Monday, July 31, 2006
Commentary: Weakness is Deadly
This represents a reversal of course for us….
Weakness Is Deadly
By John E. Carey
Monday, July 31, 2006
Yesterday, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered a 48 hour “time out†in the air war against the terrorist enemy Hezbollah’s positions near Israel.
Big mistake.
Yesterday morning I interviewed a well connected Israeli expert on war, counter-terrorism and Hezbollah. After brief pleasantries, he opened with:
“Every Israeli regrets the loss of innocent lives.â€
Then, he immediately continued, “A cease fire now, without achieving the strategic goals of the operation in Lebanon, would be an incomplete finish for Israel. In fact, a cease fire now would be dangerous to Israel and to all nations engaged in the war on terror.â€
We fully appreciate the tragic circumstances of yesterday. Innocent women and children are being killed. But they are being killed by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is using “human shields†the way a bank robber might grab your grandmother, forcing her at gunpoint to keep her frame in front of him as an absorber of oncoming police bullets.
This kind of shameful, despicable conduct is in character for those beneath contempt like Hezbollah. Why anyone who believes in a great religion like Islam would applaud, support or condone these craven acts desperation, cowardice and wanton disrespect for life escapes me.
So, Israeli combat pilots, who have been asked to defend their nation, and the entire free world in the war against terror, were told last night to go to sleep. Allow their targets to reform, regroup and reload. The pilots were shocked by the news: the decision obviously a political move disassociated from prosecuting war to victory.
In war, “politically correct” niceties are as damgerous as weakness.
Halting the air war is a stupid publicity stunt. If the U.S. participated in convincing Israel’s civilian leadership to take this action for humanitarian reasons; then the U.S. is complicit in any evil that may befall Israel as a result of taking the heat off the terrorist enemy Hezbollah.
In the “Principles of War,†as defined by the U.S. Army and subscribed by countless others; the first principle is Mass: “Concentrate combat power at the decisive place and time.â€
We believe Israeli military officers may now be violating their own principles of war because they were ordered to do so by their civilian leaders.
Nobody can question that the civilian leaders in Israel have the authority to make such a decision and order. But they also must reap whatever they have sown in accountability at the end.
We ask all Americans, if over 1,500 rockets had rained death into Chicago (our third largest city), whould you ask the president to let up on the attackers? Even as the attacking enemy professed a continued, relentless bombardment, and vocally incited people to destroy your nation?
I think not.
The world is fighting a war against terror. Ask the “survivor families.”
Ask the “survivor families” of The World Trade Center, Pentagon, or Flight 93. Ask the “survivor families” of the Madrid train bombings on March 11, 2003. Ask the survivor families of the terror bombings in London on July 7, 2005. Ask the survivor families from countless other Hezbollah inspired terror actions against innocent and free people. Ask the families of the men and women lost, or badly injured, in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The survivor families are my shield in the righteousness of seeing this war on terror to the end. Any flinching, any wavering, any pause that allows the enemy even a breath without fear, is time wasted.
We did not want this war on terror. We did not choose it. The war on terrror has befallen us. We have to be up to the task or admit our weakness and decadence now. That is what Hezbollah is asking us to do.
So we call upon the leaders, all world leaders, to steel themselves to the fact that this may be a long and ugly war. Leaders like like Kofi Annan and Jacques Chirac, who often encourage terror: stand together. Make a stand. Decide to fight terror yourself, not just with platitudes but with concrete actions. We ask you to stand with those engaged in battle to win the war on terror. To stand with all freedom loving people everywhere.
But especially, we invite you world leaders to stand with the survivor families, not the terrorist.
One Comment
john Carey
Monday, July 31, 2006
Commentary: Weakness is Deadly
This represents a reversal of course for us….
Weakness Is Deadly
By John E. Carey
Monday, July 31, 2006
Yesterday, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered a 48 hour “time out†in the air war against the terrorist enemy Hezbollah’s positions near Israel.
Big mistake.
Yesterday morning I interviewed a well connected Israeli expert on war, counter-terrorism and Hezbollah. After brief pleasantries, he opened with:
“Every Israeli regrets the loss of innocent lives.â€
Then, he immediately continued, “A cease fire now, without achieving the strategic goals of the operation in Lebanon, would be an incomplete finish for Israel. In fact, a cease fire now would be dangerous to Israel and to all nations engaged in the war on terror.â€
We fully appreciate the tragic circumstances of yesterday. Innocent women and children are being killed. But they are being killed by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is using “human shields†the way a bank robber might grab your grandmother, forcing her at gunpoint to keep her frame in front of him as an absorber of oncoming police bullets.
This kind of shameful, despicable conduct is in character for those beneath contempt like Hezbollah. Why anyone who believes in a great religion like Islam would applaud, support or condone these craven acts desperation, cowardice and wanton disrespect for life escapes me.
So, Israeli combat pilots, who have been asked to defend their nation, and the entire free world in the war against terror, were told last night to go to sleep. Allow their targets to reform, regroup and reload. The pilots were shocked by the news: the decision obviously a political move disassociated from prosecuting war to victory.
In war, “politically correct” niceties are as damgerous as weakness.
Halting the air war is a stupid publicity stunt. If the U.S. participated in convincing Israel’s civilian leadership to take this action for humanitarian reasons; then the U.S. is complicit in any evil that may befall Israel as a result of taking the heat off the terrorist enemy Hezbollah.
In the “Principles of War,†as defined by the U.S. Army and subscribed by countless others; the first principle is Mass: “Concentrate combat power at the decisive place and time.â€
We believe Israeli military officers may now be violating their own principles of war because they were ordered to do so by their civilian leaders.
Nobody can question that the civilian leaders in Israel have the authority to make such a decision and order. But they also must reap whatever they have sown in accountability at the end.
We ask all Americans, if over 1,500 rockets had rained death into Chicago (our third largest city), whould you ask the president to let up on the attackers? Even as the attacking enemy professed a continued, relentless bombardment, and vocally incited people to destroy your nation?
I think not.
The world is fighting a war against terror. Ask the “survivor families.”
Ask the “survivor families” of The World Trade Center, Pentagon, or Flight 93. Ask the “survivor families” of the Madrid train bombings on March 11, 2003. Ask the survivor families of the terror bombings in London on July 7, 2005. Ask the survivor families from countless other Hezbollah inspired terror actions against innocent and free people. Ask the families of the men and women lost, or badly injured, in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The survivor families are my shield in the righteousness of seeing this war on terror to the end. Any flinching, any wavering, any pause that allows the enemy even a breath without fear, is time wasted.
We did not want this war on terror. We did not choose it. The war on terrror has befallen us. We have to be up to the task or admit our weakness and decadence now. That is what Hezbollah is asking us to do.
So we call upon the leaders, all world leaders, to steel themselves to the fact that this may be a long and ugly war. Leaders like like Kofi Annan and Jacques Chirac, who often encourage terror: stand together. Make a stand. Decide to fight terror yourself, not just with platitudes but with concrete actions. We ask you to stand with those engaged in battle to win the war on terror. To stand with all freedom loving people everywhere.
But especially, we invite you world leaders to stand with the survivor families, not the terrorist.
The choice is simple and clear.
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