July 27, 2006

More Proportionalities Than You Can Shake a Snake At

Hatched by Dafydd

The Democrats' argument that Israel's response is "disproportionate" can mean one of only two things:

  • That it's disproportionate to the attack;
  • Or that it's disproportionate to the attacker.

The first possibility is easily rebutted: Israel has been attacked by Hezbollah for years and years and years, losing hundreds of citizens to an insane terrorist campaign, Hezbollah's holy pledge to "drive the Jews into the sea."

Arguably, since it was Hezbollah who pioneered (in the Middle East) the tactic of suicide bombings, a tactic later aped by Palestinian groups, the thousands of deaths of innocent Israelis by Hamas, et al, can also be laid to Hezbollah's doorstop.

So the only real chance for the Democrats to make stick a "disproportionality" argument against Israel's assault is to complain that it's just not fair for that big bully to beat up on that little bully. Is that a valid complaint, that Israel's assault is like a trained heavyweight boxer beating up a schoolgirl? If so, that would certainly be a gross disproportionality.

To the extent that liberals make this argument, in their relentless quest to find moral equivalence between Israeli Jews and Hezbollah terrorists (or even to assign the bulk of the guilt to the former), they either foolishly or mendaciously ignore a glaring point: Hezbollah does not act alone or on its own volition.

The organization was created in 1982, by and large by Iran, and they have been a creature of that theocracy ever since. Iran finances and controls Hezbollah in Lebanon through Iran's cat's-paw, Syria -- which comprises an Alawite-Shiite elite class, the Baath Party, ruling over an oppressed Sunni majority.

Thus, in comparing the relative sizes of the dogs in the fight, the real comparison is not Israel to Hezbollah... it's Israel vs. Iran and Syria in a proxy war that happens to be taking place in Lebanon. It's not just that Hezbollah receives its weapons from Iran; Iran also finances it, trains it, directs it, and indeed, Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been found throughout Hezbollah forces, firing missiles and directing the action.

Hezbollah is not Israel's real enemy: it's nothing more than the Iranian and Syrian "Foreign Legion."

So let's take a look at Iran and Syria compared to Israel; I rely upon the CIA World Factbook for these simple statistics:

Iran and Syria vs. Israel
Resource Iran Syria Israel
Population (millions) 69 19 6
Economy (billions purchasing power) 562 72 155
Economy (official exchange rate) 181 26 114
Available military manpower (millions) 15.7 3.5 1.3

As clearly seen, Israel certainly does not overmatch her two real opponents in this war; in fact, it's the other way around: even just Iran alone is larger, richer, and has a much greater available manpower. While Israel has nuclear weapons that still elude Iran (we hope!), Iran boasts a much more robust military than any country or combination of countries Israel has ever faced before.

Hezbollah is just the tip of the oilberg... make no mistake, Israel faces her deadliest test ever. And if there is any "disproportionality," it's much more accurate to say Israeli forces are disproportionately small compared to the enemies they face.

Israel is the "David" facing the "Goliath" of the Ayatollahs, and no amount of Democratic rewrite can obscure that fact.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, July 27, 2006, at the time of 5:36 AM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: CajunKate

Are the Dems really arguing that? It wouldn't surprise me if they are I just haven't read that anywhere. Could you supply some links? Thanks so much, I read you often everyday.

Kate Logsdon

The above hissed in response by: CajunKate [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2006 7:51 AM

The following hissed in response by: Big D

Going back to your earlier post, they are whining because they think this is the cops (Israel) arresting some hoodlum (Hezbollah) on the street.

In wars there is no such thing as "disproportional". This is a war between the government of Southern Lebanon (Hezbollahland) and Israel.

But to be fair, I might be persuaded to add in the U.S. as the backer and supplier of Israel in that equation, just like Iran and Syria back and supply Hezbollahland.

The above hissed in response by: Big D [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2006 8:47 AM

The following hissed in response by: Bill Faith

Excellent research, Dafydd. I excerpted and linked at Old War Dogs.

The above hissed in response by: Bill Faith [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2006 9:51 AM

The following hissed in response by: d_Brit

Dafydd,

Another blogger suggested a perhaps more accurate analogy than David and Goliath.

The 300 Spartans @ Thermopylae fighting the Persians. The US being Athens and the rest of Greece. For those unfamiliar, the Greeks needed time to rally forces to fight the Persians. Just as the west needs time to take the threat of Islam seriously.

My only problem with this analogy is; where is the modern day 'Spartans' Leonidas? It's sure not Olmert.

The above hissed in response by: d_Brit [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2006 5:02 PM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

d Brit:

My only problem with this analogy is; where is the modern day 'Spartans' Leonidas? It's sure not Olmert.

My own problem with this analogy is what happened to the 300!

Go tell the Spartans, o stranger passing by
That here obedient to their laws we lie

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2006 5:32 PM

The following hissed in response by: d_Brit

Dafydd,

Yes. Well, they thought the sacrifice worthwhile.

Besides, all the Spartans didn't die, just the 300. And other Greeks (approx. 7000) who initially fought with the Spartans lived to fight and help win at Salamis.

The above hissed in response by: d_Brit [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 27, 2006 9:29 PM

The following hissed in response by: Towering Barbarian

"Israel is the "David" facing the "Goliath" of the Ayatollahs, and no amount of Democratic rewrite can obscure that fact."

This would be more of a concern if David's tech level hadn't been clearly better than Goliath's. The fact that David had a good range weapon and Goliath didn't meant that Goliath was the real underdog and deserved credit for guts if he knew what he walking into. Which is about the way I prefer these situations to be where our allies or ourselves are concerned. War is not a chivalrous event and doesn't deserve to be treated as such.

BTW, If you don't like Thermopylae then consider Marathon as an analog. The Athenians still kicked Persian rump even though they were sorely outnumbered and the Spartans arrived too late to be useful. ^_~

The above hissed in response by: Towering Barbarian [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 29, 2006 12:42 AM

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