Crunchy Con

"Sieg heil" in Arabic

Tuesday July 25, 2006

How do you say "Sieg heil!" in Arabic? Ask the Hitler, I mean, Hezbollah Youth giving the Nazi salute at a rally photographed by Time magazine. This is what evil is. You tell me how to negotiate with it. You...
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Comments
Tom Tomberg
July 25, 2006 10:04 PM
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Wow, I've been wrong all this time, and you're right. The problem is that Israel isn't killing _enough_ civilians in Lebanon.

Look, the debate is not over whether Israel should "sit quietly and calmly" and ignore Hezbollah; it's whether WHAT ISRAEL IS ACTUALLY DOING is going to work to improve their security situation.>

MNW
July 25, 2006 10:10 PM

Thank you, Tom.

It's good to know that someone gets it.>

Tony Parker
July 25, 2006 10:15 PM

Rod
Why do you associate yourself with a site that publishes the below type of absolute foolishness?????

Childless-by-Choice Catholics
'In choosing not to have children, you have not failed God, humanity, or yourself,' says a feminist Catholic.

Interview with Angela Bonavoglia>

Tom Tomberg
July 25, 2006 10:16 PM
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Thanks MNW.

Honor compels, though, that I admit that I just threw you under the bus in another thread, the one about Richard Cohen's column.>

MNW
July 25, 2006 10:32 PM

Ahh, Tom...

I think you misunderstood what I was saying in the other thread...I already responded to it.>

b
July 25, 2006 10:48 PM

Tom: Look, when Hezbollah starts behaving in accord with international norms by separating their weapons, barracks, etc., from the civilian population, Israel will be more than happy to drop bombs there and avoid all the collateral damage. But since they're not going to do that (as it would mean their instant annihilation), noncombatants are inevitably going to get killed. Which is Hezbollah's plan, of course. Their miscalculation in his has not been to underestimate how much Israel would respond, but to underestimate how tired their enablers in European governments have become of their act.>

maria
July 25, 2006 10:54 PM

Once more, Rod sets up an either/or dichotomy, where the opposing position has nothing whatsoever to do with what anyone here has said.

I think that's called a strawman. :p>

Daniel Nichols
July 25, 2006 10:54 PM
www.eighthdayicons.com

Are you sure that every outstretched hand gesture is intended to be a Nazi salute? Isn't that the logical fallacy of "like means related"? Perhaps that is the intention of the young man, but I would not jump to that conclusion. I have seen ignorant commentators claim that charismatic group blessings, with outstretched hands, were Nazi salutes.
If you tour some European cathedrals (or the National Shrine in DC) you will see swastikas, an ancient solar symbol. Or you will see the upside down cross in many churches dedicated to St Peter (who was crucified upside down). Would you, Mr Dreher, begin denouncing the Nazi and Satanist symbols before you?
And please, spare us the inflammatory "Islamofascist" nonsense; you sound like Rush Limbaugh or something, using a term meant only to smear.>

Rod Dreher
July 25, 2006 11:10 PM

True, the extended right-arm salute originated with the Romans, and the Nazis appropriated it. But to believe that anybody can use it after World War II innocently is laughably naive. Holding out the possibility that a religious militia dedicated to massacring Jews and destroying the Jewish state just happened to settle upon using the salute popularized by the Nazis by coincidence borders on derangement.

Ever heard of Hajj al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Hitler's very good friend? How about the Hanzar brigades of Islamic Nazi sympathizers, which the Mufti helped found?

I don't use "Islamofascist" in any sense but the literal one. These Hezbollah types are Muslims who are fascists, and therefore believe in imposing their will not through democracy but through collective force. It's not hyperbole.>

Joey
July 25, 2006 11:17 PM

Tony---

I'm curious why you attack Rod over something Beliefnet wrote about. I don't know if you're new to Beliefnet, but it features many different religious views, from multiple faiths and perspectives---because it has a particular article about one thing doesn't mean it necessarily encourages it. If this was childlesscatholics.com then you'd have a point, but Beliefnet encourages different ideas (which is why this blog is usually juxtaposed to what's-his-name's).

God bless!>

Basileus
July 25, 2006 11:36 PM

These...types are...fascists, and therefore believe in imposing their will not through democracy but through collective force.

Hmm, that describes every European colonizing power, as well as the USA, during the past 200 years. Ever hear of Manifest Destiny? ;-)>

Tom Tomberg
July 25, 2006 11:36 PM
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Rod: (something about Nazi salutes).

Sadly typical of the right is a tendency to ignore good arguments and target blasts of rage at lesser arguments that are advanced by very very few. (Think, for example, of the celebrity achieved by third-rate academic Ward Churchill, an anti-hero to the right, justly ignored by everyone else). No one on this thread has come to the defense of the "maybe it's not Nazi" viewpoint.

But, Rod is only intellectually capable of engaging weak points and straw men. A shame. I thought he'd really hit upon something with the Crunchy Conservatives meme.

The debate is not over whether Israel should "sit quietly and calmly" and ignore Hezbollah; it's whether WHAT ISRAEL IS ACTUALLY DOING is going to work to improve their security situation.>

Michael
July 26, 2006 12:00 AM

When Europeans purposely offend Muslims by running offensive pictures of Muhammad--which is considered as Blasphemous as the Heil, Hitler hand signal--Rod called it "free speech" and asked why those Muslims were so sensitive.

When Muslims are being provocative, it's Islamofascism. When Christians and white people are provocative towards Muslims, it's called "free speech" and Rod and his ilk blather on for days about it.>

marc
July 26, 2006 12:09 AM
none

What o u g h t Israel actually to be doing? Until terms are suggested that include effective guarantees for the security of Israel, I am not interested in exploring hypotheticals more suited to pseudo-academic discourse in the decadent West.

(I notice that the Europeans, along with the U.S., are enthused about imposing a military force between the Israeli border and the presumably still-extant HA forces in Lebanon--except that nobody seems to be willing put up the troops.)

War is war, and as awful as it and its consequences are, sometimes wars have to be fought--not in the sense that there is some 'intrinsic necessity for War' of course but because human beings often despise peace and the rights of others.>

marc
July 26, 2006 12:19 AM
none

Michael-- "When Muslims are being provocative, it's Islamofascism. When Christians and white people are provocative towards Muslims, it's called "free speech"...."

