Newt Gingrich sends out a newsletter periodically and I liked the opinion expressed in this latest one this morning:
A Defeat for the Democracies
I spent last week doing something I would much rather have not—being the bearer of bad news about the United-Nations-brokered cease-fire in the conflict in Lebanon. By Friday night, I found myself actually apologizing to Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren for having to be so blunt. But the truth is, as William Bennett pointed out on National Review Online last week, it doesn’t help the cause of the democracies to pretend that a defeat is a victory.
And that is precisely what the United Nations cease-fire resolution is: a defeat for Israel, a defeat for the United States and a defeat for all of the democracies.
This ceasefire is not a precursor to peace.
But don’t just take my word for it. Within 24 hours of the cease-fire, in a series of carefully orchestrated statements, the dictators of Iran and Syria both claimed credit for defeating not just Israel, but America as well.
Remember, these are the dictators who finance and direct the terrorist group Hezbollah’s attacks against Israel. And their statements—coming within just three hours of each other—left no room for doubt: The conflict that began with their terrorist attacks on Israel had ended in a way that has boosted the morale of every terrorist watching and emboldened every dictatorship.
‘God’s Promises Have Come True’
The Syrian dictator Assad spoke first on Tuesday—within 24 hours of the ceasefire’s taking effect in Lebanon. He declared that America’s plans for transforming the Middle East have been ruined. And then he spoke these chilling words to the Israelis: “Your weapons are not going to protect you—not your planes or missiles or even your nuclear bombs … The future generations in the Arab world will find a way to defeat Israel.”
Just a few hours later, before cheering crowds, Iranian dictator Ahmadinejad spoke next. “God’s promises have come true,” said the man who has vowed to wipe the state of Israel off the map and defeat America. And just so we wouldn’t miss it, the Iranian dictator spoke directly to the democracies and declared that we “shouldn’t think that, with the cease-fire, everything is finished.”
Then the tyrant who is aggressively pursuing a nuclear bomb threatened to “punish” America for supporting Israel and demanded that all nations “bow down to the dignity and to the nobility of our people. And if you don’t do that, our people, the nation of Iran, will make you do that.”
No Evidence Hezbollah Will Be Disarmed
These are not encouraging words to come from some of the world’s most dangerous dictators in the aftermath of a so-called cease-fire in Lebanon. Of course, just because the dictators of Iran and Syria have declared victory in this conflict doesn’t make it so. But the facts, regrettably, speak for themselves.
There is no evidence that Hezbollah, the aggressor, is going to be disarmed, despite the hopeful words of the UN resolution. And if Hezbollah is not going to be disarmed, the cease-fire amounts to little but a lie. Because if Hezbollah is not eliminated as a threat to Israel, all the cease-fire will do is put additional UN troops in Lebanon, behind which Hezbollah will recruit, organize and prepare for the next war with Israel. We will have made Israel’s job defending itself harder, not easier.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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