Think Israel
Here's the perfect parable for understanding not just the
contemporary Middle East but the wider world today. Two unarmed Finnish
soldiers assigned to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization
(UNTSO) were observing along the Israel-Syria border[1] from the Syrian
side. Armed men stopped their car. While the two Finns didn't speak
Arabic they were quickly made to understand that the men wanted their UN
vehicle and their other possessions. Similar things have happened to
Belgian and Italian soldiers in the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon.[2]
In
short, the supposed representatives of the world's community were being
mugged and they could do nothing about it, or at least nothing but to
give in. A Finnish officer explained that the men weren't in fear of
their lives; the gunmen just wanted their property.
Now
let me make it clear that I'm not criticizing the two soldiers. What
are you going to do when you are unarmed and terrorists with guns hold
you up? Yet this little story struck me as incredibly symbolic on
several levels. The world is constantly held up by terrorists and
nowadays it tends to give in, if not to the specific operations to the
narrative being imposed on it. We do see rescue operations sometimes—as
in the Algerian army's disastrous "rescue" in which all the technicians
being held hostage at a gas field were killed—and sometimes we don't, as
in Benghazi while the U.S. government stood by as men it had sent into a
dangerous situation were murdered.
Yet
what happens is that even if the terrorists don't always win in their
military operations they succeed in intimidating the West to hand over
its intellectual property—by suppressing its own debate—and sometimes to
pay tribute money as well.
As
a reward for failing to fulfill its commitments and cheering on
terrorist attacks, the UN's General Assembly assigned non-member state
status to the Palestinian Authority.
Billions of dollars of U.S. aid go to Pakistan, which helps the Taliban
and shields al-Qaida. Arms are handed over to Syrian Salafists and the
Muslim Brotherhood. The Turkish government backs a terrorist group
to create a violent confrontation with Israel (the IHH in the Gaza
flotilla) and President Obama declares that regime to be his soul mate.
Even after an official report that Hizballah carried out a terrorist
attack in Bulgaria, the European Union won't put it on the terrorism
list.
There
is a long list of such items. Terrorism mugs the West and gets paid off
as long as it doesn't overreach too much. Not attacking the World Trade
Center is enough to make some group America's "friend." One reason the
West tends to yield is that it is unarmed. Not literally, of course,
But unarmed in terms of its ideas, analysis, and understanding.
As
for a good case study, take Lebanon, a few miles from where the two
Finns were mugged and where the much larger UNIFIL force has received
the same treatment. In 2006 the UN and the U.S. government
promised Israel, as a condition for ending its war with Hizballah, that a
much-enlarged UN force would keep Hizballah in southern Lebanon and
help stop arms' smuggling from Syria to Lebanese terrorists.
Hizballah
has walked all over the UN (UN Resolution 1701) and the U.S.
commitments without any cost to itself. UN observers have been regularly
intimidated by Hizballah, which has moved back into southern Lebanon
and built new fortifications. See here [3] and here. [4] The UN and the
White House have not only done nothing but they haven't even criticized
Hizballah for this behavior.
General
Alberto Asarta, the Spanish general who commands UNFIL forces in
southern Lebanon, cannot praise Hizballah highly enough.[5] The area, he
explains, is "the best and most stable in the whole of the Middle East"
thanks to Hizballah's cooperation. It is "the most successful model
when compared to the experiences of other UN peacekeeping missions
around the world." And Hizballah has actually helped combat terrorist
groups that sought to attack UNIFIL. Indeed, the cooperation with
Hizballah is called—I kid you not--"The Partnership against Radical
Islamic Terrorism."
Memo to police forces: This could be a model for The Partnership against Crime to be formed in alliance with the Mafia. I can assure you that the Mafia is willing to help you from time to time against its competitors.
Did I mention that having
won the last Lebanese elections—with a little help from violent
intimidation and assassination of opponents—Hizballah now runs Lebanon?
And did I mention that the new CIA director, John Brennan, is an apologist for Hizballah and has advocated normalizing relations between the United States and that terrorist group?
And,
of course, unless hit with an Israeli air attack, Syria and Iran
smuggle any weapons into Lebanon they wish without U.S. or UN objection
or blockage. The effect of this smuggling is not only to set the stage
for future Hizballah terrorism against Israel and a possible war, but
helps to guarantee that Lebanon will continue to be in the hands of a
terrorist group that is closely aligned with Tehran and advocates
genocide against Jews.
Oh,
and Israel is supposed to be the bad guy because it defends itself
against muggers. It's bad enough to be mugged repeatedly but it's even
worse to provide the weapons and money for the assailants while also
praising them. But that's precisely the moral of the story as far as
Obama Administration policy is concerned: Except for a few exceptions
who won't play politely (i.e., al-Qaida and part of the Taliban) if
you're nice to the terrorists and they'll be nice to you.
Footnotes
The
writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs
(GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International
Affairs (MERIA) Journal.
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