When Muslims 'provoke' non-Muslims by publishing blasphemous cartoons, do draw our attention to that, please, and make sure to link to the reports about the embassy burnings, riots, murder threats etc that t h a t sort of 'provocation' elicits from the "Christians and whites".>

b
July 26, 2006 12:28 AM

Daniel, Tom, Michael: Have you all lost your minds? Look at the caption on that picture: "Young members of Hezbollah's Al-Mahdi Scouts pledge their commitment to die for the cause..." They look to be about 8 years old! Trying to minimize (or defend!) this evil is incomprehensible and revolting.>

The young fogey
July 26, 2006 12:28 AM
http://aconservativesiteforpeace.info

When it comes to this stuff the Orthodox are usually right - ask the Antiochians what they think of the Zionist state - and Dreher wrong.>

Tom Tomberg
July 26, 2006 12:31 AM
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/07/youtube_for_the_14.html

b-- Of everything on this thread, only Daniel's comment can remotely be taken as minimizing or defending what's in the picture.>

Rod Dreher
July 26, 2006 12:34 AM

Yeah, Muhammad cartoons versus eight-year-old boys giving the fascist salute and pledging to die for the cause of exterminating the Jews. Here on my planet, we don't see the moral equivalence there.>

rjak134
July 26, 2006 1:26 AM

"No one on this thread has come to the defense of the "maybe it's not Nazi" viewpoint." - Tom

"Are you sure that every outstretched hand gesture is intended to be a Nazi salute?" - Daniel

I do believe that thou art in error, good sir Tom.>

god_is_in_the_tv
July 26, 2006 1:30 AM

Yeah - here on your planet, civilians deserve to die for having the gall to live where they were born.

Nice one, Dreher.>

Tom Tomberg
July 26, 2006 1:51 AM
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/07/youtube_for_the_14.html

*sigh*

rjak134, please be aware that I meant to be referring in my post to the points made in this thread.

It is true that Rod was repsonding to a point that one person had made in the thread; but no one else in this thread had defended it.

Hope this helps.>

Ledihn
July 26, 2006 2:10 AM

The very basic problem, of post modern Western Civilization, as illustrated in this thread is that there are so many who have drunk from the well of relativism for so long they are incapable of drawing any moral distinctions what-so-ever.

8 year olds pledging to die to kill the Jews? Well, after all they are only exercising "free speech" in protesting the "Zionist enemy".

Islamofascism? Well, who are we to use such a term, after all we believed in Manifest Destiny, not to mention our ugly history of slavery, etc.

Anyone who looks at the photo linked to by Rod, of the Hizbollah Youth, and does not see evil, does not believe there is any such thing. All is always gray in this world, and in such a world there is no truth only perspectives that vary infinitely. If so why not just give up? The U.S. Constitution, Sharia, what s the difference?

Are we capable of consensus regarding anything exceptional about our nation, or more broadly speaking our civilization, that we are willing to die, and yes, kill, to preserve, any longer? I fear not. In this ideological war we have virtually no chance of victory. When nihilists are confronted with fanatics, nihilists loose.>

Joseph D'Hippolito
July 26, 2006 2:53 AM

Hmm, that describes every European colonizing power, as well as the USA, during the past 200 years. Ever hear of Manifest Destiny?

Basileus, you have no clue of the difference between "colonialist" and "fascist." Study the histories of France, Britain, Germany and Italy if you want to know the differences. Also, you have no clue of the difference between European colonialism and American colonialism. The U.S. gave independence to its colonies far earlier than the British and French gave independence to theirs.>

Michael
July 26, 2006 3:01 AM

"Here on my planet, we don't see the moral equivalence there."

Well, on my planet, we do see a little moral equivilance. Although my planet isn't driven by an blind anti-Islamic fervor that refuses to see anything else. IOW, my world isn't populated by conservative elites who support declaring war on countries based on little more than political orhodoxy and religious fervor.>

Joseph D'Hippolito
July 26, 2006 3:13 AM

Although my planet isn't driven by an blind anti-Islamic fervor that refuses to see anything else.

If you were to read some of the verses in the Koran concerning Jews, or to notice the outright refusal of al-Azhar -- the most prestigious seminary in Sunni Islam -- issue fatwas against bin Laden, suicide bombings, imams who stir up hatred and the like, or the same outright refusal of Shia institutions to do the same regarding Iran or Sadr, then you would realize that "anti-Islamic fervor" isn't "blind."

In fact, it's kind of like anti-Nazi fervor.>

Jaybird
July 26, 2006 3:31 AM

Ahhhh, I love it when Dreher gets his dander up and goes all blood n' guts.

Just let us know when you think the Israelis have killed enough Lebanese women and children, okay?>

Joseph D'Hippolito
July 26, 2006 3:48 AM

Just let us know when you think the Israelis have killed enough Lebanese women and children, okay?

Jaybird, I'm sure Rod will tell you once you let us know when you think Hezbollah (and other Arab terrorists) have murdered and maimed enough Israeli civilians....>

Jaybird
July 26, 2006 3:59 AM

.Jaybird, I'm sure Rod will tell you once you let us know when you think Hezbollah (and other Arab terrorists) have murdered and maimed enough Israeli civilians...."


Well, since the tally is running about 10-to-1 in Israel's favor right now, I think Hezbollah has a lot of catching up to do. But sure no problem. I'll let you know.>

MNW
July 26, 2006 4:20 AM

I'm sure Rod will tell you once you let us know when you think Hezbollah (and other Arab terrorists) have murdered and maimed enough Israeli civilians....

Israeli civilians have been killed by terrorists that means Israel is justified in killing civilians too?

Other than their religion what's the difference between Muslim killers and Israeli killers.>

Maclin Horton
July 26, 2006 4:37 AM
http://www.lightondarkwater.com/blog

About the term "Islamofascist"--Daniel and I had a go-round about this on the Caelum et Terra blog a few weeks ago. I maintain that it's reasonably accurate for the likes of Hezbollah and the Taliban, he that it's just stupid rhetoric. (Maybe I should mention that he and I are old friends, but we disagree pretty strenuously about a lot of political matters.)

