Posted by
celtic-dragon on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 1:52:53 AM
The shadow of Karl Von Clausewitz has loomed large over the past two centuries. His classic "On War" has influenced military thought from the time of Napoleon to the modern day, and has seen a resurgence in popularity as of late. His brutally realistic and unsympathetic approach to warfare calls for overwhelming force applied as directly as possible in the shortest amount of time. Victory can usually be defined by the occupation and subdual of the opposing country, leading to a forced political arrangement upon the vanquished. In Clausewitz's world, "War is politics by other means".
This brings us to present cases. Israel's response to Hezbollah's provocations has been a model of Clausewitzian war, and therein lies the problem. Until recent years, war has been a POLITICAL act between Princes and States. Hezbollah does not control an independent and recognized State, and hence has no Prince or President with which legitimate negotiations may reasonably be conducted (owing to its objectionable ideology). As Israel has discovered, capturing territories is irrelevant. Hezbollah's territory is IDEOLOGY and PEOPLE, instead of physical property. Applying overwhelming force, as would be normally and rightfully called for, has perversely enhanced Hezbollah and its standing throughout the Muslim world.
Hezbollah is part of the new breed of militias, road warrior cultures and terrorists that have taken up the call of Primitivism. "Honor" and allegiances have been reduced to a basic, tribal state and coupled with an ideology of religious hatred. Aggression, unfettered by any notion of civilized restraint, becomes the celebrated norm and results in self-reinforcing pleasure for the men who kill and maim for the glory of their tribal unit.
In the world of Clausewitz, war is irrational in of itself, but is conducted by rational people towards an understandable purpose. Force brings about a measurable response with an almost mathematic certainty. But not any more... The new Theory of War is emerging, and Dr. Martin Van Creveld at the University of Jerusalem has located the parameters. War...is. It needs no meaning or purpose, other then propagating itself at the pleasure of primitive and violent men. Groups like Hezbollah and Hamas have found this new type of war to their liking, for WAR IS THEIR ONLY REASON FOR EXSISTANCE! This is something that liberals, and much of the world, has failed to realize, and with tragically avoidable consequences.
Israel, meanwhile, has found itself in much the same predicament as the Army of The Third Coalition at Austerlitz in 1805, caught between the hammer of Napoleon's Grande Armee and the anvil of the Pratzenburg Heights. Here and now, Israel is caught between an implacable, virulent ideology and its adherents on one side, with unrealistic world opinion, fed by Israel's battlefield missteps, on the other. As Israel continues to apply force, it reinforces world opinion and more importantly, reinforces Hezbollah's position within Lebanon. It is time for Israel (and us) to start thinking of how to deal with this new problem. It is certainly time for liberals to realize that Islamo-Facsism isn't going to disappear if we "act nice". Short of turning large sections of real estate into radioactive glass, bombing them doesn't seem to do much good either. We need to think of something soon, because the Primitives aren't waiting.