Russian version
Colonels' Corner: USA in Denial?
- Информация о материале
- Автор: Bill Cowan
Friday , November 03, 2006
I made a quick trip to Israel last week along with a number of other
military analysts from FOX and other networks. The trip was sponsored by
the American Israeli Education Foundation (AIEF), and like a similar trip
I made to Israel last year, there was no political agenda being thrust
on us. We met with people on all sides of every issue, giving us the chance
to form our own conclusions and opinions. Here are some of mine:
For starters, the trip was a stark reminder of what living in an environment
dominated by threats is REALLY all about. With the difficult Hezbollah
war only a few months in the past, and tensions ever increasing with radical
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, every Israeli lives every hour
knowing that at any moment another killing or kidnapping of an innocent
Israeli citizen is on the verge of occurring. And it invariably does. The
parallel for most Americans is that they’ve forgotten the events of 9/11,
and are in many respects in denial about the threats our country faces.
The recent war with Hezbollah struck discordant notes among most, but
not all, of the Israelis with whom we met. Most were extremely critical
of the conduct of the war and the government and military which led it.
Some people have already been fired, and others certainly still will be.
Others still will be voted out of office at the first opportunity, and
some will certainly resign as the results of non-partisan inquiries to
become public next year. In contrast, our domestic response to 9/11 was
essentially to build an unwieldy new Department of Homeland Security and
to layer another massive level of bureaucracy on the intelligence community.
The benefits of either have yet to be proven.
Interestingly, barely a month before the war began on July 12th, the
military had completed a comprehensive plan for how it would conduct a
war against Hezbollah. The plan never made it off the shelf as the government
stumbled its way forward on a military campaign fraught with uncertainty
and unclear goals and objectives.
While many Israelis are pleased to some degree that the UN force in
Lebanon is much stronger than the one it replaced, and that the Lebanese
Army is deployed to southern Lebanon for the first time in almost 30 years,
no one is under any illusions about whether Hezbollah will be disarmed
or cease to be a threat. In fact, solid intelligence is already showing
an influx of arms and munitions, including sophisticated rockets, to replace
the stockpiles Hezbollah lost in the war. Hezbollah remains a clear threat
to Israel. It does to us also.
Syria, too, is emboldened by the outcome of the war and has embarked
on its own strategy of threatening and ultimately attacking Israel. Instead
of risking a direct military confrontation, which it knows it could never
win, the Syrians have started populating long-empty towns and villages
on the Israeli border in the Golan heights. Their plan is clear. They intend
to emulate Hezbollah and Hamas with cross-border terrorist operations into
Israel, not only to create another active front for Israel, but to press
for return of the strategic Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 war when
Syria invaded Israel and was pushed back. Meanwhile, Syria continues to
be the prime funnel for arms and munitions to Hezbollah, and to be actively
involved in supporting insurgents and foreign fighters battling our own
men and women in Iraq. Is Syria important to U.S. national interests? Every
day!
Hezbollah, Hamas, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinians, Gaza, the West Bank
— all of these are issues that Israelis must live with daily. No threat
is more ominous or dangerous, though, than Iran. In our meeting with former
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a frequent guest on the FOX
News Channel, he aptly noted that most intelligence agencies pay millions
of dollars to find spies who can uncover the plans and intentions of foreign
leaders. In the case of Iran, we can get it for free. Their openly-stated
intent is the total destruction of Israel. After that, it’s us.
So what does all this mean? To me, it means the Israelis deserve our
respect and our unwavering support. All Americans should understand that
Israel is an interim stop for radical Islamic fundamentalists who want
to destroy not only Israelis, but Americans as well. And it also means
that our elections this week ARE important. Failing to elect officials
who are knowledgeable and outspoken about fighting terrorism will only
weaken us in the long term. Boldly confronting Iran, North Korea, Syria,
al-Qaeda and others is in our national interest. Failing to do so will
open the door to potential catastrophe unlike anything we Americans have
ever witnessed.
Lt. Col. Bill Cowan is a FOX News Channel contributor and internationally-acknowledged
expert in the areas of terrorism, homeland security, intelligence and military
special operations. He spent 11 years doing undercover operations in Lebanon
against Hezbollah and Syria. Read his full bio here.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227464,00.html
Russian version
Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a