The “realist” fantasy

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Both Iran and its Hamas proxy in Gaza have been busy this Christmas week showing Christendom just what they think of it. But no one seems to have noticed.

On Tuesday, Hamas legislators marked the Christmas season by passing a Shari'a criminal code for the Palestinian Authority. Among other things, it legalizes crucifixion.

Hamas's endorsement of nailing enemies of Islam to crosses came at the same time it renewed its jihad. Here, too, Hamas wanted to make sure that Christians didn't feel neglected as its fighters launched missiles at Jewish day care centers and schools. So on Wednesday, Hamas lobbed a mortar shell at the Erez crossing point into Israel just as a group of Gazan Christians were standing on line waiting to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas.

While Hamas joyously renewed its jihad against Jews and Christians, its overlords in Iran also basked in jihadist triumphalism. The source of Teheran's sense of ascendancy this week was Britain's Channel 4 network's decision to request that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad give a special Christmas Day address to the British people. Ahmadinejad's speech was supposed to be a response to Queen Elizabeth II's traditional Christmas Day address to her subjects. That is, Channel 4 presented his message as a reasonable counterpoint to the Christmas greetings of the head of the Church of England.

Channel 4 justified its move by proclaiming that it was providing a public service. As a spokesman told The Jerusalem Post, "We're offering [Ahmadinejad] the chance to speak for himself, which people in the West don't often get the chance to see."

While that sounds reasonable, the fact is that Westerners see Ahmadinejad speaking for himself all the time. They saw him at the UN two years in a row as he called for the countries of the world to submit to Islam; claimed that Iran's nuclear weapons program is divinely inspired; and castigated Jews as subhuman menaces to humanity.

They saw him gather leading anti-Semites from all over the world at his Holocaust denial conference.

They heard him speak in his own words when he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

And of course, over the years Ahmadinejad has often communicated directly to the British people. For instance, in 2007 he received unlimited airtime on UK television as he paraded kidnapped British sailors and marines in front of television cameras; forced them to make videotaped "confessions" of their "crime" of entering Iranian territorial waters; and compelled them to grovel at his knee and thank him for "forgiving" them.

The British people listened to Ahmadinejad as he condemned Britain as a warmongering nation after its leaders had surrendered Basra to Iranian proxies. They heard him – speaking in his own voice – when he announced that in a gesture of Islamic mercy, he was freeing their humiliated sailors and marines in honor of Muhammad's birthday and Easter, and then called on all Britons to convert to Islam.

Yet as far as Channel 4 is concerned, Ahmadinejad is still an unknown quantity for most Britons. So they asked him to address the nation on Christmas. And not surprisingly, in his address, he attacked their way of life and co-opted their Jewish savior, Jesus, saying, "If Christ was on earth today, undoubtedly he would stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers."

He then reiterated his call for non-Muslims to convert to Islam saying, "The solution to today's problems can be found in a return to the call of the divine prophets."

THE FACT of the matter is that Channel 4 is right. There is a great deal of ignorance in the West about what the likes of Ahmadinejad and his colleagues in Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas stand for. But this isn't their fault. They tell us every day that they seek the destruction of the Jews and the domination of the West in the name of Islam. And every day they take actions that they believe advance their goals.

The reason that the West remains ignorant of the views and goals of the likes of Hamas and Iran is not that the latter have hidden their views and goals. It is because the leading political leaders and foreign policy practitioners in the West refuse to listen to them and deny the significance of their actions.

As far as the West's leaders are concerned, Iran and its allies are unimportant. They are not actors, but objects. As far as the West's leading foreign policy "experts" and decision-makers are concerned, the only true actors on the global stage are Western powers. They alone have the power to shape reality and the world. Oddly enough, this dominant political philosophy, which is based on denying the existence of non-Western actors on the world stage, is referred to as political "realism."

The "realist" view was given clear expression this week by one of the "realist" clique's most prominent members. In an op-ed published Tuesday in Canada's Globe and Mail titled, "We must talk Iran out of the bomb," Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, argued that given the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the dangers of a US or Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear installations, the incoming Obama administration must hold direct negotiations with the mullahs to convince them to end their nuclear weapons program.

In making this argument, Haass ignores the fact that this has been the Bush administration's policy for the past five years. He also ignores the fact that President George W. Bush adopted this policy at the urging of Haass's "realist" colleagues and at the urging of Haass himself.

