Monday, March 10, 2008
Radical forces in the Middle East have rewritten the international rulebook in a way designed so they can't lose. That is, there is no easy response to their behavior and strategies. Even more worrisome is the widespread failure in the West even to realize this is happening.
Hamas and Hizbullah fire from among civilians and use civilian homes for military purposes; Syria or Iran deploy disinformation; radical regimes pretend moderation, and there are plenty of suckers to take the bait.
Extremism makes many believe that kind words and concessions can transform them; intransigence produces the response that if they won't give up, we must do so...
Rubin goes on to list all the many ways in which "they" have it over on us, aided by international institutions like the UN, the press and the NGOs which seem custom-made to aid the world's most regressive regimes and groups and tie the hands of moral nations. [h/t: Norma]
