Posted by
Soldier Dad on Monday, July 17, 2006 1:18:28 PM
One of the strange aspects of the current conflict in the Middle East is that while this is not the standard Arab-Israeli war of the past and is instead a conflict between Israel and non-state actors laboring under the deadly ideology of Islamofascism, it may just help focus world attention on the importance of sovereign states on the war on terror. Since 9/11, the United States has been grappling with the difficulties of fighting a war against an enemy that does not have a capital, a government, or a flag. But as the world is learning more clearly every day, states do have a role to play.
Israel might be fighting Hezbollah, but everyone knows that the real enemies are Syria and Iran. Hezbollah is merely a tool of two sovereign governments in which Lebanese militants get the finances and equipment they need in exchange for toeing the correct ideological line. The problem of Hezbollah will never go away, no matter how many Lebanese targets Israel bombs, until Syria and Iran reenter the community of responsible nations. This is not to say that Israel should, or even could, fight these two giants of radical Islam, but denying their preeminent role gets us nowhere.
It is true that only ideas, not firepower, can fight other ideas and that the destruction of the thuggish Syrian and Iranian regimes will not end the scourge of Islamist terrorism. But it would be a massive blow to the financial and organizational forces that facilitate its deadly aims. A war with Syria and/or Iran, fought either by the United States or Israel, would be difficult and require sacrifices by all citizens so substantial that the will to fight may simply not be there. However, the American people and the world must understand that unless the source of Islamist terrorism is destroyed, it will continue to spread its tentacles throughout the seemingly safe and free nations of the world.