The Redhunter

The U.N. Human Rights Council yesterday condemned Israel for "massive bombardment of Lebanese civilian populations" and other "systematic" human rights violations, and decided to send a commission to investigate.

Although the United States and Israel objected, but the resolution passed 27 - 11.

The Old Sense of Moral Clarity

There is a scene in the movie The Longest Day which should be required viewing for everyone who wants to condemn Israel.

The allies are storming the Normandy beaches on D-Day, and shellfire is going off all around them. Buildings are exploding, the whole bit. A French man and his wife are awoken from their sleep by the commotion, he looks out his window and sees the landing craft headed towards the beach. Without another thought he cheers wildly and grabs a bottle of wine or champagne that he has been saving for the occasion. He rushes down to the beach, still in his bedclothes to meet the invaders. He rushes about as they get out of their landing craft, trying to find a soldier who will share some of his drink. In the background the entire time this is happening, buildings are being hit by the shellfire and are exploding and collapsing. Not finding a soldier who will share his wine, he ends up toasting the occasion by himself.

By our modern standards the scene is silly and overdone. Today's quest for uber-realism dictates that everything be portrayed exactly as it occured, and as such, no "type" figures are allowed.

Apocryphal Realism

The scene, although of course not literally accurate, represents an attitude, the man a "type". There was a time when people understood simple truths that we seem to have forgotten today.

And that truth is that although war sucks, it is better to be free, and we have to recognize that innocents will die in the process.

The D-Day Museum website tells us that "between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed, mainly as a result of Allied bombing." This fits with what I heard from tour guides when I was over there some years ago.

Yet the Frence do not hate us because of this. They will tell you that they are grateful that we liberated them, even though they lost many of their countrymen in the process. "It was the price to be free of the Nazis" one man told me when I was over there. They will explain that although they disagree with many post-war American policies, we should not confuse this with World War II>

Why do so few people today understand this concept?

The Lebanese

In a sane world the Lebanese would be happy that Israel was bombing Hezbollah. They would rise up and help try and destroy it, or at least not complain. No doubt some are clandestinely working for Mossad or some other Israel intelligence service. I recognize this. But it is distressing that so many would evidently rather live with a terrorist army controlling much of their country than suffer a bit when someone tries to destroy the terrorists.

What if Your Country...?

Every now and then some leftist will ask me "what if your country was being bombed by someone else? You wouldn't like it, would you?"

To which the only possible answer is "well, if my country was ruled by an evil dictator like Saddam/Castro/etc, or had a terrorist army in it's midst, and the army of a democracy came to bomb them, I'd be pertty happy!"

The Answer to the Question

It is tempting to throw up one's hands and just say that the Lebanese do not deserve freedom. They(or most of them) obviously don't mind Hezbollah, so if that's what they want fine, go ahead and let half your country be ruled by a terrorist army.

But we can't do that. For one thing, of course, Hezbollah is using Lebanon as a base to attack Israel. Secondly, and more fundamentally, we can't give up on people, no matter how frustrating the situation becomes. We have to hope that if we try hard enough long enough, they will see the light. There was a time, no doubt, when people in this country wondered if large-scale racism would ever end. But the Jim Crow attitude that seemed so ingrained did die in our country, and similar attitudes can be overcome in others. It won't be easy, and will take a long time, but we can't give up.