Thursday, November 06, 2003
Dr. P.hears a former Israeli contrarian
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Dr. Paranoia had a call from the Texan. “I want you to meet an Israeli who can explain his countrymen's attitudes,” said the answer-man. “Meet us at the bar.”
They met. No names were exchanged. “ I have been voting with the Meretz party, the most left wing liberal group in our country,.” the Israeli, a middle-aged man, started his story. “In the last election Meretz lost seven of its 12 members of the 120 seat Knesset. This shows how Israeli liberal opinion has turned to despair, viewing 40% of the Arabs as inflexible religious fanatics who blindly follow the Hamas terror policy, dooming us to a perpetual state of war. Many feel that a huge conflagration is needed to open the Palestinians’ eyes. Many, including myself, have signed on to support Sharon’s security policy, with targeted killings.. Let me explain, before you go into shock.
“Some of us progressives see a sort of five-step solution, somewhat related to the government’s position. Number one, most importantly, we must steadfastly continue the eradication of terrorist leaders, chopping off the hydra’s heads as they surface, not just in response to terrorist attacks. That is most important. That shows the terrorists that they are doomed, they have lost, that we do not respond to their attacks and their pauses of choice, that we will take action continuously, regardless, therefore the terrorist bombings are meaningless in provoking us. Note that point. We no longer play their game.
" Second, we must not close our borders, we must let legitimate Palestinians enter and earn their livelihood. That helps us all in keeping relationships. Third, we must foster the rise of an Arab leader who is a realist, and can dictate to his people. And as a hope for the distant future, we need the success of the Sari Nuseibeh – Ami Ayalon coalition, the Arab university president and the Israeli security leader, who see a future of two states, with the Arabs giving up the return principle and Israelis giving up the settlements. Some 60,000 Palestinians and 94,000 Israelis have signed on. I see them as heroes, not afraid of retaliation. As more people sign, the popular movement against terror and violence may grow and take hold. The large number of Palestinian informers we have is not only due to the money we spend, it also shows that there are Palestinians who want to help us and themselves to get rid of the troublemakers.
“Will this be effective? Who knows! The only effective ways of stopping terror that we have seen were mass murders, applied by Arab secularist leaders against their own religionists and other internal dissidents, such as when Syria’s Assad killed 10,000 Muslim Brotherhood adherents, destroying the entire town of Hama, in 1980, and when Saddam Hussein gassed 5,000 Halabja Kurds in 1988 and killed 100,000 more in the Anfal murder campaign.. The outsiders fail. Milosevich Serbs’ killing of 7,000 Moslems in Srebrenica did not suppress the Bosnians. Only President Truman succeeded, when he authorized the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed 105,000. The shock stopped a war, and the world cheered, but this reaction is no longer feasible without a major provocation, else the world will revolt. Blowing up a Tikrit, or Faluja, or the Ansar al-Islam villages will be disastrous. Too much like the Germans’ annihilation of the peaceful Czech village of Lidice in 1942, following the assassination of Reinhard Heidrich by outsiders, Allied paratroopers. As to the world opinion, we Israelis will be damned whether we make peace or war with the terrorists. Israel’s security comes first. .”
“So, what do you see for Iraq?” Dr Paranoia asked. “Much of the same,” said the Israeli. “You must offer big rewards to informers, with anonymity assured, for turning in Saddam and Osama, as well as lesser terrorists. That is needed to damp the resistance. Provide seed money for bounty hunters. Help Iraq restore its life, make alliances with the Shiites, build Iraqi police, build an army, fence in the terrorists. Bribe the mullahs throughout Islam, as Rumsfeld suggests. Talk to Iran, to all secular Arabs including Libya and Syria. The Arab kingdoms must understand that they must curb their Wahabis, else they are lost. Make a US/UN-supervised non-aggression treaty with North Korea, subvert their attitudes. Reward American college students for learning targeted foreign languages and history, for work abroad. Rebuilding trust in the US will be a long haul, maybe a slog. As for American economy, the comeback will definitely be a slog.“
After the Texan and his friend left, Dr. P. asked the bartender: “What does this man know about US economy?” “I’m not sure,” was the answer, ”but I think he has been reading Rumsfeld’s lips.”
