Posted by
Dean Cooper on Friday, July 28, 2006 5:40:19 PM
The Left is largely saying that Israel is using
"disproportionate" force in the current conflict with Hezbollah in
Lebanon. They worry that such excessive force ends up creating more terrorists
than it kills and pushes more Lebanese to side with Hezbollah and is thus counterproductive.
People of this mindset are generally calling for an immediate cease-fire on
both sides.
The Right is largely saying let's stop pretending there's some moral equivalence
here. Israel is defending itself and if it doesn't eliminate Hezbollah, then it
will simply be a matter of time until Hezbollah regroups and eventually it will
become an even greater threat than it is now. It's not Israel's fault that
Hezbollah hides out among civilians. People of this mindset generally want
Israel to continue until Hezbollah has been disarmed.
I could go on, but what is the Real Truth here? How can we bring clarity to
these two opposing views?
The answer is actually surprisingly simple. The first mindset (let's call it
the Left mindset) sees this conflict as if it were some rehash of a feud
between the Hatfields and the McCoys. When you look at things this way, all you
can do is throw up your hands saying who knows who started this mess, and
mutter something about how every time one side shoots at the other, it just
keeps the cycle of violence going and the only way to stop it is to demand an
immediate cease fire. In this view, it doesn't really matter which side is
right or wrong, all that matters is that each side hates the other and we need
to work on ways to calm the two parties down and bring peace.
The second mindset (call it the Right mindset) says this isn't a feud at all.
It's a gang of criminals that are holed up in the hotel shooting at anybody
passing by. Israel is the police going in to stop the bad guys from killing
innocent bystanders. It's true that innocent people in the hotel are getting
killed, but if the bad guys aren't put out of action, then even more innocent
people will be killed. When you see things this way, it's absolutely crazy to
call for a cease-fire. Do we ever ask the police to lay down there arms because
they are perpetuating a cycle of violence? Do we ever tell the police to leave
the bad guys alone because they are only creating more bad guys and more hate?
Now look, I think most people (Left or Right) will agree there is this
difference in mindsets, but now the question is why? And what should the real
mindset be?
To me, the reason there is a difference is because things in real life are
never so clear-cut. Hezbollah is not purely a gang of criminals and bad guys.
They reportedly also do a lot of good social services. The Left sees the good
they are doing and concludes they must not really be that bad after all. The
Right hears that they intend to eliminate Israel (read: kill the Jews) and they
conclude that they must really be very bad underneath any facade of good deeds.
The reality is that they may well be both. They may indeed be doing good
things. And they may at the same time desire to do truly bad things. The Left
will tend to excuse the tendencies toward bad actions as being caused by the
cycle of hate and violence. The Right says we don't care why they want to do
bad things, we just have to stop them or many people will die.
The reason the Left sees a Hatfield-McCoy feud is because they view the hatreds
(on both sides) as being based on semi-legitimate grievances caused by
the other side. The Right sees a police standoff because they view one side as
having illegitimate grievances spurred on by incessant propaganda and then
redressed through immoral means. The Left's problem is compounded by the fact
that they always view the more powerful side as inherently unfair and the
weaker side as entitled to redress its dire situation through nearly any means
at their disposal.
What is the Real Truth? The real truth is that Israel would gladly forever walk
away from this fight if it knew it had nothing to fear from the actions on the
other side. It has no desire to continue a cycle of violence just like
police have no desire to go out and battle the criminals.
Unfortunately, it can be hard to see this truth. Actually, it takes a measure
of faith -- the same type of faith that we have in our police. Amazing isn't
it?