Who do you think should stop shooting first, the officially recognized national armed forces of the democratically elected government of an internationally recognized sovereign nation or the armed militia of a religious faction? Seems clear to me.
Although it also seems very parallel to the older brother younger sister backseat slap fight.
"Mom, he hit me!"
"She started it!"
"Yes, but as the older more responsible sibling you need to be the bigger of the two of you and know that we don't hit our little sister."
Just once I would have liked to have clocked her with all I had right in the kisser. Which means I think that every single older brother in the entire world knows how the Israeli army must feel. Also, one would assume that Hezbollah knows what every little sister in the world learns very quickly: Mom and Dad will not stand for the little sister getting clocked in the face, and the older brother is aware of that fact. That's why she poked you in the first place.
The more I think about it though the more I am certain that this sort of analysis ought not to apply to this situation. I also think the Israelis feel this way. I hope the Hezbollah leadership isn't counting on back seat rules continuing to apply. Lest when they look up they may see two things...
1. Israel about to clock them in the face with everything they have.
and
2. The face of George W. looking over his shoulder saying "I told you not to make me stop this car!"
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Parental Diplomacy
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4 comments:
A few comments:
The US has for years supplied a large amount of Israel's arsenal. Dad not only showed favouratism to to the older brother, he also gave him a set of brass knuckles.
And what about your sister's friends? Let's make no mistakes here: The only reason the US is involved in this is because of their desire to control the middle east. For decades Israel has been, for political purposes, a US protectorate as their only solid foothold in the area.
To return to your analogy: Dad doesn't really want the brother to stop hitting the sister. In fact, he has said to all the other parents out there that the brother has a right to "defend himself." Further, by giving the brother his brass knuckles he is supporting the brother in the conflict. Dad has a bigger plan: To take out all of the sister's friends too, and he's going to sit back and see if the brother can do it.
Finally, I really enjoy the image of George looking over his shoulder and yelling at the two siblings. Unfortunately he's not keeping his eyes on the road ahead.
Its interesting to me how difficult people find it to discuss the scenario without taking sides. The post I wrote tried hard not to be partisan.
The point was that regardless of who started it or what the motivations are the analysis applies.
Maybe I should write a post about who I think is right. But thats not what I was doing here.
Well I can appreciate how hard it is to write in a non-partisan way about the issue, since it's entirely based on taking sides: religious, political, nationalistic, etc etc.
And, as one of my history profs once told me: any analysis of events is inherently biased by the person analyzing them. Your characterization of Hezbollah as a militia, for example, could be criticised because of the loaded connotations of the word. What if you had used "resistance" instead? It would change the reader's perception of the group. And no doubt you chose not to use that term because of your own opinions on the issue. As you say, that seems clear to me.
And ultimately any analysis of anything applies, provided you support it to your satisfaction. Whether or not it's valid is up to your readers to decide, which is why it's great to have comment options on our blogs! Hopefully between us and our friends we can come up with a more blanced perspective on complex issues like this.
Also, as an only child, I can only imagine the utter hatred you must have had for your sister! Wow...
Not hatred, and not my sister. Frustration at the ridiculousness of the situation.
Sort of the point.
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