Text 21901, 93 rader
Skriven 2006-08-15 19:44:54 av BOB SAKOWSKI (1:123/140)
Ärende: Why does George Will hate America?
==========================================
The Triumph of Unrealism

By George F. Will
Tuesday, August 15, 2006; A13


Five weeks have passed since the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers
provoked Israel to launch its most unsatisfactory military operation in 58
years. What problem has been solved, or even ameliorated?

Hezbollah, often using World War II-vintage rockets, has demonstrated the
inadequacy of Israel's policy of unilateral disengagement -- from Lebanon,
Gaza, much of the West Bank -- behind a fence. Hezbollah has willingly
suffered (temporary) military diminution in exchange for enormous political
enlargement. Hitherto Hezbollah in Lebanon was a "state within a state."
Henceforth, the Lebanese state may be an appendage of Hezbollah, as the
collapsing Palestinian Authority is an appendage of the terrorist
organization Hamas. Hezbollah is an army that, having frustrated the
regional superpower, suddenly embodies, as no Arab state ever has, Arab
valor vindicated in combat with Israel.

Only twice in the United Nations' six decades has it authorized the use of
substantial force -- in 1950 regarding Korea and in 1990 regarding Kuwait.
It still has not authorized force in Lebanon. What is being called a
"cease-fire" resolution calls for Israel to stop all "offensive"
operations. Israel, however, reasonably says that its entire effort is
defensive. The resolution calls for Hezbollah to stop "all attacks." The
United Nations, however, has twice resolved that Hezbollah should be
disarmed, yet has not willed the means to that end. Regarding force now,
the U.N. merely "expresses its intention to consider in a later resolution
further enhancements" of the U.N. force that for 28 years has been
loitering without serious intent in south Lebanon.

The "new Middle East," the "birth pangs" of which we supposedly are
witnessing, reflects the region's oldest tradition, the tribalism that
preceded nations. The faux and disintegrating nation of Iraq, from which
the middle class, the hope of stability, is fleeing, has experienced in
these five weeks many more violent deaths than have occurred in Lebanon and
Israel. U.S. Gen. George Casey says 60 percent of Iraqis recently killed
are victims of Shiite death squads. Some are associated with the
Shiite-controlled Interior Ministry, which resembles a terrorist
organization.

The London plot against civil aviation confirmed a theme of an illuminating
new book, Lawrence Wright's "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to
9/11." The theme is that better law enforcement, which probably could have
prevented Sept. 11, is central to combating terrorism. F-16s are not useful
tools against terrorism that issues from places such as Hamburg (where
Mohamed Atta lived before dying in the North Tower of the World Trade
Center) and High Wycombe, England.

Cooperation between Pakistani and British law enforcement (the British draw
upon useful experience combating IRA terrorism) has validated John Kerry's
belief (as paraphrased by the New York Times Magazine of Oct. 10, 2004)
that "many of the interdiction tactics that cripple drug lords, including
governments working jointly to share intelligence, patrol borders and force
banks to identify suspicious customers, can also be some of the most useful
tools in the war on terror." In a candidates' debate in South Carolina
(Jan. 29, 2004), Kerry said that although the war on terror will be
"occasionally military," it is "primarily an intelligence and law
enforcement operation that requires cooperation around the world."

Immediately after the London plot was disrupted, a "senior administration
official," insisting on anonymity for his or her splenetic words, denied
the obvious, that Kerry had a point. The official told The Weekly Standard:

"The idea that the jihadists would all be peaceful, warm, lovable,
God-fearing people if it weren't for U.S. policies strikes me as not a
valid idea. [Democrats] do not have the understanding or the commitment to
take on these forces. It's like John Kerry. The law enforcement approach
doesn't work."

This farrago of caricature and non sequitur makes the administration seem
eager to repel all but the delusional. But perhaps such rhetoric reflects
the intellectual contortions required to sustain the illusion that the war
in Iraq is central to the war on terrorism, and that the war, unlike "the
law enforcement approach," does "work."

The official is correct that it is wrong "to think that somehow we are
responsible -- that the actions of the jihadists are justified by U.S.
policies." But few outside the fog of paranoia that is the blogosphere
think like that. It is more dismaying that someone at the center of
government considers it clever to talk like that. It is the language of
foreign policy -- and domestic politics -- unrealism.

Foreign policy "realists" considered Middle East stability the goal. The
realists' critics, who regard realism as reprehensibly unambitious,
considered stability the problem. That problem has been solved.

georgewill@washpost.com
© 2006 The Washington Post Compan
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Try Our Web Based QWK: DOCSPLACE.ORG (1:123/140)