Whether what the kids in this picture are doing is really meant as an emulation of the Nazi salute or not, I can't tell from the picture or the caption. What's pretty clear, though, is that Hezbollah is dedicated to hating and killing Jews, and it would appear that these kids are being brought up to think and do the same.

This 2002 New Yorker piece gives some good background. What's happening now wasn't just a sudden stroke of lightning--Hezbollah has been pushing at that border and building up forces there for some time.>

Basileus
July 26, 2006 5:21 AM

Basileus, you have no clue of the difference between "colonialist" and "fascist." Study the histories of France, Britain, Germany and Italy if you want to know the differences.

Actually Joseph, I have studied them, thank you. Rod was pointing out the extreme nationalistic-end of fascism for his definition, since those were his words originally. When you compare Rod's words with nationalistic expansion that was ideologically-based, as with colonialism, you have little difference, my friend. Thank you for demonstrating my point.

How clueless you are to how recently we, or at least the civilization we represent was what you claim Islam is now. Colonialism was achieved by conquest of the sword, or in this case, down the barrel of a gun. The Africans, Asians, and native Americans didn't 'give' us their land because we asked them nicely. We took it from them, mostly through conquest, sometimes through trickery. Go and study the history of Catholic Spain to see what they did for much of Latin America shortly in the aftermath of the great Aztec and Inca conquests. They did it by the exact same method as Moslems a few centuries before: they read a proclamation from the king of Spain to the opposing Indian nation demanding they surrender and convert to Christianity or face merciless conquest. Some surrendered, most fought. The land-grab or scramble for Africa is the same story, just re-packaged...the 'White Man's Burden'. Colonialism is simply a more sugar-coated word than what you claim fascism is, but the means to that end (regarding the nationalistic arm of facism) is the same: ideologically, not necessarily religiously, driven expansion by (usually) conquest.


Also, you have no clue of the difference between European colonialism and American colonialism. The U.S. gave independence to its colonies far earlier than the British and French gave independence to theirs.

OK...so earlier independence meant it was justified? Whatever, man. Also, US expansion into Mexico was just as unjustified as German expansion into Poland, only the US got away with it--using a bunch of half-truths to sell their reason for doing it--Mainfest Destiny! Go back into your history books and read what it was about--it was an ideology-driven expansion, the same thing you accuse Islam of doing now.

Amazing how some can be so ignorant of their own history.>

Basileus
July 26, 2006 5:35 AM

I've said it before and I'll say it again, hate exists on both sides of this conflict:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/israel-refuses-ceasefire-request/2006/07/18/1153166347409.html

Hezbollah teaches young boys the 'Nazi-salute' and to hate Israel, while Israel teaches little girls to write sarcastic messages on their missiles.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, er thoughts, eh Rod??>

James Freeman
July 26, 2006 7:26 AM

MNW writes:

Other than their religion what's the difference between Muslim killers and Israeli killers.

That you are unable to make the distinction ensures -- to the extent that your fellow Americans share your immoral relativism -- that we all will find out the hard way.

Again.

Actually, the Islamofascists are one up on you, MNW. I respect them for at least believing in something, knowing what that is, and then having the stones to act on their beliefs.

You, on the other hand, will be pacing about and pontificating about the unknowability of truth, right or wrong up until the moment the big "reality check" rocks your world. That moment may well announce itself with a hearty "Allahu akbar!"

It's all very simple, really. Something, no matter how regressive and evil, beats nothing every time.

May the God of Abraham, Issac and Moses watch over and protect His people.>

James Freeman
July 26, 2006 7:29 AM

Correction: Make that Isaac. Dang 'a' sitting right next to the dang 's'. . . .>

Joseph D'Hippolito
July 26, 2006 7:46 AM

Well, Basileus, if you have studied the histories of France, Britian, Germany and Italy and still see no difference between colonialism and fascism, then you are a dolt. Consider the following:

Canada, Australia, New Zealand...even the United States...were colonized by Britain (or in the cases of Canada and the United States, by France, as well). All four reflect the values of (at least) British governance to one degree or another. Granted, places in the Third World colonized by France, Britain and other European powers do not share those values, being oppressed by pervasive corruption (especially in Africa).

But consider the fate of those countries to the fate of those "colonized" by the 20th century fascists. The Germans massacred Poles and Slavs, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Japanese massacred Koreans and Chinese. Both Germans and Japanese massacred in far greater numbers than did Europe's "colonial" powers.

None of this justifies the excesses of colonialism. But your equating colonialism with fascism holds no water.

Since you say that there's "little difference," does that mean, therefore, that you are apathetic when it comes to Muslim attempts to impose the kind of rule and structures you say you despise?>

Joseph D'Hippolito
July 26, 2006 7:54 AM

Also, US expansion into Mexico was just as unjustified as German expansion into Poland, only the US got away with it--using a bunch of half-truths to sell their reason for doing it--Manfest Destiny!

Basileus, have you ever heard of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo? In that treaty, Mexico ceded land to the United States in exchange for $15 million in compensation to damage to Mexican property.

The Nazis, OTOH, arbitrarily annexed the western part of Poland and systematically massacred its inhabitants. How many Mexicans did the United States massacre?

Your points are nothing but amateurish, sophomoric and irrelevant to the issue, which is the attempt by a terrorist group acting as a front for at least one nation to exterminate a group of innocent people.

Even if you point out inconsistencies between the current American position and "Manifest Destiny," understand that "Manifest Destiny" died with the Civil War, which was nearly 150 years ago.>

Tom Tomberg
July 26, 2006 2:34 PM
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/07/youtube_for_the_14.html

Hey, this is kinda interesting. Doesn't affect Israel's right to defend itself, but does show how we get mentally locked into what some French person memorably called "the logic of war."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/24/opinion/24gilbert.html?ex=1154059200&en=5f5587bbd25afbe5&ei=5087%0A

volunteers [who made statements in their roles as leaders of nuclear powers] remembered the causes of their own statements and the consequences of their partner s statements.

