The Liberal Strategy for Israel: Hunker Down and Die

Take one for the (liberal) team

As the war progresses in the Middle East and wave upon wave of rockets fired by Hezbollah kill Israeli civilians and military personal, the world hears from one of liberalism’s premiere statesmen, opinion writer Richard Cohen:

“The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake.” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071701154.html)

Ah, the self-importance and smugness of the chattering class! Cohen, whose column is showcased by the Washington Post and syndicated nationwide, continues by stating with mind-numbing clarity that Israel would do best by letting her enemies pummel her.

Richard Cohen is firmly of the idea that Israel should “hunker down” and hope terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, Hamas, and sovereign terrorist states like Iran “get distracted and move on to something else.”

Upon reading Cohen’s op-ed, the discerning reader must now ask oneself just what it is he means. Does Cohen mean…?

* Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist factions decide to go legit and sell the Middle East’s version of Amway products. Or might Cohen mean…

* There is no chance for peace--ever--between Israel and the entire Middle East, including Hezbollah and Hamas, and in that case…

* “Something else,” means that there are no more Jews to slaughter in Israel because there is no more Israel. That leaves plenty of free time for Hezbollah and Hamas to plan their next Jihad-extraordinaire—like coming to America to kill Americans wholesale?

That may be good news for Cohen, who will undoubtedly tell the American people through the magic of opinion journalism to “hunker down” and wait for terrorism to “move on.”

What Richard Cohen means in this penned flatulence that masquerades as serious commentary is that Israel should--ahem--bend over, grab the ankles, and just take it.

And according to Cohen, why not? I mean, what’s a few million Jews in Israel among one and a half billion Arabs and Muslims? If Cohen’s advice were to ever be taken seriously, the obvious answer regarding Israel is extinction.

And regarding Israel’s sovereignty? According to Richard Cohen, Israel should not even exist.

Stupid Jewish state! How selfish is Israel to exercise the concept of self-defense, or even more perverse to some--beltway op-ed writers particularly--the very thought of self-preservation.

When Americans read and hear what modern-day liberals like Richard Cohen have to say, you wonder if they are tempted to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of the guy, or slap a net over him.

These days, liberalism as practiced by Richard Cohen and the paper he writes for is not a political belief system inasmuch as it is a sickness of sorts. Symptomatic of the sickness is the basic perversion of the concepts right and wrong, and good and evil.

Liberals like Richard Cohen are not only wrong, but they are dangerously wrong. Cohen cannot even bring himself to condemn Hezbollah or Hamas. Instead, Cohen gives them a free pass, explaining that “zealots are not amenable to reason.” But condemn Israel for defending herself? Like bees to honey, it’s a certainty that liberals like Cohen will always blaze forth in doing so.

Zealots, Mr. Cohen? Do you mean the kind of zealotry that you and the left have carried out against a sitting president in a time of war? It is the zealotry of the absolute hated of blind rage, or the willingness instantly to torpedo anything President Bush is for or supportive of, for the sake of revitalizing the left’s severe power outage in Washington.

Is that the zealotry you speak of, Mr. Cohen?

Further, I think it is breathlessly stunning how someone as positioned as Richard Cohen is can instill thought and opinion so radically different to anything other than the obvious truth: Israel has every right to defend itself, and utterly destroy Hezbollah and its patron states like Syria and Iran.

I guess when I think about it, the Washington Post has done its readers a great service. By running these thoughtless and hyperventilating pieces that pretend to be cogent and analytical thought by someone such as Cohen, the Post reminds us all regarding the stark differences between those invested in freedom and its future, and those who are invested in the status quo, and fear.

People like Richard Cohen are liberal simpletons, certainly. But people like Cohen are also dangerous, and should be labeled as such.

Finally, Richard Cohen and the Washington Post underline why America looks rightward politically these days. Cohen further illustrates the stark differences between the clear-eyed right that fight this war against terrorism, and the close-eyed left who would gladly watch America and her allies--like Israel--fall to terrorism if only to see themselves reseated within the corridors of power in Washington.

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Vincent Fiore is a freelance political writer who lives in New York City.

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