On Treating Arab Populations Like Adults, Responsible for Their Actions

By: Concerned Citizen

The world (other than the US) reacts as usual, with righteous indignation to Israel's defense of its sovereignty, breached on two fronts by kidnappings and rockets sent flying indiscriminately (or, rather, discriminately) at Israeli civilian targets by organizations committed to its total destruction. There is no doubt that Israel is attempting to apply carefully calibrated pain and discomfort to the Arab populace in each of these places in order to attempt to influence policy. But most experienced observers would also agree that Israel is being pretty careful to avoid massive civilian casualties, under the circumstances (i.e., smart weapons sometimes make mistakes, and terrorists love to base themselves amongst and hide behind civilians -- it makes for better TV when they are attacked).

I find it interesting that amidst all the handwringing that is going on in Europe and at the UN about the overblown "humanitarian tragedy" that is allegedly befalling the Palestinian Arabs of Gaza, and the "disproportionate" military response that threatens fragile Lebanese domestic tranquility, nary a commentator is asking either of the following questions:

1. If the Palestinians overwhelmingly elected Hamas as their ruling party, have the Palestinian populace not declared their support of Hamas' views, that Israel, a soverign nation, should cease to exist? As adults, should they not suffer the consequences of their choice when their chosen government pursues policies that were no secret to anyone on election day?

2. UN Resolution 1559 called for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and the disarmament by Lebanon of the Hezbullah militias in the south of the country, armed with 10,000 rockets and missiles pointed at Israel (along with other assorted nastiness). Hezbullah is a significant minority party in Lebanon's democratically elected legislature. the Lebanese government has chosen, despite UN Resolution 1559 and repeated requests and warnings by Israel, to refrain from disarming the Hezbullah militias in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese army did not try, and fail, to disarm the militias -- they simply never attempted this action (hence, they get no "A" for "Effort" since the effort was never exerted). Southern Lebanon is then used as a launching pad by the Hezbullah/Iran/Syria for a war against Israel, intentionally attacking Israeli civilian population centers. Is not the Lebanese government, and therefore the voters who put it in office, responsible for the ramifications of their policy decision not to confront Hezbullah in the South?

I guess what I am trying to say is that the sooner that we treat the Arab populace as adults, responsible for the outcomes of their choices, the more likely that their states may possibly begin to behave like they belong to the civilized world, where nations should reasonably expect to be held responsible for their actions. Said another way, do we desire that the Arab nations behave like intransigent children or like adults?

Final Thought on Arab Democracy: There used to be an adage that "democracies never make war on democacies". Well that book has to be rewritten now that portions of the Arab world have a semblence of democracy. And true to the guiding philosophy of this blog, we must recognize that different peoples are different, and plot our courses accordingly.