Moreover, Haass bizarrely contends that in negotiating with the mullahs, the Obama administration should offer Iran the same package of economic and political payoffs that the Bush administration and the EU have been offering, and Teheran has been rejecting, since 2003.

Even more disturbingly, Haass ignores the fact that Teheran made its greatest leaps forward in its uranium enrichment capabilities while it was engaged in these talks with the West.

So in making his recommendation to the Obama administration – which has already announced its intention to negotiate with the mullahs – Haass has chosen to ignore Iran's statements, its actions, and known facts about the West's inability to steer it from its course of war by showering it with pay-offs.

Haass and his colleagues in the US, Europe and on the Israeli Left are similarly unwilling to pay attention to Hamas. In an article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, Haass and his colleague Martin Indyk from the Brookings Institute call on the Obama administration to either ignore Hamas, or, if it abides by a cease-fire with Israel, they suggest that the Obama administration should support a joint Hamas-Fatah government and "authorize low-level contact between US officials and Hamas." The fact that Hamas itself is wholly dedicated to Israel's destruction and Islamic global domination is irrelevant.

Similarly, Haass and Indyk assume that Damascus can be appeased into abandoning its support for Hizbullah and Hamas, and its strategic alliance with Iran. Syrian President Bashar Assad's views of how his interests are best served are unimportant. Both Assad's statements of eternal friendship with Iran and his active involvement in Iran's war effort against the US and its allies in Israel, Iraq and Lebanon are meaningless. The "realists" know what he really wants.

MUSLIMS AREN'T the only ones whose views and actions are dismissed as irrelevant by these foreign policy wise men. The "realists" ignore just about every non-Western actor. Take Iran's principal Asian ally, North Korea, for example.

This week North Korea's official news agency thre
atened to destroy South Korea in a "sea of fire," and "reduce everything treacherous and anti-reunification to debris and build an independent, reunified country on it," if any country dares to attack its nuclear installations.

North Korea made its threat two weeks after Kim Jung Il's regime disengaged from its fraudulent disarmament talks with the Bush administration. Those talks – the brainchild of foreign policy "realists" Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Assistant Secretary Christopher Hill – were based on the "realist" belief that the US can appease North Korea into giving up its nuclear arsenal. (That would be the same nuclear arsenal that the North Koreans built while engaged in fraudulent disarmament talks with the Clinton administration.)

After Pyongyang agreed in February 2007 to eventually come clean on its plutonium installations (but not its uranium enrichment programs), and to account for its nuclear arsenal (but not for its proliferation activities), Rice convinced President Bush to remove North Korea from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terror and to end its subjection to the US's Trading with the Enemy Act this past October. And then, after securing those massive US concessions, on December 11 Pyongyang renounced its commitments, walked away from the table and now threatens to destroy South Korea if anyone takes any action against it.

North Korea's behavior is of no interest to the "realists," however. As far as they are concerned, the US has no option other than to continue the failed appeasement policy that has enabled North Korea to develop and proliferate nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. As the Council on Foreign Relations' Gary Samore said, "I think we're sort of condemned to that process, because we don't really have any alternative."

Samore and his colleagues believe there are no other options because all other options involve placing responsibility for contending with North Korea on non-Western powers like China, South Korea and Japan. More radically, they involve holding North Korea accountable for its actions and making it pay a price for its poor behavior.

As the "realists" claim that the US has no option other than their failed appeasement policies, back in the real world, this week military officials from the US's Pacific Command warned that North Korea may supply Iran with intercontinental ballistic missiles. These warnings are credible given that North Korea has been the primary supplier of ballistic missiles and missile technology to Iran and Syria and has played a major role in both countries' nuclear weapons programs.

Defending Channel 4's invitation to Ahmadinejad, Dorothy Byrne, the network's head of news and current affairs, said, "As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad's views are enormously influential. As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view."

When you think about it, broadcasting Ahmadinejad really would have been a public service if Byrne or any of the delusional "realists" calling the shots were remotely interested in listening to what he has to say. But they aren't. So far from a public service for Britain, it was a service for those who, unbeknownst to most Britons, are dedicated to destroying their country.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

