December 27, 2006

The Strategy that is Oddly Used by Both Radical Jihadists, and Liberals

Has Prime Minister Olmert, of Israel, lost his mind?

TEL AVIV - The Israeli army is "up in arms" regarding an order issued yesterday by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to remove a series of West Bank security checkpoints that regularly stop terrorists from infiltrating Jewish cities, according to military officials.

In accordance with promises made to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a summit this weekend, Olmert instructed the IDF to remove 49 West Bank roadblocks and checkpoints. Twenty-seven roadblocks are to be removed immediately, and the rest within about a week, subject to a final decision by government officials.

Olmert also instructed IDF soldiers to not thoroughly examine every vehicle at 16 of the West Bank's largest roadblocks. Vehicle examinations usually cause long delays at the checkpoints.

Olmert said the moves were aimed at bolstering Abbas at a time when his Fatah party is engaging in infighting with rival Hamas factions. Abbas last weekend called for new Palestinian elections in a move widely seen as attempting to dismantle the Hamas-led government.

Palestinians say the West Bank roadblocks and checkpoints are degrading. They complain of waiting in long lines to pass through West Bank cities.

But according to IDF statistics, upwards of 60 percent of all attempted suicide bombings are stopped at the checkpoints. Israeli soldiers routinely catch Palestinians at checkpoints en route to central Israel with explosives or suicide belts. Many of the terrorists are caught during vehicle inspections.

...Military officials told WND the removal of roadblocks in the past directly resulted in an increase in terrorism.

"The checkpoints work. It's that simple. It's how we stop most terrorism," a military official told WND.

Olmert is acting against the need of Israel's citizens for safety, and instead is responding to criticisms that Israel is an oppressor of Palestinians. As Olah Chadasha, of the Israeli blog Greetings from the French Hill, puts it:

Olmert's and Israel's constantly repeated and futile attempt to gain brownie points with the world by sacrificing its future and security is like repeatedly playing a CD you know you hate but hoping against hope that the next time it'll actually sound better to the point where you'll enjoy it.

Olmert is providing an extreme example of a Western disorder: if you tell him his country is an oppressor, he'll do whatever you want. It makes him predictable and pathetically easy to manipulate.

We in the West must recognize this absurd disorder and take steps to put an end to it.

Patriotic Liberals must have felt ill last week, when Al Qaeda "sent a message to leaders of the Democratic party that credit for the defeat of congressional Republicans belongs to the terrorists." The message accused America of "occupying the lands of Islam and stealing the treasures of the Muslims." The overlap between Liberals and Radical Jihadists is precisely this: that they both use this Western disorder as a means of pushing Western nations around. As posted here last May, author Shelby Steele has detailed this with regard to Liberals:

...[Steele] pointed out that accusations that Americans are racist, and that America as a nation is an oppressor, are inaccurate based on the facts, and are made only as an attempt to gain power.

America's Liberals can't be expected to help recognize and put an end to this disorder - because exploiting it, and exemplifying it, is pretty much their whole game.

That leaves it up to America's Conservatives to become very aware of this and to spread the word to the many Americans who vote according to the issues and the specific politicians, rather than rigidly on party lines.

Why is the same strategy used by both Liberals and Radical Jihadists? The answer is easy. There's nothing sinister about it. It's used by both, merely because it works.

And that has got to end.