A Lesson For The World Today
(Hat-Tip: Hugh Hewitt; he tipped us in the direction of this new blogger. Trust us, he is worth the read.)
They say that wisdom comes from strange places, and bloggers do have their quirks. And while WE read this piece, thoughts flew naturally to Israel and Hezbollah right now. Hence the reason why I called it a "lesson" for the world. Kofi Annan today stated that "excessive use of force should be condemned."
What, pray tell, is considered "excessive" force in a war? To me that means that the soldiers and commanders on the ground will wage war--open hostilities--against an enemy, targeting their command and control structure, their ground forces, and their ability to wage war from the air. Israel has done precisely that. Now, this is a war, and sometimes it does not go as planned. Have civilians been killed? Quite possibly, but I do not believe a single count coming from Hezbollah (as CNN has). It is propaganda, and it cannot be confirmed one way or another. And we should not forget that Hezbollah is notorious for putting their military hardware and troops amongst civilians.
Israel will do as we do, and as every domocracy does when they go to war. They will take care to avoid civilian casualties, but not to the detriment of the troops. The rules of engagement still apply. If a fighter jet sees a rocket about to fly, and the launcher is in a civilian area, he will try to minimize the damage, but he is taking out that rocket. If Kofi Annan has a problem with this concept, I suggest he file his complaints in the appropriate place. They will end up in the round file when it is all said and done.
And that is the small example that Mr. Bogner gives us:
When I was in the Navy, I once witnessed a bar fight in downtown Olongapo (Philippines) that still haunts my dreams. The fight was between a big oafish Marine and a rather soft-spoken, medium sized Latino sailor from my ship.
All evening the Marine had been trying to pick a fight with one of us and had finally set his sights on this diminutive shipmate of mine... figuring him for a safe target. When my friend refused to be goaded into a fight the Marine sucker punched him from behind on the side of the head so hard that blood instantly started to pour from this poor man's mutilated ear.
Everyone present was horrified and was prepared to absolutely murder this Marine, but my shipmate quickly turned on him and began to single-handedly back him towards a corner with a series of stinging jabs and upper cuts that gave more than a hint to a youth spent boxing in a small gym in the Bronx.
Each punch opened a cut on the Marine's startled face and by the time he had been backed completely into the corner he was blubbering for someone to stop the fight. He invoked his split lips and chipped teeth as reasons to stop the fight. He begged us to stop the fight because he could barely see through the river of blood that was pouring out of his split and swollen brows.
Nobody moved. Not one person.
Sound a little familiar? Sounds like that Marine was playing the Hezbollah game. Please stop, please stop. You are killing us. You are killing our civilians. You are bombing innocent people and not Hezbollah. Same mantra, day in and day out, since Hezbollah picked this fight. The bully on the block is getting its collective rear handed to it, and they are whining that Israel is using excessive force.
I guess Hezbollah forgot that Israel does not draft empty resolutions, or pass on strongly-worded letters. They responded, just like that sailor did. Israel is not letting up, and neither did that sailor. Not until he heard what he was demanding.
Say "I give up." That is what Israel is waiting for. They want their soldiers back, but more importantly, they want Hezbollah to end this. They do not want to go to war, just like any sane nation chooses to avoid the mess as much as possible. However, like the United States, like Great Britain, like any other free nation, Israel is going to retaliate; and they do not go halfway. I know there are complaints from many people connected with Israel that are complaining that their leaders are not doing enough.
There are always "armchair quarterbacks." I am not insulting those people. Thomas and I speculate and war game all the time. It is healthy. However we always bear this in mind: WE are not on the battlefield, and are basing moves, countermoves, and criticism on what we hear through the media--both dinosaur and New.
But the point Mr. Bogner made was a good one, and one that should be picked up by a larger amount of people. (I suggest Pat Buchanan read this, and catch a clue instead of ranting on about "neo-cons.") And we hope our readers read it and enjoy it, as well. It is most definitely one of the best lessons of this young 21st Century that needs to be learned. Nations are not simply going to rollover and take it on the chops. "Nuanced" Europe may be willing to capitulate, but the rest of the world will not. We will defend ourselves. And we should support those that do the same.