What seems like a grossly self-serving pattern of remembering is actually the product of two innocent facts. First, because our senses point outward, we can observe other people s actions but not our own. Second, because mental life is a private affair, we can observe our own thoughts but not the thoughts of others. Together, these facts suggest that our reasons for punching will always be more salient to us than the punches themselves but that the opposite will be true of other people s reasons and other people s punches.>

diane
July 26, 2006 2:51 PM

Young Fogey wrote: When it comes to this stuff the Orthodox are usually right - ask the Antiochians what they think of the Zionist state - and Dreher wrong.

"Zionist state"?

YF, are you challenging Israel's right to exist? Is that what you imply by the (apparently) pejorative reference, "Zionist state"?

If so, then IMHO that is troubling.

IMHO, it is also troubling when you say the Orthodox (in general--blanket statement) are "right" about Israel. "Right" how? Which Orthodox sentiments WRT Israel are "right," in your view?

Orthodox anti-semitism / anti-Israelism is widespread--indeed pervasive--and not very pretty. It is one of the least savory aspects of contemporary Orthodoxy. Indeed, it has been a deal-breaker for more than one would-be convert of my cyber-acquaintance. (Not the deal-breaker, but one among several.)

Getting back to the res: Your comment and some of the others on this thread illustrate how difficult it is to take a balanced, nuanced view of this Israeli-Lebanese conflict. The debate becomes polarized very quickly, and people on both sides start saying some extreme things.

But it is a very complex situation, and complex situations by definition should not be seen as black and white.

Personally, I think the Vatican's view is exactly right:

** Hezbollah started it, not Israel.

** Israel overreacted, however.

** Thousands of innocent civilians--including babies and children and women--are being killed, injured, bombed out of their homes, and displaced.

** Result: massive humanitarian crisis---which ought to be the first concern of anyone who professes to be a Christian. No matter who "started it," the result, the reality, is massive human suffering, and that's what we've got to focus on.

** Ergo, let's have a ceasfire now, before the whole mess spirals waaay out of control.

Are the Islamic terrorists more evil than the Israelis? Yes, to the nth factor. Is it evil to teach eight-year-old boys to sieg heil? Yes. Has there historically been a connection between Islamic extremists and Nazis? Yes; that is beyond dispute, IMHO.

Does all of this justify killing innocent civilians?

No.

IMHO, no reasonable person challenges the propositions that terrorists are evil and that Israel has a right to defend herself.

All we are saying is that neither Islamofascism's evilness nor Israel's right to defend herself justifies killing and injuring countless innocent civilians.

The fact that Islamofascists are evil doesn't mean one should act evilly oneself.

The fact that one had legitimate provocation out the wazoo doesn't mean one should react by bombing airports and blowing up residences.

The fact that Israel has a right to defend herself doesn't mean she has a right to create a massive humanitarian crisis among Lebanon's civilian population.

I am pro-Israel. I fully support Israel's right to exist and right to defend herself.

But I am not such a blind ideologue that I can fail to see that something is seriously wrong with Israel's action in Lebanon.

As we used to say back during the Dread '60s, "War is not healthy for children and other living things." The current mess in Lebanon certainly illustrates that.

Diane>

Tom Tomberg
July 26, 2006 3:16 PM
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/07/youtube_for_the_14.html

Diane-- Very sensible remarks.

I'm just hoping that Israel's action will (1) decimate Hezbollah and (2) allow for a cessation of hostilities, and allow Israel to spend, say, double what the Saudis promised today to rebuild Lebanon. This is the triumph of hope over experience, I guess, but what can we do but hope & pray for the best.

You wrote: "The fact that Islamofascists are evil doesn't mean one should act evilly oneself."

Well, that's not going to convince people around here-- moral relativism is the "in" thing on the Right these days. See, for example, Rod's post about the West being too nice to kill enough civilians.>

MNW
July 26, 2006 3:27 PM

Actually, the Islamofascists are one up on you, MNW. I respect them for at least believing in something, knowing what that is, and then having the stones to act on their beliefs.

I believe in Peace...and the unconquerable power of non-violence.

You, on the other hand, like the "Islamofascists", believe that war and violence are the answer to humanity's troubles. You don't believe in anything but aggression and hate...and are unwilling to recognize that it takes two parties to fight a war.

Peace comes to those who create it...those who want it. The actions of Israel do not reflect a nation seeking peace...they reflect a nation bent on retaliation through violence and aggression.

War and violence do not end through war and violence. War and violence only end when war and violence cease to exist. It's not that hard a concept to comprehend...but I imagine that someone so deluded by the ramblings of ancient men in an ancient book can't recognize the reality right in front of your face.

And so it goes....

Again.

Round and round...the world will never know peace until the deluded stop believing that the answers to their problems are found in some ancient book, and instead recognize that the answer is nowhere...now here...in your own experience of life...in your own experience of reality.

Perhaps if you were in the midst of war, aggression, and violence and your family were bombed and killed you might recognize reality a bit better...but as long as you're sitting in your Lazy-boy watching it unfold on your television, you'll continue to be deluded into believing that war is somehow a good thing.>

MNW
July 26, 2006 3:56 PM

You, on the other hand, will be pacing about and pontificating about the unknowability of truth, right or wrong up until the moment the big "reality check" rocks your world.

I already know truth...so I've no need to pace about and pontificate about it's unknowability.

Truth is already known...it's just that so many, like you, refuse to recognize it.

War begets war.
Violence begets violence.
Peace only exists when war and violence cease to exist.

That is the truth, whether you recognize it or not.

War and violence will only cease to exist when mankind decides to end it. No God is going to make that happen...it's completely up to us.>

Josh
July 26, 2006 3:57 PM

No easy answers at all in this situation or any of the others we've faced recently. It seems lately that none of our options are good options. Sometimes I think it is awfully tempting to just seal up our borders, throw out the United Nations, call back our our military, and completely disengage from the rest of the world. Let France solve the Middle East's problems. That's probably not at all practical, responsible, moral, or in our best interest, but sometimes I really wish we could do it. Then we could stop fighting amongst each other about international politics and just go back to being Americans. (I know I'm being extremely nieve ;) )>

GIITTV
July 26, 2006 4:00 PM

May the God of Abraham, Issac and Moses watch over and protect His people.