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14 Comments

  • Marcel Cousineau 12/26/2008 at 17:55

    Now I understand why Israel no longer fights her enemies or the concept of defeating them to achieve real peace and like an insane man attempts to appease them into peace even though it has not worked in many decades.
    I understand why Barak and the Kadimaites ship food and supplies across the border into Gaza after the ongoing Hamas barrage of rockets and mortars. It’s no longer a question of defeating ones enemies but showing them how stupid you are before they cut your throat.The wrong assumption being that Islam shows mercy to idiots.
    The appeasment of the west towards the unappeasable has set a bad example for thier nursing child Israel ,now rendered insane and incapable of defending themselves any longer.Welcome back to the ghetto ,Jews only the Jewsih fighters in the Warsaw ghetto did less talking and more fighting than backward’s Israel.
    You have outdone Neville Chamberlians recipie for a major war and will of course reap a world war never before seen on this earth.
    Dear CFR chief idiot Hass and the other assorted idiots of the West and Israel,
    If you survive ,please don’t blame it on God ,but do blame it on your own stupidity.You supplied your enemies with all the aid to kill us twice over and outdid Chamberlain in stupoidity.Having learned nothing from history we are about to repeat it in an even grander scale.
    Israel ,your trust and religious obedience to your idiot masters of the West was all in vain.
    Now you suffer the consequences of your failure to be wise and learn and trust in God instead of certified fools.

    Reply
  • Marc Handelsman, USA 12/26/2008 at 19:34

    When Ahmadinejad addressed England with his so-called Christmas address, he was speaking to his future subjects. What neo-libs fail to realize is that Ahmadinejad and Bin Laden genuinely want to make the world a global caliphate, and they want to convert the masses to Islam. When President-elect Obama eventually has talks with Ahmadinejad, he will discover that Ahmadinejad wants him to come home to Islam. Neo-liberals are scared to death about the fastest growing religion in the world. And they mistakenly believe that Islamists will grant them a stay from execution.

    Reply
  • Ron Grandinetti, USA 12/26/2008 at 19:35

    The reality of the leaders of the free world is the inability not only to recognize the enemy but to deal with them.
    I said it before, you can only talk peace and negotiate with those that are honest, sincere and are trustworthy. The gangster you mention, Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, Hamas and North Korea do not fit this description.
    All talking does is provide them with time to build up and become more dangerous to the world.
    They hate Christians and Jews and their aim is to destroy us. The problem we’re (the U.S. and Israel) faced with is leadership that doesn’t quite get it. They are more concerned about world opinion and their image than dealing with the scoundrels.
    Marcel is correct. Feeding the enemy while they are trying to kill you is not my idea of being a humanitarian. Starve and put an end to any kind of aid and just maybe the wise will rise up and overthrow the leaders. Don’t think for one minute the leaders of Hamas are without the necessities.
    Wake up America and Israel, if you don’t look after yourselves, who else out there will?

    Reply
  • Dan 12/26/2008 at 21:53

    Don’t ya’ know Caroline, it’s impolite to note that they’re a pack of satanic whackos intent on blood and carnage, supremacism and shariaa.
    So we’re all supposed to avert our eyes.
    And the devotees of that lunatic political ideology, {I’m with Thomas Aquinas on this one, and he didn’t think it was a religion, he thought it was a political creed with a religious gloss} are doing nothing short of slowly but surely TAKING OVER all of Europe.