Marcie
(Hat-Tip: Hugh Hewitt; he tipped us in the direction of this new blogger. Trust us, he is worth the read.)
They say that wisdom comes from strange places, and bloggers do have their quirks. And while WE read this piece, thoughts flew naturally to Israel and Hezbollah right now. Hence the reason why I called it a "lesson" for the world. Kofi Annan today stated that "excessive use of force should be condemned."
What, pray tell, is considered "excessive" force in a war? To me that means that the soldiers and commanders on the ground will wage war--open hostilities--against an enemy, targeting their command and control structure, their ground forces, and their ability to wage war from the air. Israel has done precisely that. Now, this is a war, and sometimes it does not go as planned. Have civilians been killed? Quite possibly, but I do not believe a single count coming from Hezbollah (as CNN has). It is propaganda, and it cannot be confirmed one way or another. And we should not forget that Hezbollah is notorious for putting their military hardware and troops amongst civilians.
Israel will do as we do, and as every domocracy does when they go to war. They will take care to avoid civilian casualties, but not to the detriment of the troops. The rules of engagement still apply. If a fighter jet sees a rocket about to fly, and the launcher is in a civilian area, he will try to minimize the damage, but he is taking out that rocket. If Kofi Annan has a problem with this concept, I suggest he file his complaints in the appropriate place. They will end up in the round file when it is all said and done.
And that is the small example that Mr. Bogner gives us:
When I was in the Navy, I once witnessed a bar fight in downtown Olongapo (Philippines) that still haunts my dreams. The fight was between a big oafish Marine and a rather soft-spoken, medium sized Latino sailor from my ship.
All evening the Marine had been trying to pick a fight with one of us and had finally set his sights on this diminutive shipmate of mine... figuring him for a safe target. When my friend refused to be goaded into a fight the Marine sucker punched him from behind on the side of the head so hard that blood instantly started to pour from this poor man's mutilated ear.
Everyone present was horrified and was prepared to absolutely murder this Marine, but my shipmate quickly turned on him and began to single-handedly back him towards a corner with a series of stinging jabs and upper cuts that gave more than a hint to a youth spent boxing in a small gym in the Bronx.
Each punch opened a cut on the Marine's startled face and by the time he had been backed completely into the corner he was blubbering for someone to stop the fight. He invoked his split lips and chipped teeth as reasons to stop the fight. He begged us to stop the fight because he could barely see through the river of blood that was pouring out of his split and swollen brows.
Nobody moved. Not one person.
Sound a little familiar? Sounds like that Marine was playing the Hezbollah game. Please stop, please stop. You are killing us. You are killing our civilians. You are bombing innocent people and not Hezbollah. Same mantra, day in and day out, since Hezbollah picked this fight. The bully on the block is getting its collective rear handed to it, and they are whining that Israel is using excessive force.
I guess Hezbollah forgot that Israel does not draft empty resolutions, or pass on strongly-worded letters. They responded, just like that sailor did. Israel is not letting up, and neither did that sailor. Not until he heard what he was demanding.
Say "I give up." That is what Israel is waiting for. They want their soldiers back, but more importantly, they want Hezbollah to end this. They do not want to go to war, just like any sane nation chooses to avoid the mess as much as possible. However, like the United States, like Great Britain, like any other free nation, Israel is going to retaliate; and they do not go halfway. I know there are complaints from many people connected with Israel that are complaining that their leaders are not doing enough.
There are always "armchair quarterbacks." I am not insulting those people. Thomas and I speculate and war game all the time. It is healthy. However we always bear this in mind: WE are not on the battlefield, and are basing moves, countermoves, and criticism on what we hear through the media--both dinosaur and New.
But the point Mr. Bogner made was a good one, and one that should be picked up by a larger amount of people. (I suggest Pat Buchanan read this, and catch a clue instead of ranting on about "neo-cons.") And we hope our readers read it and enjoy it, as well. It is most definitely one of the best lessons of this young 21st Century that needs to be learned. Nations are not simply going to rollover and take it on the chops. "Nuanced" Europe may be willing to capitulate, but the rest of the world will not. We will defend ourselves. And we should support those that do the same.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 6:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home