Enemies of Peace

Missing the point entirely, Secretary of State Powell in Jerusalem called Hamas an “enemy of peace.” Hamas is not at war with “peace” and it isn’t “peace” that Hamas attacks; it is Jews. Radical Islamic organizations, of which Hamas is only one, and their followers are at war with Jews, Israel, America, the West, Christians, democracy, republican government and civil liberties, to name a few. The President has no trouble naming the enemies of the United States as enemies of the United States.

Missing the point entirely, Secretary of State Powell in Jerusalem called Hamas an “enemy of peace.” Hamas is not at war with “peace” and it isn’t “peace” that Hamas attacks; it is Jews. Radical Islamic organizations, of which Hamas is only one, and their followers are at war with Jews, Israel, America, the West, Christians, democracy, republican government and civil liberties, to name a few. The President has no trouble naming the enemies of the United States as enemies of the United States. Why should enemies of Israel and Jews be euphemized as “enemies of peace”?

It isn’t a matter of semantics. Our ability to prevail over our enemy – the terrorist and terrorist-supporting countries that attack the West including Israel – depends in some measure on understanding who is fighting for and against what.

Dr. Michael Ledeen, author, historian and member of JINSA’s Board of Advisors, in his book Machiavelli on Modern Leadership, defines peace as the condition imposed by the victor of the last war on the loser. Therefore, you can have a bad peace – such as the victors’ terms of WWI that contained within them the seeds of WWII, or a good peace – such as that constructed by the U.S. after WWII that led to the German and Japanese economic miracles and the institution of democracy. You can have a cold peace, a warm peace, the peace of the brave or the peace of the dead.

It all depends on who wins the war.

If Hamas wins, the peace will be an Islamic state without Jews. If the broader Islamic radical network wins, the peace will be Sharia from sea to sea.

Dr. Ledeen also said that never in his studies had he found warring parties that just decide to “forget it” in the name of peace. A victor and a vanquished are required to end the war. And that indeed is our current experience in Iraq. American soldiers are attacked daily by soldiers loyal to the missing Saddam who carry on a war they cannot hope to win, but do not have to acknowledge that they lost.

Yet Abu Mazen told Mr. Powell that he still wants to negotiate a cease fire with Hamas in hopes of persuading them to disarm later. Hamas, nothing if not clear in its war aims, told Abu Mazen it would refuse any such “request” to disarm.

If the United States has to win its war abroad, how much more does Israel have to win its war at home? Israeli citizens are attacked daily by terrorists who will not win, but who are intent upon causing as much death and destruction as possible until they are defeated.

If Secretary Powell wants to contribute to peace in the region, he should stop talking about peace and acknowledge the war that is directed at Israel. Not at “peace” not at the “process.” At Israel. And at Noam Liebowitz. He owes that much to a seven-year-old girl, shot and killed Wednesday in her parents’ car because she was a Jew and an Israeli.