    Reply
  • Dr. Michael Benjamin 12/27/2008 at 9:30

    POST MORTEM ON ISRAEL’S DEMISE: AN INITIAL REPORT
    Date line: Somewhere in the not too far future
    All were shocked when Israel succumbed.
    Few would have predicted it. But like all major gigantic shifts they were obvious in retrospect but not at the time. Why is this so? Although events are unthinkable they often happen. The collapse of the Soviet empire, the economic tsunami and now Israel’s demise were all predictable, but non were predicted. .
    So what did happen? Israel invaded Gaza after another of her soldiers was kidnapped. The Government was reluctantly coerced into action that it deeply feared. There was no power of leadership to explain. The resultant and concomitant rocket barrage from the North and South and the great loss of soldiers life caused widespread panic. Israel was at loss what to do. Leaders seemed to be unable to cope. They seemed to be preparing their defense brief for the inevitable judicial enquiry. The press was vehemently critical in all its media giving continuous appraisals and advice that contradicted each other. Politicians sporadically appeared in the media. They seemed to be unsure of both what was happening and what should happen.
    The Saudi peace proposal was re-tabled and immediately yet gratefully accepted by all. As Israel demobilized a joint Arab Peace Force consisting of Saudi, Egyptian, Jordanian, Iraqi and Palestinian contingents moved into the West Bank and attempted to enter Gaza.
    Skirmishes between rival Palestinian forces caused a Political imbroglio of unimagined proportion. Iran weighed in on the side of Hamas and demanded that the ‘Sunni’ army of occupation desist immediately. Iran then proved its point by invading Southern Iraq and threatened an invasion of Saudi Arabia and to destroy her oil fields. The peace force rapidly fell into disarray leaving Palestinian gangs to roam at their will and do as they wish. An uprising and rioting of Israeli Arabs compounded the panic and bloodshed amongst the Jews. Jews fled in their tens of thousands by air and sea. Worldwide aid was arranged to ‘get them out as soon as possible.’ It was only partially successful. The world community made great efforts to avoid Israel’s nuclear arsenal from falling into the hands of the nascent Palestinian state. We still are not sure of their success. Very recently Saudi and Turkish representatives are being summoned to Tehran to discuss a Pax Iranian.
    That is what happened. Let us try and analyze why it happened?
    How was so mighty Israel so easily vanquished? We have to go back only a few months to learn why. As we elected our President everyone acclaimed ‘This can only happen in America’. They were right, but it should have happened in Israel and did not. What happened in America that did not happen Israel?
    In America the body poilitique is chosen in a very elaborate but extremely coherent way. The bottom line is that the electors and the elected enjoy a unique indivisible relationship. The elected person is given his job by talking directly to the electors. He is the one that they vote for in the election. His name appears on the ballot box. In most cases a candidate identifies his basic outlook on life via his party affiliation. But his first concern and his main objective is to represent his constituents at a grass root level. There are no impediments to impeded entry of any candidate. Success is predicated only by the candidate’s ability to embody his constituent’s wishes and to show that he can execute their wishes in a meaningful way. In this manner a successful candidate must be attune with the ‘vox populi’, he must be able to help mould it too. Only candidates of he highest caliber are attracted. Only successful and gifted people can to succeed. In any election the only winner was the ‘the first past the post.’ To be first you have to be very good and if not soon found out.To win you have to earn trust.
    The elected representatives are the sole members of the triage, the Presidency and the two houses. They and they alone are the acknowledged sovereign leaders of America. ‘A government, for the people with the people and by the people’ is not an empty slogan.
    .
    In Israel there was a very different system. It purported to be democratic. It was not so. In Israel politicians were placed on a list created by a party. The voters then voted for the list. In the vast majority of cases individuals drew up the list. Very rarely were there primaries. When there were primaries they lost any real meaning. Any resemblance to a democratic process was sojourned by crass and cynical cronyism, which easily and blatantly manipulated the results. .
    As in America certain skills were needed to succeed. As in America those who could most successfully compete in it filled the political system. Unfortunately very different skills were needed. To succeed in Israel the ‘elected’ representative owed his allegiance to the list and he who placed him on that list. He had to exhibits skills on how to manipulate, exploit and perform in smoke filled rooms. No leadership skills were needed. No communication skills were needed. Personal agenda was so much spin and subjugated by the collective will of the list owner. There are no ‘first past the post’. There was no post. There were no constituencies. Just a national vote.
    The American system developed a sense of identification, belonging and caring between the electors and elected. The American system developed a bond based on responsiveness and responsibility. In Israel it breaded a mutual contempt and cynicism. There were no discourses between rival lists only a mutual exploitation to further narrow sectoral interests. No one represented the common good. There was no need.
    Worse still the elected representatives were no longer seen to be the sovereign body. The judiciary under the guise of activism hijacked governance and placed itself above the government. The judiciary made provocative and biased proclamations on matters, which were seemingly beyond its scope. Yet the judiciary in its claim of ‘activism’ persisted and proclaimed ‘all to be ‘judgeable”. They only drew a line when the legality of this position was questioned.
    This weakened the government and alienated the public even more. The general public neither understood nor cared for the judiciary’s actions.
    The religious authorities insisted on playing their part. Any attempt to separate sate and religion was completely unthinkable. Military actions were scrutinized and criticized by Rabbis. Like the judiciary the religious parties felt it their inalienable right to meddle in moral and social issues. This further weakened the elected government. Eventually all faith in government was lost.
    When Israel needed leadership there was none. When Israel needed clarity of vision there was none. When Israel needed to unite and fight it could not.
    The political system had stifled any possibility of such a person being placed in the body poilitique. There were no leaders. There were no followers. There was chaos.
    In America nothing succeeds like success. In Israel nothing succeeds like failure. No one was accountable. No one was punished for malfeasance. Quite the opposite the only skill needed was to get in the system and develop skills to stay there. What you did there was of no consequence to anyone.
    This style of monumental managemental malfeasance spread into other government and quasi-governmental authorities. None were spared. The style of institutionalized incompetence was to be found in Defense, Health and Educational authorities. In the hour of need they were tested and failed.
    How were they so blind? Unfortunately they were not. They were very aware of exactly what was happening and what were to be the consequences. For years blunder followed blunder. Concepts, planning and execution were all exposed to be woeful. A war was lost. Nothing was learned. Corruption and low moral virtue were exposed. Yet little was done.
    The intentions of Israel’s enemies were blatant. Yet Israelis believed that as nothing had happened then nothing would happen. They wanted to believe this. It seems incredible that people that had lost six million of its own barely 60 years previously could be so abysmally derelict in their responsibility to survive. Yet they were. And they paid the ultimate price. Israel ceased to exist.
    Dr Michael Benjamin,
    Community Psychiatrist
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    Reply
  • Ron Grandinetti, USA 12/27/2008 at 15:59