Yeah - He's doing a bang-up job at the moment, dontcha think? :/>

GIITTV
July 26, 2006 4:03 PM

which is the attempt by a terrorist group acting as a front for at least one nation to exterminate a group of innocent people.


Wait... lemme see if I follow you.

The CIA is the terrorist group. The nation they're "fronting for" is Israel, and the group of innocent people are non-terrorist Arabs.


I think I have it now. Thanks for the clarification, warmonger.>

Basileus
July 26, 2006 4:15 PM

But consider the fate of those countries to the fate of those "colonized" by the 20th century fascists. The Germans massacred Poles and Slavs, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Japanese massacred Koreans and Chinese. Both Germans and Japanese massacred in far greater numbers than did Europe's "colonial" powers.

Joseph, your example here shows they are the same! You sure you applied that dolt label correctly? They (the fascists) massacred in far greater numbers simply because there were more to massacre in Europe or East Asia where they operated. The American Indian population was manipulated and massacred at will by the Europeans and later by the USA. What of the native African populations? You treat the colonial experiences like it was done for 'their' own good and they were entirely good things. I doubt all would agree. But history is written by the winners.


Since you say that there's "little difference," does that mean, therefore, that you are apathetic when it comes to Muslim attempts to impose the kind of rule and structures you say you despise?

Nope, never said that now did I? Our host, Rod, likes to point out that evil seems to exist on only one side of the fence. But akin to paraphrase that well-known Bible verse, before you attempt to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye, get the log out of your own.


Basileus, have you ever heard of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo? In that treaty, Mexico ceded land to the United States in exchange for $15 million in compensation to damage to Mexican property.

Yepper, sure have! It was a steal of a deal on a war that was hardly justified but one the USA wanted so badly to complete its Manifest Destiny designs to go from coast-to-coast, regardless of how it was done.

Ad hominems will only serve to undermine your other arguments sir, displaying an immaturity on your part that I am sure you would rather not have others see.

Anyway, we are getting off topic here. Care to comment on my later post regarding 8 year old Israeli girls writing sarcastic messages on missiles, some of which are certainly destined to kill Lebanese civilians? What kind of monster would allow this behavior, getting young children involved, since they would obviously need an Israeli soldier's permission to approach such weaponry?>

Basileus
July 26, 2006 4:18 PM

Sometimes I think it is awfully tempting to just seal up our borders, throw out the United Nations, call back our our military, and completely disengage from the rest of the world. Let France solve the Middle East's problems. That's probably not at all practical, responsible, moral, or in our best interest, but sometimes I really wish we could do it. Then we could stop fighting amongst each other about international politics and just go back to being Americans.

If only it were that easy, Josh. But I know what you meant. :-)>

Josh
July 26, 2006 4:27 PM

I guess right now I'm tired of living in Gondor, I'd rather move back to the Shire. ;)>

David J. White
July 26, 2006 6:34 PM

True, the extended right-arm salute originated with the Romans, and the Nazis appropriated it.

I realize that this is pretty far back in the thread by now, but I just got to it.

As a classicist, I have to say that I'm not sure where that so-called "Roman salute" really comes from. I don't know what kind of evidence we have for that. I suspect that it owes a lot more to Hollywood than to our actual historical and archaeological sources -- much like that business about the gladiators saluting the emperor with "Those about to die salute you!".

I'm not saying that it's impossible that the straight-arm salute goes back to the Romans; just that our evidence is slim, and in this as in so many other things, our popular notions about the ancient world owe more to Hollywood than to scholarship.>

Paul Pennyfeather
July 26, 2006 7:12 PM
www.corrigendablogspot.com

Good grief, the anti-Israeli comments on this blog are ridiculous. I stopped reading Beliefnet a while back, because to assert that Israel has a right to defend itself, or to call an Islamofascist an Islamofascist immediately brings down the spitting, diaper-wetting wrath of the "tolerant" (also anything supportive of the Roman Catholic Church brought a similar response).

The comments are, to a great degree, sniping, a-historical, and morally obtuse. The 8th graders at my school could produce better arguments.

I only came back to Beliefnet because Rod moved over here from NRO online. But seriously, other than the obscenity-driven comments from the blogs of the hard-left, Beliefnet attracts the worst comments of just about any site. It's as if knowing nothing about the subject at hand is a virtue. The second virtue is the ability to misconstrue anything Rod says to allegedly mean the opposite of what any sentient human being knows it to mean.

Here's how it works with this subject:

Hizbullah ignores UN resolution while Israel abides by that resolution. Hizbullah builds up military force for an attack on Israel. Hizbullah drops a THOUSAND bombs on civilian population in Israel. Hizbullah consults with Lebanese "government" over plan to kidnap Israelis. Hizbullah puts its entire miltary/terrorist infrastructure amidst civilian population. Hizbullah increases attacks on civilians and soldiers in Israel.

Israel responds the way ANY sane nation would if faced with a military attack on civilians from a border state.

Moonbats blame Israel. Christian moonbats assert that real Christians should blame Israel.

Soon (if history repeats itself) we will go back to the status quo, where only Jewish civilians are dying (this is called a "cease fire" by the UN). Then the moonbats will be silent, until the next time.

Jeez, what a world.>

eastcoastlady
July 26, 2006 7:27 PM
http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/virtualtalmud/

Paul Pennyfeather | Homepage | 07.26.06 - 1:17 pm | #

LOVED your post....>

eastcoastlady
July 26, 2006 7:30 PM
http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/virtualtalmud/

Anyway, we are getting off topic here. Care to comment on my later post regarding 8 year old Israeli girls writing sarcastic messages on missiles, some of which are certainly destined to kill Lebanese civilians? What kind of monster would allow this behavior, getting young children involved, since they would obviously need an Israeli soldier's permission to approach such weaponry?

Versus the same age Arab children holding weapons and pledging to die for the cause of killing Israelis and Jews?>

eastcoastlady
July 26, 2006 7:34 PM
http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/virtualtalmud/

..."I'm hoping Israel will...(2) allow for a cessation of hostilities..."

