Mopping Up

So far in this war on Islamic Fascism we are doing a fair job of mopping up. Unfortunately mopping up is not going to fix a broken water main. As long as the pumps keep running we could be mopping up forever. What is needed is to turn off the pumps.

Unfortunately the government of Israel had no stomach for dealing with the local valve for the pump, Syria. In addition America hasn't had the stomach for dealing with the pumping station (not the only one), Iran.

Had Israel had the nerve to attack Syria's vital interest in Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, Syria might have either been drawn into the war or weakened. A reduction of Syrian power might have drawn in Iran. We can't tell for sure.

What we can tell is that there are a lot of Israelis very unhappy with the government. Besides internet action ( covered in Post Mortem ) the people have taken to the streets of Israel. A flash mob assembled in Tel Aviv:

An anti-ceasefire rally was held Monday evening at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square.

The rally was organized by internet surfers who, in chat rooms, called on people to participate. A few dozen people arrived and called on the government to resume the fighting in Lebanon until the abducted are released.

“We felt the need to protest not only via the internet,” Ariela, one of the rally’s organizers, said. “This protest emanate from the talkbacks (to internet articles). Talkbacks are our channels of rage.”

A few dozen people is not enough to move a government, but these things have a way of growing. Viral marketing its called.

“We are opposed to the surrender agreement,” she said. “The next war is right around the corner. We were hesitant. The policy was hesitant and there was no true will to fight among the decision-makers.”

Boaz Arad, who owns a software company, said “we believe that in inviting an international force to protect us we are showing that we cannot protect ourselves; in this manner we are losing our status as a strategic asset to elements that need a strong Israel in the Middle East.

Mr. Arad sure got that one right.

Brian Blondy, 25, from Detroit and David Perl, 27, from Frankfurt, came to Israel plan to volunteer to the IDF.

“We believe the ceasefire agreement should have included first and foremost the disarming of Hizbullah and sanctions against Iran and Syria,” Blondy said. “Israel should have thought two steps ahead – it should have annihilated Hizbullah so it would think twice before attacking us again; but this didn’t happen."

When the man on the street understands the strategic failure, you have to ask yourself, why do our leaders appear to be sleepwalking?

There is always the possibility of a deeper game going on, but the folks running the show really make it hard to believe. This is terrible for morale. Of all the components necessary for fighting a war, morale is the most critical. The best weapons in the world are useless if the hands holding them go slack.

Defeat in battle is not a permanent set back where the will to win exists. Churchill and Roosevelt showed this in WW2. So where are the great men we need? Sadly they do not appear to be in evidence.

Bush and Olmert have the will to fight. In America at least this is a big improvement over past performance. Even so, without the will to win, the will to fight doesn't count for much. What we need is not a show of force. What we need is an implacable will to victory. We cannot scare our enemies. They must be beaten.