by Moshe Sharon
5th part of 5
There is only a military solution to terror
It is a fact that both the Israelis and the Americans seem to succumb to these false notions. The Muslim terrorists are even encouraged by Israeli "experts" who, like parrots, keep repeating: "there is no military solution to terror." The hasty Israeli withdrawal from Gaza for no reason and without any gains whatever, the destruction of two-score thriving and productive villages, and the turning of ten thousand Jews into refugees has been the best proof that terror is an efficient tool. The high-flown words and fiery promises of the Israeli government that "now", following the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, Israel would retaliate with full force against even a single shot, was proved within one day to be as false and as empty as all such hollow pronouncements in the past.
Gaza has become the forefront of Muslim terror. Israeli towns and villages are being attacked from it daily, the border with Egypt is almost totally open for the constant flow of arms, ammunition, missiles and explosives in huge quantities and of excellent quality, but Israel has not stopped talking about the need of the Palestinian Authority "to do more" to fight terror.
Why should the Authority fight terror when it is a terrorist body itself, organizing and supporting terror groups like the Tanzim, the Aqsa Brigades and similar bodies, some even disguised as the armed forces of "Abu Mazen" – the walking joke called the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority who, in reality, is one of the small warlords of the Palestinians, supported by American, Israeli and European money.
Neither America nor Israel need another false and damaging "Peace Conference" at this point This might disappoint Condi and Tzipi, but what Israel and America really need on all fronts is a clear-cut VICTORY. Victory is the key word not peace, because peace is not an option in this part of the world, and because there is only one solution to terror: a military solution. You do not talk to terrorists, you fight and defeat them.
Victory is needed to prove to the Muslims in general and the Arabs in particular that against their ethos of death stands the ethos of life, protected by the arms of democracies that are resolved to punish them where it hurts most. This is the only way to stop the warlords of Syria who were encouraged by Hizbullah's performance in the last encounter with Israel. This is the only way to stop in mid-course the messianic saber-rattling of Ahmadinejad in Tehran who aims at using the atom bomb whenever he can produce it, even with possible disastrous consequences for himself. This is the only way to prevent Lebanon from becoming a Shi'ite country, and the forefront position of Iran, before it is too late.
In the Middle East, negotiations are a method to win time. Time is exactly what the Hamas and some dozen Palestinian terrorist groups need: They need time to arm themselves with more deadly missiles for more effective attacks on Israeli citizens. The Syrians need time to absorb the huge amounts of modern weapons supplied by the Russians and paid for by the Iranians. The Hizbullah needs time to upgrade its arsenal of weapons and entrench itself deeper in South Lebanon. Ahmadinejad in Iran needs time to complete the enrichment of enough nuclear material to produce his first A-bombs. Iran poses a mortal danger to Israel, but if Israel is strong, and proves this strength, no amount of time will permit Syria, Hamas and Hizbullah to pose a real existential threat to Israel. They can, however, cause casualties, and more important make clear, that Israel is not a normal nation as Israelis wish to delude themselves into thinking.
Do not negotiate – fight
Saudi Arabia has been deflecting attention from all of these belligerent neighbours by proposing a futile, rehashed "peace proposal", thus providing this much needed time, although she should be the first to worry about a nuclear Iran.
The Americans and the Israelis, seem to have lost their wish to fight, otherwise it is incomprehensible why they consider an Arab move that places all the advantages in the hands of their opponents.
Negotiations come only after victory, not before victory and not instead of victory. Negotiations before victory are the ultimate sign of weakness and are a clear sign of fear and defeatism; it is a sure recipe for a devastating war. The enemy aims in negotiations such as these to improve its positions in the forthcoming war, which it has planned before the negotiations and while negotiating. Thus, Syria wishes, by negotiations, to improve its strategic position by luring Israel into giving up the Golan Heights and exposing the whole north of Israel to a Syrian surprise attack that could be disastrous. The same can be said of the Palestinians and their Arab brethren who wish to turn Israel into a strip of a coastal, indefensible piece of land. The Arabs have learnt from recent history that democracies can be lured to agree to terms that endanger their very existence if these terms are written down on paper and are accompanied by a signature.
Who can forget Neville Chamberlain returning from Munich after succumbing to Hitler demands, waving with piece of paper and announcing "peace in our time"? This was the introduction to the most horrible war in human annals. Similarly, one can hardly forget the pictures of Rabin, Peres and Arafat first at the Noble Peace Prize ceremony in 1994 and then in front of the White House in 1995 ("Oslo 2") – all smiles and handshakes, announcing the end of the conflict. These "peace" prizes and promises led directly to the most terrible terror war Israel has ever experienced, resulting in the death of over 1500 men women and children, the injury of over 5000, and the creation of a permanent terror entity in its midst.
Unfortunately not every one is ready to learn the lessons of the past. Peres and the others who were responsible for the debacle of Oslo had the audacity to describe the victims of Arafat's terrorists, by the most egregious oxymoron: "victims of peace." Most of the Oslo fools are ready to go the same way again. After all it was Peres who has pronounced more than once that there is nothing to be learnt from history.
The deadly words "peace" and "negotiations" should have long been obliterated from the Israeli and Western lexicons. These are seductive words; they addle the brain and lead one to do stupid things, and as long as they are not replaced by that one wonderful word: "victory," Israel and Western civilization are in mortal danger. It is because the Islamic enemy is triumphant and war-like by nature. Islam thrives on the ethos of Jihad and therefore does not know any other concept save "victory." From its very inception, Islam has been guided by the principals of war against non-Muslims: triumph and conquest. Victory and conquest have always been regarded as clear signs of divine approval and support. If Israel and the West wish to live, the Islamic triumphal drive must be confronted on the battleground with the same weapon of victory and triumph backed by the moral superiority of life-cherishing civilizations and the scientific superiority of modern weaponry.
Moshe Sharon
Professor Emeritus of Islamic History and Civilization.
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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