This is almost funny.

Israel, allow for the cessation of hostilities?

Israel has been begging for the cessation of hostilities for almost 60 years since its re-establishment.

No one has been listening. Not the Vatican, much less the militants and terrorists who in some part carry out the will of their "legitimate" government while conducting their murderous attacks.>

Basileus
July 26, 2006 8:18 PM

Versus the same age Arab children holding weapons and pledging to die for the cause of killing Israelis and Jews?

No, eastcoastlady. Not versus. Just on its on merit, period. It goes without saying that your example is one easily condemned. But I find it most humorous how the pro-Israel crowd refuse to condemn this.>

David J. White
July 26, 2006 8:35 PM

What kind of monster would allow this behavior, getting young children involved

Maybe the same sorts of people who bring young children to political rallies, including demonstrations and rallies for or against legalized abortion?>

Joseph D'Hippolito
July 26, 2006 8:44 PM

Basileus, several points:

First, I apologize for the personal attacks against you. Though I was cranky at the time, they were not called for.

Second, nothing I said justifies any abuses perpetrated by colonial powers against native populations. My entire point is to demonstrate that, because of the nature of the governments involved ("fascist" vs. "colonialist"), some abuses were far more brutal.

Besides, you could find influential people in the United States (Lincoln and Thoreau were among them) who disagreed publicly with the whole pretext of the Mexican-American War. You could also find people opposed to British colonialism in the UK. Where could you find such people in Nazi Germany or Militarist Japan?

Third, you seem to interpret the idea of taking the planks out of our own eyes before we take the splinters out of others' to mean that we should not support Israeli innocents being attacked by genocidal terrorists. If that logic were applied wholesale, it would mean that nobody could support the innocent anywhere. You would have to stop posting altogether! So, frankly, would everyone else on this thread.

More importantly, that logic assumes that, because we're sinful, we should not do whatever we can to help others. Basileus, the world doesn't consist of perfect people. It never will. If we were to wait for "perfect people" to save us, our world would be in far worse shape than it already is.

Fourth, regarding the little girls writing on bombs, read this from Lisa Goldman's blog:

Below is the story behind the photo - from the source.

I phoned Sebastian Scheiner, the Israeli photojournalist who took the photo for Associated Press (AP), explained that the image had given a really terrible impression and asked for the context. He sketched it out quickly and fluidly, but asked me not to quote him. So I spoke with Shelly Paz, a Yedioth Ahronoth reporter who was also at the scene and agreed immediately to go on record. She was quite shocked to learn how badly the photo had been misinterpreted and misrepresented; and she told me the same story Sebastian did, but with more details and nuance.

The little girls shown drawing with felt markers on the tank missiles are residents of Kiryat Shmona, which is right on the border with Lebanon. And when I say "on the border," I'm not kidding; there's little more space between their town and Southern Lebanon than there is between the back gardens of neighbouring houses in a wealthy American suburb.

No, how close is it really?

Well, there's a famous story in Israel, from the time when the Israeli army occupied Southern Lebanon: a group of soldiers stationed inside southern Lebanon used their mobile phones to order pizza from Kiryat Shmona and have it delivered to the fence that separates the two countries.

Anyway.

Kiryat Shmona has been under constant bombardment from South Lebanon since the first day of the conflict. It was a ghost town, explained Shelly. There was not a single person on the streets and all the businesses were closed. The residents who had friends, family or money for alternate housing out of missile range had left, leaving behind the few who had neither the funds nor connections that would allow them to escape the missiles crashing and booming on their town day and night. The noise was terrifying, people were dying outside, the kids were scared out of their minds and they had been told over and over that some man named Nasrallah was responsible for their having to cower underground for days on end.

On the day that photo was taken, the girls had emerged from the underground bomb shelters for the first time in five days. A new army unit had just arrived in the town and was preparing to shell the area across the border. The unit attracted the attention of twelve photojournalists - Israeli and foreign. The girls and their families gathered around to check out the big attraction in the small town - foreigners. They were relieved and probably a little giddy at being outside in the fresh air for the first time in days. They were probably happy to talk to people. And they enjoyed the attention of the photographers.

Apparently one or some of the parents wrote messages in Hebrew and English on the tank shells to Nasrallah. "To Nasrallah with love," they wrote to the man whose name was for them a devilish image on television - the man who mockingly told Israelis, via speeches that were broadcast on Al Manar and Israeli television, that Hezbollah was preparing to launch even more missiles at them. That he was happy they were suffering.

The photograpers gathered around. Twelve of them. Do you know how many that is? It's a lot. And they were all simultaneously leaning in with their long camera lenses, clicking the shutter over and over. The parents handed the markers to the kids and they drew little Israeli flags on the shells. Photographers look for striking images, and what is more striking than pretty, innocent little girls contrasted with the ugliness of war? The camera shutters clicked away, and I guess those kids must have felt like stars, especially since the diversion came after they'd been alternately bored and terrified as they waited out the shelling in their bomb shelters.

Shelly emphasized several times that none of the parents or children had expressed any hatred toward the Lebanese people. No-one expressed any satisfaction at knowing that Lebanese were dying - just as Israelis are dying. Their messages were directed at Nasrallah. None of those people was detached or wise enough to think: "Hang on, tank shell equals death of human beings." They were thinking, tank shell equals stopping the missiles that land on my house. Tank shells will stop that man with the turban from threatening to kill us.

And besides, none of those children had seen images of dead people - either Israeli or Lebanese. Israeli television doesn't broadcast them, nor do the newspapers print them. Even when there were suicide bombings in Israel several times a week for months, none of the Israeli media published gory photos of dead or wounded people. It's a red line in Israel. Do not show dead, bleeding, torn up bodies because the families of the dead will suffer and children will have nightmares. And because it is just in bad taste to use suffering for propaganda purposes.

Those kids had seen news footage of destroyed buildings and infrastructure, but not of the human toll. They had heard over and over that the air force was destroying the buildings that belonged to Hezbollah, the organization responsible for shelling their town and threatening their lives. How many small children would be able to make the connection between tank shells and dead people on their own? How many human beings are able to detach from their own suffering and emotional stress and think about that of the other side? Not many, I suspect.

