Watch Them Turn...

Didn't take long before the media (and the world) turned on Israel. Russia and Spain are the two latest countries to condemn Israel's actions (and, if Russia talks you should listen...look at all the good work they're doing in Chechnya). And, of course, the American media continues to talk about the poor Lebanese (which I agree with, to some extent) and the poor Palestinians (yeah, right) and these poor freedom fighters (B.S.).

I go back to my prior analogy: If militants in Mexico, independent of the Mexican government, were shooting rockets into Texas and the Mexican government refused to act (and may even support the action), the US would take military action to remove those militants and to assure they would not return to such actions. That is what Israel is doing. How can you condemn Israel for protecting its citizens from attack?

And, this isn't a one-time thing. How many attacks go unreported EVERYDAY?! Israel has withstood far more than any country should be expected to endure without reprisal. If there is shock, it should be at Israel's continuing restraint over these many years. How many times must Lebanon be told to remove the Hezbollah militants from the border? How many times can the UN threaten Hezbollah and Hamas? And what do those threats mean without eventual enforcement? As with Iraq, the UN talks a tough game but has no spine when it comes to action.

Israel must protect its citizens. Their willingness to compromise in the late-90s was met with yet more aggressive tactics by these terrorists as they saw a willingness to compromise as weakness. This is why Israel (and the United States) cannot compromise with terrorists around the world. You cannot reach peace with a people whose only purpose is the destruction of your country and your way of life. There is no middle ground between survival and destruction.

For the US media and for any American to condemn Israel for their actions is a condemnation of the Western way of life. Israel has the right to exist and the right to protect its borders. Just as the United States has the right to exist and to protect our borders and protect our way of life from outside influence. We must stand united against terrorism and if that means we alienate the UN and Russia, Spain, etc., then we must be prepared to do that. Any alternative will eventually have a higher price.