Critically Thinking

By Charles Reichley

August 9, 2006

Lebanon is Latest front in War on Terror

War.  It’s a word that unfortunately we hear too often these days.  War is not a good thing.  War is, at its core, a failure of civilized society.  Most people hate war.  War causes the death of human beings – combatants and non-combatants, aggressors and bystanders, able-bodied men and women and children.

So I wish Israel would declare a cease-fire.  I wish Hezbollah would stop the shelling.  I wish people would stop killing each other.  Like a beauty queen contestant, I wish for world peace.

But life involves hard choices. Sometimes those choices are between bad and worse.  War can be preferable to the alternative.  So I might wish and end to the war in Lebanon, but I support Israel defending itself against aggression, as the alternative would undoubtedly be worse. I support the “war on terror” as preferable to surrender.

But we cannot actually fight a “war” with terror, or terrorism, or even terrorists.  Terror is an emotion.  Terrorism is a tactic.  Terrorist is a participant.  War is not fought against individuals, but against groups, usually nations.  We can’t win the war on terror without involving the nations harboring the terrorists.

In his speech following the 9/11 attacks, President Bush said “We will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”

Afghanistan did not attack us on 9/11.  But Al Qaeda was in Afghanistan.  So America gave Afghanistan an ultimatum: “They will hand over the terrorists or they will share in their fate”. They refused, and we declared war, holding Afghanistan accountable for acts of war perpetrated by people within their borders.

Now Israel is in a war with “Hezbollah” in Lebanon.  By confining the conflict to a “terrorist faction”, Israel’s hands are largely tied.  The people of Lebanon are treated like innocent victims, and if Israel’s attacks are not narrowly focused they are condemned.  This even though many  “innocent victims” strongly support and provide support to the terrorists, and even though Hezbollah is firing rockets from residential areas to draw Israeli fire, causing civilian casualties they can use in their propaganda battle.

But Lebanon is a sovereign country, and should be held responsible for acts of war launched from its borders.  Israel should not bargain with Hezbollah; but with the government of Lebanon.  If Lebanon cannot control its own people, then Lebanon should suffer the consequences.  Lebanon must defeat the terrorists in its midst, or else share their fate.

Armies cannot “defeat” individuals.  War is not a police action. Winning a war requires breaking the will of the people – NOT the army, which consists of true believers trained to fight to the death, but the civilians who support the war effort.  For example, in World War II, we bombed the cities of Germany and Japan, killing hundreds of thousands of people, because those people supported the war effort, and to demoralize the citizens, to make them weary of fighting.

The “war on terror” has become too focused on the terrorists.  These combatants are people who relish dying for a cause, and we’ll never kill them all.  Until we defeat the “civilian” support for these armies, we will never end this “war on terror”.

Civilization consists of nations given sovereignty over people and property based on physical boundaries.  We need to hold nations responsible for the actions of the people within their borders.  We need to stop targeting terrorists, and fight the nations that allow terrorists to operate in their midst.  We must give nations a reason to denounce and defeat the terrorists in their countries.

The latest battle in the “war on terror” is raging in southern Lebanon. The world can choose to hold Lebanon accountable, to embrace the possibility of a true victory over terrorism.  But sixty dead in Qana have broken our resolve, and instead of victory we are headed for another stalemate.  People hate war, and will do almost anything to stop it.  So Hezbollah will live to fight another day, terrorists around the world will breathe a sigh of relief, nations will continue ignoring evildoers in their midst – and most of us will just be happy the fighting has stopped.

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