So, perhaps the parents were not wise when they encouraged their children to doodle on the tank shells. They were letting off a little steam after being cooped up - afraid, angry and isolated - for days. Sometimes people do silly things when they are under emotional stress. Especially when they fail to understand how their childish, empty gesture might be interpreted.


You believe that their parents are teaching them to hate. I think that Hezbollah and the other Arab genocidal maniacs did that already. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew people who had been killed by terrorist attacks. I would rather have these children write their frustrations out on bombs than beat up other children.

Besides, how many children have been maimed and murdered by suicide bombers? What about the Arab children who have been used as propaganda (and actual suicide bombers) to a far greater degree by anti-Israel forces? And where, pray tell, were you when all that was going on?

Fifth, here's this exchange:

JD: Since you say that there's "little difference," does that mean, therefore, that you are apathetic when it comes to Muslim attempts to impose the kind of rule and structures you say you despise?

B: Nope, never said that now did I?...


You don't have to say it openly. The fact that you criticize Israel while refusing to acknowledge the genocidal goals of most of the Arab world (let alone of Hezbollah and its Iranian supporters), the fact that you engage in moral equivalence at every opportunity -- and the fact that you condemn children writing on bombs while ignoring the use of children as suicide bombers -- speaks silent volumes.>

Befuddled
July 26, 2006 8:50 PM

Pardon me if I'm wrong, but I thought this blog was about people who felt a bit alienated by the right on issues such as agriculture, the environment, and education (among others), but still held to basic conservative principles. Originally, it seemed a good place to get together and exchange ideas, but lately it has turned into a shouting match about foreign policy. Am I in the wrong place?>

Interpreter
July 26, 2006 9:04 PM
www.geocities.com/bmidyet/

The Times story/picture is very scary.

Hezbollah is truly evil. We are in the early stages of WW III/ the Battle of Ar Mageddon, which is started by demon-possessed "kings" of the east. The president of Iran, who backs Hezbollah, is evidently one of them.>

armchair pessimist
July 26, 2006 9:36 PM

Yeah, I thought this was a place where various unconventional cons could meet and talk things over. It's been well over a century since we've been able to; the "American" century got in the way.
This is RD's parlor, but it does seem to me there are a lot of ill-intentioned people jabbering away here.>

maria
July 26, 2006 11:36 PM

This is RD's parlor

Aha! That's the cue. Now RD comes back on stage and calls all the folks who disagree with him "trolls," "weirdos," "cranks," "poor twisted souls," "knotheads," and "hotheads" (have I left any out? :)).

Sheesh. This THREAD is about foreign policy, for goodness sakes. That's the topic of the original Rod-Post. If you don't want to read a variety of views re a very complex foreign-policy situation, then don't bother browsing this thread. Instead, scroll down to the "You Can, Too, Eat Expensive Organic Food Even If You're Living On Food Stamps, And If You Claim Otherwise, Then You're A Troll And A Weirdo" thread. (The thread's not actually called that, but you'll recognize it when you see it. :D)>

Rhiannon
July 26, 2006 11:55 PM

Just a quick question...why in the middle of the discussion about Islamo-fascism, Israel and Hezbollah did Mr. Parker associate a quote about childfree Catholics to be "foolishness?"
I dont' know about the lady being interviewed as a woman, a person or a Catholic, but I do believe there is nothing wrong with choosing a childfree lifestyle if you are a Catholic as long as you live a holy and upright life according to church teachings. Why is it foolish to believe that God would be okay with such a decision, and what did it have to do with this discussion in the first place?

Rhiannon (30 something, childfree by choice Catholic)>

Basileus
July 27, 2006 12:57 AM

First, I apologize for the personal attacks against you. Though I was cranky at the time, they were not called for.

Joseph, apology accepted. An engagement of a good discussion without the personal attacks just makes for better things all around. :-)


You don't have to say it openly. The fact that you criticize Israel while refusing to acknowledge the genocidal goals of most of the Arab world (let alone of Hezbollah and its Iranian supporters)

I readily acknowledge the genocidal goals of a small part of the Arab world. You have overblown it into most of the Arab world, and if you continue to stand by that, then that is where you and I are at odds. But this is also consistent where you and I are also at odds: you insist this is a religious issue (which would explain your useage of the word 'most'), while I continue to insist it is predominantly a political one.


...and the fact that you condemn children writing on bombs while ignoring the use of children as suicide bombers -- speaks silent volumes.

Dude, this is obviously a hot button topic for you and it may be good to take a few deep breaths before writing. If you scroll up, when I mentioned that little girls were being allowed to write messages on missiles destined for Lebanon, I said that evil exists on both sides of the fence, did I not? This directly implies condemnation of the 'Nazi-salute' of the Hezbollah children as well as what was being shown in this picture.

Rather, what I find remarkably absent, is the pro-Israeli folks lack of condemnation of the other. Now that speaks volumes.>

