I am pessimistic! Because I do not think either The United States or Israel have the guts to do what’s necessary.
The situation with respect to world events and how it affects Jews, the State of Israel and even western civilization itself is not good. There seems to be a confluence of factors that can only be seen as negative and I see no way out short of actions that would violate the most basic of principles, the sanctity of human life. Because what's needed will inevitiblly entail destruction of innocent human life in massive numbers.
The situation I am talking about is the ascendance of militant Islam. It is now in its strongest position ever and it has been developing for over a quarter of a century... beginning with the Islamic revolution of Iran. That day back in 1980 when Ayatollah Khomeini came out of exile and walked back into Iran was the watershed event that seems to have irretrievably changed history... finally hitting home on 9/11.
For the people of Israel, Arab/Islamist hatred and murder dates back to the advent of modern Zionism. Jews in Israel have been killed by Arabs for over a century now. But until the Iranian revolution, Islamist belligerency took the form of rhetoric and actions were mostly military resulting in Arab-Israeli wars. It was armies fighting armies. There was no such thing as committing suicide/mass murder for a cause. This has occurred because militant Islamist clerics mostly based in Iran, have spread the Islamist ideal and suicide bombing type tactics to all who are willing to join the “fight for the cause”.
When a religious person believes that God is on his side he is capable of anything. The dual motivation of Mesiras Nefesh for God and the belief that murder to achieve their goal is a religious obligation makes this tool the most effective and successful tool that anyone has ever used. It has worked in Israel and of course it is now being used successfully in Iraq..
The rules of war have changed. No longer is there a respect for rules of war or worry over the loss of innocent life. Whether one’s own or even one’s fellow Muslim, it is expendable. So in addition to Israel being unable to defend itself as it has in the past by defeating armies, so too the has United States been unable to defend itself in Iraq. We are no longer fighting armies. We are no longer fighting people. We are fighting an idea.
The idea is the belief by Islamists that a new world order under Islamic law by any means necessary must be established. No army, no matter how strong can fight that. There are no soldiers in uniforms. The enemy is camouflaged. Thye blend into the population, hiding in plain sight! They “hit” and they “hide”. Or they hit and they die. All for the cause!
And this brings me to four major forces of Islamism that are on the rise, and which the civilized world has been unable to stop: Iran, Iraq (i.e. those who are fighting the United states there), Lebanon (Hezbollah), and the Palestinians (Hamas, et al). And they all have one thing in common: The belief that Islam should rule the world by any means necessary. There immediate target is Israel. It is in the heart of the Islamic world and they see it as the biggest obstacle to a Pan-Islamic Middle East. And they despise United States for supporting Israel. Their goal is to expel or kill all Jews in Israel and turn it into the Islamic Republic of Palestine. None of these entities can be defeated by mighty armies. The Israeli war against Hezbollah demonstrated that. As does Hamas. As does the war in Iraq. As does the defiant and militant attitude of Iran.
Iran has no fear of any repercussions for seeking to develop a nuclear weapon and once they do, they will use it in the name of God to destroy the Jewish State, God forbid. Ahmadinejad has already promised that... in so many words. Iran, once the arch enemy of Iraq is now the chief supporter of the Islamist factions there. By invading Iraq and toppling Sadaam Hussein the United States did Iran a favor. It opened up the doors to changing Iraq from a secular dictatorship into an Islamic republic. Iran couldn’t be happier even while bashing the US for doing so. The US presence is but a hiccup to Iran in achieving that goal.
The American people can no longer stomach the bloodshed and worsening conditions in Iraq. The pressure from congress, the American people and the world community to pull out is so strong and the prospect of victory so weak that it is just a matter of time before the US pulls out and the Islamists take over... creating another Islamic republic next door to Iran.
And Israel is just plain tired of wars and bloodshed. But Islamists are just getting warmed up. Nasrallah put it well. In speaking about the determination of his people to achieve their goals with respect to Israel he said, “We love death more than the Israelis love life”. That about says it all. All Islamists have the same mentality. The fighting in Iraq will not stop until Iraq becomes an Islamic Republic. The fight against Israel will not stop until Israel becomes an Islamic Republic. If this means killing every Jewish man, woman, and child and a few thousand Muslims in the process... that’s the price! And they are going to pay it.
How does one fight an idea? Certainly not with negotiations. You can’t negotiate away an ideal. The only way I can think of is with massive strength. This means the United States has to declare a Crusade... a holy war. And Israel has to declare a Milchmes Mitzva. We need to turn to God and ask for his intervention ... and then pull out all the stops. So too, The United States. Islamists call it a Jihad. It’s time we treated it that way. Many innocent people in enemy territory will die. But that’s war. It can’t be helped. The civilized world must fight it to win. The US and Israel are superpowers. It’s time they flexed some muscle. World opinion be damned. Or all is lost.
