Is our policy in the Middle East making terrorist faster then we can kill them ?

Question

I understand terrorists play on sympathy regarding the deaths of civilians they play a key role in killing but is our policy only helping them in that task ? I'm aware that terrorist use civilians as sheilds if they didn't they'd have nothing to barter with but themselves but does our policy only feed into Irans agenda ? Does it help strengthen the very group were attempting to eradicate ?

Great responses all keep them coming.

Answer 1

Israel is currently an occupying power and that is the *source* of the ongoing conflict and the terrorism/radicalization of Arabs.

Israel currently occupies: 1. West Bank, 2. Gaza, 3. E. Jerusalem, 4. Golan Heights, 5. Shebaa Farms

The West Bank, Gaza and E. Jerusalem are claimed by the Palestinians, who are living under occupation and oppression as 2nd class citizens under Israel military rule.

The Golan Heights is claimed by Syria.

The Shebaa Farms is claimed by Lebanon -- and thus why Hezbollah guerrillas/terrorists/freedom fighters/militias (whatever you want to call them) exist. They want the land back from Israel.

Israel has shown by its actions (which betrays her words) that it is unwilling to cede these territories that it had taken through wars. Of course, Israel is willing to give back "some" of it, but not all of it, especially any part of Jerusalem.

A little history

When the UN voted Israel into existence in 1948, it gave it a small piece of land, the most fertile in fact along the coast of Israel. The Arabs, naturally, were against the UN mandate and attacked Israel. Zionists from Europe had no right at the time to create a state smack in the middle of Arab land exclusively for themeselves. Arabs, as anyone else, would have been against such a decision made by the UN.

So the Arabs attacked in 1948; the Zionist Jews attacked back and won the war. They subsequently expanded their territory beyond the UN mandate. This angered Arabs further.

Through the intervening years and various wars -- some which were launched by Arabs, and others by Israel, it continued to expand its territory. For some odd reason, Israeli supporters claim that Israel never "started" any wars. But this is patently false. They started the Suez War in 1956, 1967 "6 day war" and the 1982 Lebanon war. Of course, Israel has some excuse as to why they fired the "first shot" -- but the facts are fact: they fired the first shot and started the war.

Conflict over territory

So fast foward to the present and Israel has all these territories that it occupies and has yet to cede back to the Arabs. In Gaza and the W. Bank especially, Arabs live under an oppressive environment as 2nd class citizens.

It is less well advertised, but there are radicals within Israel whose objective is to expand Israeli territory. They believe in a "Greater Israel". Their objective is to "reclaim" all the land that God gave them in the Old Testament.

It is this right wing faction within Israel that makes peace almost impossible. Because without ceding back the land, Arabs, naturally, will not be satisfied.

Israeli supporters will often cite the Camp David Summit in 2000 -- where PM Barak of Israel offered the Palestinians a "generous offer". Arafat rejected the peace plan, they say.

But what is little known is that Barak's/Clinton's peace plan was a sham. Their offer to the Palestinians was not an "independent, viable" state -- but a country carved up into 4 portions or cantons -- with no water rights, air rights or border rights. The offer, in short, was an insult.

Subsequent to the fall-out, Barak and Arafat continued to negotiate -- but in Israel, elections were coming up and Barak was looking weak. At Taba, Arafat and Barak came close to a deal -- but Sharon soon came to power and negated all the previous negotiations. The rest is history.

After the 2nd Intifada (uprising) erupted, Saudi Arabia offered Israel what was dubbed the "Saudi Plan". In it, it offered Israel peace, normalization and recognition from ALL Arab states. That's right, the vaunted PEACE that Israel allegedly always sought. In return, Saudi Arabia asked that Israel cede back the territories it took after the 1967 war, namely, the occupied territores that were listed above. In other words, Israel can keep the land the UN gave them plus MORE.

Tellingly, Israel really never entertained the offer. As I said, actions speak louder than words: Israel was unwilling to cede the territories, at least not all of it. It it is willing to cede some of it, of course -- but only that which it chooses is appropriate.

But how is that fair to all the parties? It's not. Israel is not being fair or just at all. Yet it continues to cry to the world that "all it wants is peace." Their actions however belie their words.

Israel supporters also point to the Gaza pull-out as a gesture of good will. But again, this was a sham. When Hamas was elected, int'l aid for the Palestinians stopped. The Palestinians are dependent on this aid. When Israel pulled out of Gaza, it turnd the strip into a virtual prison. It was blockaded economically and by sea and air. Without the normal aid (the US and Israel wanted to make Hamas "pay" for being "democratically elected -- but the civlians suffered) and an economic blockade of Gaza -- fighting began.

Of course, this fighting was used as a reason by Israel to launch attacks on the Palestinians.

Israel and the US point to the recent kidnappings by Hezbollah and Hamas militants -- but they miss the big picture. The big picture is the occupied territories that Israel refuses to cede back to its rightful owners.

(Also little mentioned in the US media is that Israel has engaged in kidnappings of her own prior to these incidents. Thus, none of these things are isolated events -- the conflict goes back decades.)

The continuing occupation and oppression of Arabs by Israel is the source of the conflict and terrorism.

Remember, terrorism is a method of warfare by the weak. Israel is a military powerful country backed by the US, the most powerful country in the world, and thus in no danger of existential threat. It has nuclear weapons as well. No Arab country, least of all rag tag group of militas, and few countries in the world, can stand toe to toe with Israel.

