The Energy Wall - Thomas L. Friedman
I believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to the big "clash of civilizations" now under way between the Muslim world and the West what the Spanish Civil War was to World War II. It's Off Broadway to Broadway.
The Spanish Civil War was the theater where Great European powers tested out many weapons and tactics that were later deployed on a larger scale in World War II. Similarly, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been the small theater where many weapons and tactics get tested out first and then go global. So if you study the evolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Off Broadway, you can learn a lot about how the larger war now playing out on Broadway, in Iraq and Afghanistan, might proceed.
(New York Times)
2 comments:
This seems most relevant in the fact that Israel actually learned in its fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, that its conflicts are going to be fought more like we were already experiencing in Iraq. Unfortunately,the free world is all learning together, about suicide bombers, rocket attacks from civilian neighborhoods, and having no trusted allies in the indigenous population.
Seems like we agree on Friedman. I'm not usually in concert with his MidEast perspective, but this Friedman piece, Larry and I can agree is sound.
Despite my better judgement, I'm going to disagree with Larry's very last point: "...no trusted allies in the indigenous population."
It would indeed seem so. But complex Middle East reality defies the obvious.
Israel has been quite successful at tapping into anti-terror sympathizers among the indigenous Arabs [and, slightly less successfully in Lebanon, Christians]. Hamas and the PA make sport of publicly executing those they call "collaborators." We owe those heros our deepest thanks, without whom we'd still be lamenting the horrific teachings of Hamas "spiritual" leader Yassin.
Perhaps this is a key failure in Iraq and thus far in the War on Terror. I figured I'd say that before Larry brought it up.
If we accept that approximately 15% of Muslims are active supporters of radical jihad, then we've got to support and rely on the other 85% to the extent that they are truly moderate.
:)
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