    Dr. Benjamin my hat (even though I am practically bald and don’t wear one) is off to you for if anything, confusing the hell out of many Israelis. I hope it was intended to confuse the Arab world. It certainly was mind boggling.
    I maintained an office in several office condo units over a period of years and we were never without a psychiatrist or related profession. No pun intended, after conversing with them and observing their behavior I have come to believe that sometime during their lifetime they needed help themselves and as a result were drawn to this profession.
    I am in no way shape or form suggesting that you fall in this category. I am equally sure that your intentions are meant to make everyone realize they maybe they are running around in circles with no real purpose or direction.
    If I may, let me suggest that Caroline Glick offers the best medicine. She offers the truth diagnoses the problems and what she prescribes is good medicine.
    Take it twice a day and above all let us pray as Christians and Jews that God will protect this great Nation of Israel.

    Reply
  • Marcel Cousineau 12/27/2008 at 18:09

    GAZA GETS A LONG OVERDUE MESSAGE
    The only thing the moslem jihadists understand are their large funerals.
    That is the only thing they understand.
    If Israel had any sense they would take back the communities in Gaza starting with Gush Katif and build them bigger than they were before.
    No more land for anything ,especially rockets and any other attacks by demon posessed moslems filled with every evil, hate and intolerance.
    This time keep your red lines and don’t take so long to respond to your enemies ,any more missiles or attacks from Gaza and all of Gaza pays an unbearable price.
    Get a spine and stand up to the hypocrites of the world community and tell them they have failed by coddling the Palestinains who do not want peace.
    Do not allow the U.S. to tell you how to fight your war or allow them to restrain you from defeating any other Arab Army.
    Do not fall for the disproportionate response or harming civilians trap as the U.S. never does what they preach to you.
    Tell the U.S. to butt out and take their worthless Road Map with them.
    Do not keep groveling and begging with the Moslem nations like Egypt,Jordan,et al ,they will always side with their fellow Ilsamic terrorists againt you as Abbas does today.
    The same goes for the E.U. and the U.N.
    Only a fierce Israel will survive in this neighborhood.
    I repost Tony’s talkback from YNET today.
    Well said !
    The evil nations hate it when Jew’s fight back.
    This is just the beginning for all of them especially the hypocrites in Washington who like to play both sides for their own selfish agenda.
    Now that we have a homeland and we fight back the world can’t stand it. For thousands of years they murdered us indiscriminately and blamed us for the cause of all societies ills. Just ask yourself why 90% of UN resolutions are specifically aimed at Israel when there are hundreds of flagrant human rights violations and outright atrocities everywhere but Israel. The world just cannot stop trying to harm Jews, it is engrained in their DNA. The best possible solution to theirs madness is to set up a no mans land of at least 150 kilometers and push all the arabs in Israel past that so we Jews can finally live the peaceful way we would like. We Jews have had three thousand years of nakba, who are these upstarts arabs with no historical ownership language or recorded history trying to steal our land and kill us?
    tony ny,ny

    Reply
  • signe brown 12/29/2008 at 1:09

    Today as i watched ISRAEL bomb Hahas i wondered why it took so long for ISRAEL to respond. i would gradly stand with you if i could. Dont forget you are ALMIGHTY GODS CHOISEN PEOPLE. MAY HE ALWAYS HOLD YOU IN HIS HANDS. Me and my friends and family pray for your safety. ernie/Florida/USA

