings us to today's war and peace efforts. Israel is being asked by the community of nations, in the form of the Security Council and elsewhere, to cease its military campaign to wipe out Hezbollah. The Security Council -- where Israel has never been seated -- includes Qatar, which Freedom House rates as a 'not free' country. Qatar, an absolute monarchy that recently voted against sanctions against Iran for enriching uranium, is distinguished by two exports: petro-dollars, of which millions support Hamas; and the al Qaeda television network, sometimes known as al-Jazeera. Israel, by the way, has a 'free' rating, on par with the United States. As for other major world bodies, the European Union, to this day, will not label Hezbollah a terrorist organization. These are the moral giants calling on Israel to disengage from its fight right now.

The flag of Hezbollah contains a rifle held above the entire globe and its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has recently screamed, 'America, America you are the Great Satan' Those who have come at night, like bats, will hear Lebanon saying: Death to America!' Hezbollah's purpose is not only an Islamist Lebanon but also the destruction of Israel and the United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iran. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameni, delivered a recent speech stating not only that Hezbollah is 'the front line of defense for the Muslim nation and for all the peoples of the region,' but that 'the Islamic world, and the Muslim youth in all the Islamic countries know that there is no way to confront the barbaric Zionist wolves and the aggression of the 'Great Satan' [i.e. America] except through martyrdom.'

Yes, Israel's war is our war. About this, our mutual enemies have no doubt. The same cannot be said of the international community. Now is the time for Israel to clean Hezbollah out of the Middle East, just as we are trying to clean al Qaeda out of everywhere else they have planted their soldiers. This is a long haul, and a dangerous war, but it will be longer and made more dangerous with appeasement and ceasefires being urged upon Israel and, for that matter, the United States.

The decisions that come out of the U.N., to which we are a party, are pitiful. We should be calling for the utter destruction of Hezbollah, not a "cessation of hostilities" or "sustainable peace." (In global-speak, "sustainable" means that the hopelessly corrupt U.N. has given whatever is deemed "sustainable," its seal of approval. Be very wary when that term is bandied about.)

Be sure to read the entire piece. I hope President Bush gets a briefing on it.