Israel, unlike its neighbors, is a relatively wealthy country. Yet, it is is the #1 recipient of foreign aid from the US. On top of that, it is a beneficiary of US military weapons and arms like no other.

Over half a century after the unjust creation of Israel, reality is on the ground. Israel exists as a state and now, has a right to exist. Most Arabs accept this fact, now, as evidenced by the Saudi Plan.

Of course, extremists will always exist. And they do exist on BOTH sides.

But extremists cannot be used as the excuse to not do the "right thing". And the right thing is to cede the occupied territories back to its rightful owners. Only once Israel has done that can it claim to be innocent and truly, "defending itself."

American Christians are another factor that aggravates the problem. They're so eager to see the "fulfillment" of Bible prophecy that they support Israel in NOT negotiating with the Arabs and lobby their politicians accordingly. It's a sad and twisted thing. Christians want to see Bible prophecy fulfilled, namely, Armageddon, which would mean war and destruction for Israel. Indeed, a twisted alliance between Israel and Christians these days.

If Israel refuses to cede back the stolen lands, it has one last option: share the land with the residing Arabs. Give Palestinians Israeli citizenship, for example, and just live as one big happy family.

But "Jewish" Israeli refuses this as well. They do not want to lose their "Jewishness", they say. They wish to keep Israel a country dominated by a single religious faith. And thus, the occupation and oppression of Palestinians continue who live in poverty and as 2nd class citizens.

Israel finds itself stuck: it refuses to give back the land -- and it refuses to share the land.

It's ironic but back before Israel was created in 1948, Arabs proposed the idea of living with Jews under a single state. The Jewish Zionists refused, however. They wanted a state that precluded Arab Muslims.

Very sad...

Answer 2

Yes. It reminds me of the fictitious body count numbers quoted during the Vietnam War. If the numbers had been correct there would not have been any Viet Cong or NVA soldiers left. No matter how many supposed terrorists we kill more are recruited to replace them. Iraq is sliding into civil war creating a vacuum for Iran to fill, and the majority of Iraqis are Shiites, the same as in Iran. The situation in Lebanon is making things even worse. Our close relations with Israel plays into the hands of Syria and Iran. The only terrorists we are targeting are Muslim. This creates a them against us mentality. There are over a billion people who embrace Islam. That provides an inexhaustible base from which to recruit. We are in this unwinable situation in part because we have an administration whose foreign policy is to shoot first and ask questions later. Our go it alone policy has cost us friends and allies, and has created more enemies.

Answer 3

Lets see. A "NEWS" video confirmed a few of these "civilians" attacking the Israeli squaddies with quite a lot of bars, golf equipment, and many others.; BEFORE photographs had been fired. Tell me, WHY was once a information staff filming BEFORE the Israelis began their "attack"? What had been they filming? LOOKS like a little bit of a collection-up there. IF I were attacked via a recognized organization (Hamas), and a few in their supporters (IHH) are recognized to be a minimum of in part accountable FOR the flotilla and it is shipment, I feel I might desire to examine it earlier than letting it in. The Israelis furnished to enable docking at a port, AND unfastened shipping of shipment to Gaza AFTER inspection for contraband units, and the flotilla refused. What had been THEY hiding? THEY desired a war of words. You assault ME with a membership whilst I'm armed, you are DEAD! Maybe, despite the fact that I am unarmed, you are lifeless. Do I hence qualify as a terrorist? I do not feel so. I DO feel the way in which the Israeli's went approximately it was once VERY SLOPPY operation, and I recognise grade tuition youngsters that most of the time would have performed higher.

Answer 4

Basically, yes.

Plenty of non-terrorists are being killed by Americans via the terrorists' designs. Each non-terrorist that dies creates hatred towards America within all of that victim's family, generating a whole new group of potential terrorist recruits.

One could argue that the terrorists are to blame for these non-terrorists' deaths, but that's a hard argument for average people to swallow when an American bullet or bomb did the killing. (If Cuba attacked the U.S. with a Russian-made missile that Russia gave to Cuba, don't you think we'd be going not only to Cuba but to Russia for answers and for revenge?)

Long story short, terrorist organizations are a hydra: cut off one head & several more grow back in its place. The way to kill a hydra is to starve it to death. The way you starve terrorist organizations is to remove the hatred and fear that feed them. (Amongst other things, the U.S. needs to stop feeding the Arab-Israeli conflict, stirring it up rather than solving it.) Only then will Iraqis and the rest of the world see that the war is against the war-makers amongst all of us.

Answer 5

"Eye for an Eye" is a formula for never ending conflict. That's why Christ himself opposed anyone using it anymore. Reason being that too many people will justify any death with "Eye for an Eye" for more killing.

As a Christian, I strongly believe that God will keep his promise of Avenging us. Only God has that right to judge and punish, because he is free of any blemishes.

Answer 6

Sure it is, but do you have a better way to deal with people that are dead set on killing you and/or destroying your way of life. Cowboy diplomacy doesn't set very well, that is for sure. When Bush said "bring them on" all it did was set their jaw a bit harder.

Answer 7

i have a better question 4 you
we r saying lots of terrorism organisztions these days,why do u think?
killing will only bring more killing, its not a good way to handle things

Answer 8

Yes.

Answer 9

No doubt about it, yes.