    Reply
  • Bryan H. Davies 12/29/2008 at 14:32

    Caroline, you neglected to mention the link between North Korea and Pakistan in your article. This appeared in an article on the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia-pacific/2339663.stm, and also in a report by the US State Department:
    http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/74904.pdf
    Isn’t Pakistan — and especially the military in Pakistan, supporting the Jihadi effort in all sorts of ways? The “Lashkar e Taiyyba” and “Jaish e Mohammad” being the most obvious examples? Maybe you didn’t mention it since the Pakistani Jihadis wouldn’t mind annihilating the Iranians, since they are Shias, and they Pakistanis are wahabi/salafis! 😉

    Reply
  • Fred Thorlin 12/30/2008 at 6:55

    This story was forwarded to me by a friend. The content makes great sense and resonates with “The Suicide of Reason”. After reading your biography I was distressed to learn that you are “one of the only female journalists”. Any journalist using “one of the only” should have their keyboard taken away.

    Reply
  • Ed Smithe 12/31/2008 at 22:44

    “We must talk Iran out of the bomb,” Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, argued that given the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the dangers of a US or Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear installations, the incoming Obama administration must hold direct negotiations with the mullahs to convince them to end their nuclear weapons program.
    “In making this argument, Haass ignores the fact that this has been the Bush administration’s policy for the past five years. He also ignores the fact that President George W. Bush adopted this policy at the urging of Haass’s “realist” colleagues and at the urging of Haass himself.”
    I find it so amusing that in your scathing condemnation of realists, you resort to bending the facts to suit your argument. Shouldn’t your Manachiean prescriptions be self-evident? Why the need to lie to your readership?
    The FACT is that the Bush Administration has NEVER held direct talks (much less negotiations) with Iran. Rather, what the administration has offered is to DISCUSS a broad range of incentives (carrots) provided that Iran halt it’s uranium enrichment program. In other words…their idea of a Quid pro Quo is a Quid without a guarantee of a Quo.
    In the real world, most would call this approach naive, but apparently in your world this is viewed as ensuring that we don’t appease Iran…and so they continue to move closer and closer to a nuclear weapon.
    Now I suppose that given what you’ve written, you’re also not endorsing this foolish strategy. What it sounds like you’re saying (and maybe you can elaborate) is that we need to do something militarily (or perhaps sanctions) to stop this behavior. The problem is, that like most neoconservatives (or hawkish Wilsonians) you never ever say that explicitly, lest your readership be left with the impression that you’re nuts. Instead, you’re perfectly willing to carp from the cheap seats, saying that none of this is going to work (despite the FACT that none of it has been tried…and that Iran came to the US in 2003 to negotiate) with not a suggestion in the world of how to make this all right.
    Until you can think of specific, explicit policy prescriptions…do all of us a favor and take your temper tantrum outside of the foreign policy sphere. Serious people are trying to prevent innocent people from being killed…and given the track record of you and your fellow travelers, I don’t think that you’re in any position (factually or morally) to lecture realists about the threats we face, and the strategies we use to defeat those threats.

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  • TurtleFL 01/01/2009 at 0:19

    Cut off the food, blockade the coast, strike the airports and shut the tunnels. It’s a war. Show Hamas what a war really is.

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  • ciccio 01/01/2009 at 21:18

    Islam has succeeded and thrived for 1400 years because it understands only one thing,
    brute force. Any defense or attacks against it was always treated as an excuse for mass murder.
    The only way to defend yourself against Islam is to use their own methods. Anything less will be taken as a sign of weakness.

    Reply
  • Ronnie D 01/02/2009 at 7:25

    It seems to me that Israel has been very patient with all the garbage they’ve had to take from the rest of the world, particularly the attacks with rockets, suicide bombers, and military operations over the last forty years. If the Mexicans started shooting rockets into Texas, if someone started shooting rockets into Europe, North Korea, or China, do you know what would happen? The armies of those countries/regions would go in and wipe out the people who were shooting. Firing rockets is an act of WAR, not something small and insignificant. They’re not throwing rocks at soldiers, in fact, they’re not even shooting at soldiers!
    The rest of the world just needs to shut up and stop giving Israel crap for defending themselves. In my personal opinion, Gaza should be sealed off, with no supplies being let in until the Palestinians, if they really want their own government, give up these criminals. Or better yet, take them and hang them for the whole world to see that they don’t want to be ruled by terrorists.
    If the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank really wanted to have a country though, and weren’t just a bunch of crazed, bloodthirsty maniacs, they would have had it a long time ago. And they could be educated, have real houses instead of refugee camps, and not depend on the rest of the world to give them food and water for free!

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