Cowards hide behind innocents, betting their very lives that the just will abandon justice in deference to the innocents lives. Leftists, as Michelle Malkin points out, seem to think it morally consistent to allow these cowards their pastime of murder and mayhem. The idea is that killing one innocent in pursuit of 100 murders is too high a price to pay.

As with most subjects, though, these leftists stop thinking when the next logic–and necessary–step in the problem involves consequences. To the modern left, there are no consequences; everything occurs in a vacuum to be judged only against itself. The leftists, then, denounce Israel for bombing Hezbollah terrorists as they cowar in the shadows of children, women, and old men. The left, and even some normally sober thinkers like Dr. Steven Taylor, wish the Israelis would let the terrorists live to launch more murder on Israel. choose actions that avoid collateral damage even if the immediate result would be more fatal attacks on Israel.*
And that is the next step in the logic that we must address.

I wrote in my 1993 sleeper, The Conservative Manifesto:

The United States considers the life of each of its citizens more valuable than the lives of any other nation’s citizens. When American blood is shed through an aggressive act by or with the consent of a foreign government, the United States reserves the right to retaliate with any and all weapons at its disposal.

I haven’t changed my mind. The first duty of a government is to perpetuate itself and advance the purposes of its existence. Replace “United States” in the paragraph above with “Israel,” you have a perfect apology for Israel’s tactics in its war against Hezbollah.

While I make no pretense to a theological defense of my position on retaliation (there is none), I insist that Israel, too, should value the safety of Israelis above the safety of Lebanese citizens. Israel’s duty is first to Israel, then to humanity at large. Unfortunately for the people of Lebanon, their rank falls below both of the above, at least in Israel’s eyes.

So that leaves us in a prickly place. The United States sides with Israel, but Israel kills civilians. The world, and apparently Mel Gibson, hate us for this. But complete the logic: Hezbollah’s sole purpose is the annihilation of Jews and their state. Recognize their relative impotence on the battle field, they fight in the field of opinion. They intentionally draw Israeli fire into civilian homes. Hezbollah loses a few teenage warriors, but Israel loses international support. Being a nation of 5 million surrounded by enemies numbering 500 million, internation support is really Israel’s only strength. Both the cowardice and the evil genius of Hezbollah’s strategy reveal their brilliance.

Which is why we must not let Hezbollah win. Hezbollah, and its amen corners throughout the world, will use the Qana incident to push for a cease-fire, giving Hezbollah time to regroup, as I pointed out yesterday. (This Washington Post story almost begins with a demand for an immediate cease-fire.)

The Nazis, too, tried to win through world opinion. In 1938, American opinion, including academia, favored Hitler’s brilliant rejuvenation of the German economy. To many Americans, the Nazis’ results justified their means. (The left in America and Europe also defended Stalin’s methods for the same reason, though Stalin never reached Hitler’s economic heights.) As The Jawa Report points, like Hezbollah, the Nazis ran charities that purported to do good things. (No doubt, the do-gooders of the day swooned at Hitler’s largesse.) Mistreatment of Jews, to a largely anti-Semitic world, was a small price to pay for social security and smooth running railroads.

The world, though, paid a very heavy price for giving up the logical argument half way through. Denouncing Israel’s tactics demonstrates intellectual laziness that leaves the world closer to, not farther from, the brink of World War III. Let’s think this through while Israel brings good thinking to life on the battlefields of southern Lebanon.

Captain Ed sees some good coming from the Qana tragedy.

*Updated to more accurately reflect my friend Steven Taylor’s position. I apologize for any misinterpretation of his view. I did not intend to distort Dr. Taylor’s intent.

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