One could argue that Israel has given inordinate power to the suicide bombers. In the past couple of years, any one willing to die was able to derail the talks or peace process or negotiation at the time. Veto power to anyone with a bomb.
You will notice it’s not Osama who’s blowing himself up, it’s his poor and desperate underlings.
Call me an asshole, but I giggled slightly when I read this, because most of the world looks at US Christians the same way you’re talking about Muslims. And it’s one reason, among many, that cultures are clashing in such violence.
MLS, don’t look only at Osama, but rather consider the 19 hijackers and compare them with those who protested in the Battle of Seattle over the WTO meetings. Osama himself is well off (or at least he grew up in wealth) but was able to see that his people as a whole were living in a decrepit state compared to westerners. The 19 guys who destroyed 4 planes in the US on 9/11 also came from middle-class backgrounds in Egypt and Saudi Arabia-- and many of those opposed to the WTO, MAI, IMF and G8 are fairly well off themselves. But they all see the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest, and they are disgusted to extremes.
That seems to be what Israel is doing, actually. Standard punishment, last I read, is to bulldoze the bomber’s family’s home. So the family gets their cash award, but they have to use it to rebuild the home they would have had in tact if their kid hadn’t blown himself up.
It’s an inconvenience, but it sends the message that this cash isn’t going to do your family much good when you blow yourself up.
The war with terrorism is a battle of hearts, not firepower.
The world was in a standoff situation in the cold war because the two big superpowers couldn’t nail their enemies without knowing that they would be nailed themselves. Each respective’s enemies own sense of self-preservation kept them safe.
The primary enemy now is eager to die for their causes. All we need is one weapon of mass distruction to fall into a fanatic’s hands and a lot of people are going to be killed. Given the abundance of WMD out there, this is a serious problem.
If I were running the west, I would seriously re-examine 500-lb. Gorilla Foriegn Policies (What kind of foreign policy does a 500 lb. gorilla have? Anything he wants!!). This would be supported with genuine diplomacy and an embrace of the more moderate (and honestly more widespread) interpretation of Islam. I believe that Muslims around the world could be our best means to reaching the fanatics who are giving their faith a very bad name.
I’m sure my thoughts on the matter will be roundly considered (especially by my fellow Americans) to be “wussing out” or “letting the enemy win by giving it to their demands.” To which I can only reply that the “win-lose” paradigm does not work when an enemy’s borders are ideological instead of geographic. It will ultimately be a “win-win” situation that tapers the spread of terrorism.
…or so says the guy with NO experience in world politics.