Linda Chavez is demonstrating the same nihilistic tendencies of the Israeli
army. Why not? Let the Israelis do to the Palestinians what the
forefathers of this nation did to the Native Americans. I can't be any
madder!
Soffie
-----Original Message-----
From: Yusupha C. Jow [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 1:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Double Standard
Double Standard
<A
HREF="http://ads.inet1.com/html-bin/adselect-iframe-sky.asp?obnum=200933&fnu
m=143&site=85203&cbvar=144243456">Intellivu</A> presents commentary by Linda
Chavez
"This nation will do what it takes to defend that which it
holds dear." The
words spoken Monday could have come from Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon.
They didn't. They came from President Bush, speaking at a
rally in Tennessee.
But the president's words make it all the more puzzling why
he now insists
that Israel cannot do the same to defend herself.
When it comes to attacks on the United States, President
Bush reiterated his
commitment to "find the enemy wherever they may hide" and
"defend freedom, no
matter what the costs." Yet, he tells the Israelis that they
cannot hunt down
terrorists in the West Bank and that the cost of defending
their freedom may
well be U.S. support. It is a double standard unworthy of
the president and
inimical to the interests of the United States.
So far, the Israeli Defense Forces have captured tons of
weapons in the West
Bank, including 60 pounds of high explosives and some 50
rocket-propelled
grenades, and they discovered nearly a dozen weapons and
explosives labs --
some of which were seized within the compounds of the
Palestinian Authority.
The IDF have also intercepted five car bombs -- that is five
more suicide
missions that have been thwarted and dozens of lives saved.
And the IDF have
arrested some 500 Palestinians wanted for attacks on
Israelis.
We should be applauding the Israelis, not demanding they
retreat before they
have accomplished their objectives.
The administration reportedly decided to pressure Israel
when demonstrators
in Egypt and elsewhere began anti-American protests. The
administration's
fear is that we will lose support in the Arab world for our
war on terrorism.
But the "Arab street" has never backed our fight -- indeed a
few months ago
tens of thousands of Muslims took to the streets in the Arab
world and
elsewhere to protest our military action against
Afghanistan. And they were
joined by thousands of others, including European and
American "peace
activists" who protested when stray American bombs killed
innocent Afghan
civilians.
Yet we didn't buckle under the criticism. Instead, we chose
to stay and
fight. And when innocent Afghans died -- and dozens, if not
hundreds did --
we, rightly, blamed the Taliban and al Qaeda for inflicting
such misery on
Afghanistan.
Innocent people are dying in the West Bank as well. But
Yasser Arafat and the
terrorists he harbors are the ones who are morally culpable
for these deaths,
just as the Taliban and al Qaeda were in Afghanistan. Arafat
and the
Palestinians could have peace -- and a state -- anytime they
choose. But they
would rather sacrifice their own young to blow up Israelis
in the insane hope
that they will one day eliminate the Jewish state.
The president and those in his administration seem to
believe that Israel
should negotiate its way to peace. But it is impossible to
negotiate with
those who have consistently violated every agreement they've
ever signed --
as Yasser Arafat has. To insist that the Israelis withdraw
their troops so
that they can once again sit down with a man who has yet to
live up to his
previous commitments is an invitation to further violence
against innocent
civilians. Peace will only come when the terrorists are
defeated.
If President Bush succeeds in getting the Israelis to pull
out of the West
Bank before they have completed their mission, it will
embolden terrorists
everywhere. And we may well pay the price in the United
States, as well as
Israel.
How can we hope to fight a global war on terrorism when we
give a pass to
Palestinian terrorists? In the 18 months since the
Palestinians launched
their latest bloody intifada against Israel, more than 400
Israelis have
died. On a per capita basis, that is more than six times the
equivalent loss
of lives sustained in the World Trade Center attack. How
many more must die
before President Bush's words about doing "whatever it takes
to defend that
which we hold dear," "to find the enemy wherever they may
hide," and "to
defend freedom, no matter what the costs" apply to Israel,
as well as the
United States?
© 2002 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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