  urlLink Doubts grow within Israeli Army Mark sent this on to me yesterday. It is an interesting article about how fatigue is setting in on the Israeli army as they fight against the Palestinian terror organizations. I think it points out some fundamental facts that many are probably not going to be comfortable with. The root of the problem in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies in the lack of a substantive resolution. Peace has never be obtained while the root of the conflict remains, which means that one side needs to lose, decisively.
This is not the case in the Middle East. While the Israeli's have fought several wars against armed agressors, they are always restrained from total victory by a misguided world opinion. The overt anti-semtism of Europe, along with the indecisive American administrations, have always pulled Israel's leash at the last moment, sparing the Palestinian (or other Arab) leadership from the consequences of thier actions. Time and time again, Israel has been asked to respect the leadership of a group of people that seek to kill them. Arafat and his thugs are still in power, and so long as this condition exists, there will be no peace. The current situation of limited strikes cannot be sustained, and Israel is risking a Vietnamization of thier conflict with the Palestinians. A limited, political war will always result in failure. In my mind, the answer to the Israeli problem is unrestricted war upon those that support the destruction of the Israel. Arafat and his ilk must be removed and/or killed, immediately. All others who seek to take their place must die as well.
Let us allow Israel to win thier war, once and for all. Only then will peace come. Most Palestinians want stability and safety, and this can only be gaurenteed through an Israeli administration. Israel should select the interim Palestinian leadership, and provide them with the means to enforce their governance. At least until the marginalized Palestinians can be shown a safe, prosperous future away from radical Islam. Those that cannot accept this must be removed. The same applies for our current conflict. We risk becoming just like the weary Israeli Army.
If we continue to bind our own hands and refuse to eradicate our enemies at the behest of a weak-willed world, we will have no other end. You cannot defeat your enemy, and then allow them back in power as a show of good faith. Iraq and Afghanastan belong to us for the moment. We should make the appropriate decisions FOR the people, until they have established the credentials to form a credible government. The conquered territories are like children. Do you allow your kids to govern the house, or do you structure their lives and control their actions as much as you can, until they can take care of themselves?
There is an element of tyranny in parenting, but no one sees it as evil. Our occupation and reformation of a broken culture is nothing more than an act of parenting as we try to raise these people to become responsible members of civilization. I fear we have lost the will in Iraq. The populace clamors to get out at all costs. If we do, and the region devolves to chaos, the naysayers will claim victory, and we will have to do it all over again in ten years.
What will be the bill then? We need to press for victory, now, at any price. We need to ignore our critics and do what must be done. We don't enjoy killing, but we can't shy away from it when it becomes neccesary to secure a free, safe world. There was a time when England understood this. We were the ones on the sideline, trying to avoid getting involved. Now our positions seem to be reversed. We can't lose our nerve on this. 
