Friday, July 28, 2006
Three Guys Making a Lot of Sense
Even though it is thinking the unthinkable, our leaving Iraq swept up in a Lebanon like civil war, Ralph Peter's column at the New York Post is clear eyed and well thought out. Kind of a bummer though. Money quote:
Instead of working aggressively toward a solution, key elements within the Iraqi government have become part of the problem. Responsible for the police and public order, the Interior Ministry has failed utterly. Instead of behaving impartially, Shia-dominated police units provide death squads to retaliate against Sunni insurgents. As a result, more Sunnis back the insurgents in self-defense. More Shias die. More Sunnis die. The downward spiral accelerates.
This is bad news for our troops in Iraq. For the first time, we may face a problem we have no hope of fixing. We can defeat the terrorists. We can defeat a political insurgency. But when our forces find themselves caught between two religious factions, the only hope is to pick a side and stick to it, despite the atrocities it inevitably will commit.
Charles Krauthammer's logic is unassailable, as usual (and he continues his true support of Israel). Money quote:
Israel's response to Hezbollah has been to use the most precise weaponry and targeting it can. It has no interest, no desire to kill Lebanese civilians. Does anyone imagine that it could not have leveled south Lebanon, to say nothing of Beirut? Instead, in the bitter fight against Hezbollah in south Lebanon, it has repeatedly dropped leaflets, issued warnings, sent messages by radio and even phone text to Lebanese villagers to evacuate so that they would not be harmed.
Israel knows that these leaflets and warnings give the Hezbollah fighters time to escape and regroup. The advance notification as to where the next attack is coming has allowed Hezbollah to set up elaborate ambushes. The result? Unexpectedly high Israeli infantry casualties. Moral scrupulousness paid in blood. Israeli soldiers die so that Lebanese civilians will not, and who does the international community condemn for disregarding civilian life?
The guy Wretched at the Belmont Club speculates (accurately, I think) on what the IDF is trying to do in Lebanon. Money quote:
...I'm going to say that despite the received wisdom of the newspapers to the contrary, the fighting at Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil have been and continue to be an unmitigated defeat for the Hezbollah. The Hezbollah are doing the single most stupid thing imaginable for a guerilla organization. They are fighting to keep territory. Oh, I know that this will be justified in terms of "inflicting casualties" on the Israelis. But the Hez are probably losing 10 for every Israeli lost. A bad bargain for Israel you say? No. A bad bargain for Hezbollah to trade their terrorist elite for highly trained but nevertheless conventional infantry. Guerillas should trade 1 for 10, not 10 for 1.
Instead of working aggressively toward a solution, key elements within the Iraqi government have become part of the problem. Responsible for the police and public order, the Interior Ministry has failed utterly. Instead of behaving impartially, Shia-dominated police units provide death squads to retaliate against Sunni insurgents. As a result, more Sunnis back the insurgents in self-defense. More Shias die. More Sunnis die. The downward spiral accelerates.
This is bad news for our troops in Iraq. For the first time, we may face a problem we have no hope of fixing. We can defeat the terrorists. We can defeat a political insurgency. But when our forces find themselves caught between two religious factions, the only hope is to pick a side and stick to it, despite the atrocities it inevitably will commit.
Charles Krauthammer's logic is unassailable, as usual (and he continues his true support of Israel). Money quote:
Israel's response to Hezbollah has been to use the most precise weaponry and targeting it can. It has no interest, no desire to kill Lebanese civilians. Does anyone imagine that it could not have leveled south Lebanon, to say nothing of Beirut? Instead, in the bitter fight against Hezbollah in south Lebanon, it has repeatedly dropped leaflets, issued warnings, sent messages by radio and even phone text to Lebanese villagers to evacuate so that they would not be harmed.
Israel knows that these leaflets and warnings give the Hezbollah fighters time to escape and regroup. The advance notification as to where the next attack is coming has allowed Hezbollah to set up elaborate ambushes. The result? Unexpectedly high Israeli infantry casualties. Moral scrupulousness paid in blood. Israeli soldiers die so that Lebanese civilians will not, and who does the international community condemn for disregarding civilian life?
The guy Wretched at the Belmont Club speculates (accurately, I think) on what the IDF is trying to do in Lebanon. Money quote:
...I'm going to say that despite the received wisdom of the newspapers to the contrary, the fighting at Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil have been and continue to be an unmitigated defeat for the Hezbollah. The Hezbollah are doing the single most stupid thing imaginable for a guerilla organization. They are fighting to keep territory. Oh, I know that this will be justified in terms of "inflicting casualties" on the Israelis. But the Hez are probably losing 10 for every Israeli lost. A bad bargain for Israel you say? No. A bad bargain for Hezbollah to trade their terrorist elite for highly trained but nevertheless conventional infantry. Guerillas should trade 1 for 10, not 10 for 1.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:13 AM 
Comments:
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"For the first time, we may face a problem we have no hope of fixing.
Welcome aboard. Some of us have been saying this for a long time.
Welcome aboard. Some of us have been saying this for a long time.
# posted by 
: 10:32 AM
: 10:32 AM
"But when our forces find themselves caught between two religious factions, the only hope is to pick a side and stick to it, despite the atrocities it inevitably will commit. "
Sort of like when we backed Saddam Hussein back in the 80s, right? What if the side we back starts up "rape rooms" and wmds? Will you guys never learn?
Sort of like when we backed Saddam Hussein back in the 80s, right? What if the side we back starts up "rape rooms" and wmds? Will you guys never learn?
# posted by : 10:37 AM
: 10:37 AM
Welcome to the party. pal. What sort of comment is that? I'm passing on Peter's opinions, telling you that I disagree, but the opinion and downer facts are out there.
Never learn? What have you on the left done to end rape rooms, even temporarily (and I'm not conceeding that the Iraq rape rooms are soon to be back in business)?
Never learn? What have you on the left done to end rape rooms, even temporarily (and I'm not conceeding that the Iraq rape rooms are soon to be back in business)?
"What have you on the left done to end rape rooms, even temporarily "
I send in $25.00 worth of telephone calling cards every month.
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I send in $25.00 worth of telephone calling cards every month.
# posted by : 8:28 PM
: 8:28 PM << Home