Dr. Paranoia had a call from the Texan. “I want you to meet an Israeli who can explain his countrymen's attitudes,” said the answer-man. “Meet us at the bar.”
They met. No names were exchanged. “ I have been voting with the Meretz party, the most left wing liberal group in our country,.” the Israeli, a middle-aged man, started his story. “In the last election Meretz lost seven of its 12 members of the 120 seat Knesset. This shows how Israeli liberal opinion has turned to despair, viewing 40% of the Arabs as inflexible religious fanatics who blindly follow the Hamas terror policy, dooming us to a perpetual state of war. Many feel that a huge conflagration is needed to open the Palestinians’ eyes. Many, including myself, have signed on to support Sharon’s security policy, with targeted killings.. Let me explain, before you go into shock.
“Some of us progressives see a sort of five-step solution, somewhat related to the government’s position. Number one, most importantly, we must steadfastly continue the eradication of terrorist leaders, chopping off the hydra’s heads as they surface, not just in response to terrorist attacks. That is most important. That shows the terrorists that they are doomed, they have lost, that we do not respond to their attacks and their pauses of choice, that we will take action continuously, regardless, therefore the terrorist bombings are meaningless in provoking us. Note that point. We no longer play their game.
" Second, we must not close our borders, we must let legitimate Palestinians enter and earn their livelihood. That helps us all in keeping relationships. Third, we must foster the rise of an Arab leader who is a realist, and can dictate to his people. And as a hope for the distant future, we need the success of the Sari Nuseibeh – Ami Ayalon coalition, the Arab university president and the Israeli security leader, who see a future of two states, with the Arabs giving up the return principle and Israelis giving up the settlements. Some 60,000 Palestinians and 94,000 Israelis have signed on. I see them as heroes, not afraid of retaliation. As more people sign, the popular movement against terror and violence may grow and take hold. The large number of Palestinian informers we have is not only due to the money we spend, it also shows that there are Palestinians who want to help us and themselves to get rid of the troublemakers.
“Will this be effective? Who knows! The only effective ways of stopping terror that we have seen were mass murders, applied by Arab secularist leaders against their own religionists and other internal dissidents, such as when Syria’s Assad killed 10,000 Muslim Brotherhood adherents, destroying the entire town of Hama, in 1980, and when Saddam Hussein gassed 5,000 Halabja Kurds in 1988 and killed 100,000 more in the Anfal murder campaign.. The outsiders fail. Milosevich Serbs’ killing of 7,000 Moslems in Srebrenica did not suppress the Bosnians. Only President Truman succeeded, when he authorized the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed 105,000. The shock stopped a war, and the world cheered, but this reaction is no longer feasible without a major provocation, else the world will revolt. Blowing up a Tikrit, or Faluja, or the Ansar al-Islam villages will be disastrous. Too much like the Germans’ annihilation of the peaceful Czech village of Lidice in 1942, following the assassination of Reinhard Heidrich by outsiders, Allied paratroopers. As to the world opinion, we Israelis will be damned whether we make peace or war with the terrorists. Israel’s security comes first. .”
“So, what do you see for Iraq?” Dr Paranoia asked. “Much of the same,” said the Israeli. “You must offer big rewards to informers, with anonymity assured, for turning in Saddam and Osama, as well as lesser terrorists. That is needed to damp the resistance. Provide seed money for bounty hunters. Help Iraq restore its life, make alliances with the Shiites, build Iraqi police, build an army, fence in the terrorists. Bribe the mullahs throughout Islam, as Rumsfeld suggests. Talk to Iran, to all secular Arabs including Libya and Syria. The Arab kingdoms must understand that they must curb their Wahabis, else they are lost. Make a US/UN-supervised non-aggression treaty with North Korea, subvert their attitudes. Reward American college students for learning targeted foreign languages and history, for work abroad. Rebuilding trust in the US will be a long haul, maybe a slog. As for American economy, the comeback will definitely be a slog.“
After the Texan and his friend left, Dr. P. asked the bartender: “What does this man know about US economy?” “I’m not sure,” was the answer, ”but I think he has been reading Rumsfeld’s lips.”
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 5:29 PM 