Daniel Nichols
July 27, 2006 6:12 PM
www.eighthdayicons.com

Dear Mr. Dreher-
As I have not much time to be online, I am only now getting around to responding to your reply to my post.
Such is the nature of the medium; wait a day or two and there are fifty or so posts and one is in doubt whether or not your adversary will even see your comments.
Anyway.
When I first saw photos of the Hezbollah militants saluting I thought the same thing you did:"Egad, the Nazi salute". However, while you took that reaction and posted an inflammatory note, I had a second thought:"You know, I really don't have enough information to make a conclusion about that".
As I noted, I have seen commentators mistake Charismatic Christians giving a blessing with a Nazi salute. Or to take another example, if I see a photo of someone holding up two fingers, do I assume that it is the Churchillian "victory" sign, or the 60s peace sign, or just someone indicating "two". Without the context, I don't have enough information to know.
I have googled "Hezbollah salute" and while I find a lot of people drawing conclusions based on the resemblance to the fascist salute, I have found no history or explanation of what they themselves intend.
Maybe you are right, maybe they do intend to emulate the nazi salute, based on shared hostility to Jews. I rather doubt that any Muslim would consider himself a Nazi though, or hold to Naziism's weird blend of psuedoscientific racialism and Nordic myth.
Yes of course I am familiar with al Husseini. A lot of people who found themselves on the losing side of history cuddled up to Hitler in the 1930s and 40s, including Catholic anticommunists, Orthodox monarchists, and yes, Jewish Zionists (sort of like the KKK making friends with the Black Muslims).
After the War Husseini was recruited by British intelligence as their liason with the Muslim Brotherhood. But we don't talk about the way that British and American intelligence trained, armed and financed the resurgent militant jihadists, do we? Beginning with the Brotherhood and going all the way to the Afghan resistance, where bin Laden was trained. Nor do we talk about the Islamic schools funded worldwide by the Bush family's business pals, the Saudis. Sort of confuses things doesn't it?
And so your favorite phrase "Islamofascist": If you can use that then surely you will not object to my use of "Judeaofascist" to describe violent Zionism?
But I won't use the word, seeing that it is an abuse of language, offensive to Jews everywhere. But you constantly treat Islam as if it were a monolithic terrorist religion.
I am not hereby denying the violent elements within Islam; if even 1% of Muslims is a jihadist that is something like 10 million. But it is a minority, and when you speak as you do you feed jihadism by alienating everyday Muslims.
Surprised to see you quoting Richard Cohen's (?!) bit of moral heresy, but then hatred makes strange bedfellows apparently.
But more to the point, I must comment on your whole "Crunchy Con" thing. When I heard of the book I was interested, but as I read it I did so with a mixture of hope and annoyance: hope in that you were challenging at least some of the reigning conventions of conservatism, annoyance from your "gee whiz" tone and the way that you strained at the leash without ever breaking free of it.
And the way you acted as if this was a new thing and you were its proclaimer.
I am not a conservative. Nor a liberal. I am a Catholic radical, or to put it more clearly in light of Bill Kauffman's wonderful book, a Catholic reactionary radical. I do have many friends, however, who are conservative in politics while earthy in lifestyle, and have done this for decades. Nothing new here.
But when I came to your blog, my annoyance turned to alarm. You are spewing hatred here, a sort of manichean politics. And you are sounding the trumpet of war and destruction.
Haven't you learned anything?
You may eat your vegetables, wear funny shoes, and live in a bungalow, but until your analysis of conservative orthodoxy digs a little deeper, you are part of the problem, oiling the engine of empire.
I always thought "crunchy con" sounded like some sort of scam, a swindle. Now I am sure of it: a crunchy con is just a neocon in sandals.>

dovid
July 27, 2006 7:15 PM

"War and violence do not end through war and violence. War and violence only end when war and violence cease to exist.

This is the stupidest statement I've heard in a long time (and I hear a lot of them).

Name something that just "ceases to exist" unless someone actually makes it cease to exist. Terrorism will NOT be on that list.

When you start a war, you get a war, not whatever you want to get.>

Joseph D'Hippolito
July 28, 2006 9:41 PM

I readily acknowledge the genocidal goals of a small part of the Arab world. You have overblown it into most of the Arab world, and if you continue to stand by that, then that is where you and I are at odds.

Basileus, two points:

1. Even if it's only 10 percent of the Muslims world (as opposed to Arab)that has genocidal goals, that's still 100 million people, certainly not an insignfiicant figure.

2. The question of whether the advocates of genocide are a majority or a minority, ultimately, is irrelevant. Look at Germany during the 1930's. The Nazis never achieved a legislative majority in free elections before Hitler became chancellor. Nevertheless, once they took power, the Nazis did all they could to install their totalitarian, genocidal machinery.

What's the point? Though Nazis weren't a political majority in Germany, they came to power because their opponents were either too apathetic, too disorganized or too full of themselves to stop them.

But this is also consistent where you and I are also at odds: you insist this is a religious issue (which would explain your useage of the word 'most'), while I continue to insist it is predominantly a political one.

Basileus, the Islamic terrorists and their supporters make no distinction between politics and religion. Otherwise, why would they want to impose Islamic law? Take a look at Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Islamic authorities have a chance to stop this momentum by issuing fatwas against bin Laden, suicide bombers, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, etc. The fact that they have either failed or refused to do so means that, ultimately, they're part of the problem -- which makes this fundamentally a religious problem, not just a political one.>

Joseph D'Hippolito
July 28, 2006 9:49 PM

I am a Catholic radical, or to put it more clearly in light of Bill Kauffman's wonderful book, a Catholic reactionary radical.

Nichols, you just gave yourself away as an isolationist. Moreover, most of the "reactionary radical" Catholics I'm familiar with are incredibly anti-Semitic.

What you need to realize, Nichols, is that God never broke His covenant with the Jews, not even after Christ's resurrection and ascention. Otherwise, God would be a liar. Therefore, to oppose the Jews (not the Israeli state as such, but the Jews) is to oppose God.

Those who curse Abraham's covenential descendants curse God (as God Himself told Abraham). Just look at what happened to Spain, Germany and Russia. For that matter, just look at what's happening to the Catholic Church.>

Daniel Nichols
July 29, 2006 5:38 AM

I'm not sure I want to talk to someone who has called me several names at this point, but here goes.
A) I didn't say I was a reactionary radical Catholic. I said I am a Catholic reactionary radical, which implies something very different, and which references Bill Kauffman's book, which I assume you haven't read.
B) As for being an "isolationist", I find that term is usually thrown by imperialists at anti-imperialists. If "Isolationist" means believing that America should not involve herself in foreign wars when our country is not threatened, I plead guilty. But then that is what George Washington and other great American patriots held as well.
Oh, yes, throw out the suggestion of anti-Semitism by all means, a favorite trick to silence all criticism of Israel. I do not "oppose the Jews". I do oppose many of the policies of the (very) secular Israeli state. By confusing the two you reveal yourself as a fundamentalist.
You and Mr Dreher are banging the drums for American involvement in a well-orchestrated war.
The neocons have Big Plans, and they need their useful idiots...>

TheGrace /
January 31, 2007 3:51 PM
http://www.thegrace.com

Warm welcome to Alnemat TheGrace Arabic Christian Internet Magazine, We love you! Please visit us at:

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About Crunchy Con

Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.

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