Israel delenda est

Cartago delenda est

Cato the Elder, a Roman Statesman, concluded every speech he made in the Roman Senate with that diktat (Carthage must be destroyed). He repeatedly uttered that decree during the latter days of the Roman Republic, not long before Rome eventually became the world’s first superpower. While he was also unalterably opposed to Rome’s absorption of Greek culture, it was what he perceived to be Carthage’s irreligious attitudes and its frivolous life styles, that really repelled him. When Rome launched its last Punic war, Carthage (a flourishing city-state in North Africa) was totally "wiped out."

Israel delenda est

Last October, President Ahmadinejad of Iran, issued a similar announcement. He declared that Israel should be "wiped off the map." Most people thought he was simply trying to deflect the West’s obsessional concern about his nuclear weapon program. Not generally known, however, Iran had already poured massive quantities of missile weaponry into Lebanon, via Syria. With Hezbollah as its militia, it was planning to provoke a confrontation that would ultimately lead to Israel's annihilation. Implicit in the plan would be the rise of Iran into a role of undisputed Islamic leadership.

In all candor

Is Israel on the verge of another enforced diaspora? Faced with this new attack, to whom can it turn for vital support? With self-forgiving rhetoric, moderates everywhere are taking cover. Anti-semitism is rampant. Ahmadinejad, prompted by Iran's religious hierarchy and encouraged by the Arab street, unceasingly articulates Islam’s visceral hatred of Israel. At the same time, he is effectively implementing the means and manner of Israel's demise. Will only America dare to rein him in? Will the Bible soon be adding another chapter to Exodus?

Addendum: Unlike Osama's Al Qaeda, Hezbollah (with its history of successful confrontations against America and Israel) draws its energy and strength from every faction of fractious Islam. Sponsored, armed and now under the aegis of Iran, this rapidly growing, "quasi-invincible" militia is a serious threat to all Western "crusaders." To persist in believing we are not in mortal conflict with "jihadists" is a perilous delusion.

Comment:

Israel is always on the edge of diaspora. What is a Jew? What is Israel? There was a time long ago when Israel became a true nation, a kingdom that conquered and subdued the land of Canaan. But that time came and went. Stronger forces prevailed. They conquered Israel, again, and again. What remains now is but a nostalgic vision of a perfect time, a time of God, when the prophets searched within their own hearts for their connections to the divinity. Sadly, what constitutes the Jewish identity today is a concoction of disparate cultures. I tend to take a very theological stance on these issues. Your blog is very professional. You are a one-man newspaper.

Daniel G (my great-nephew)

Maybe the Islamists have come up with a conceptual breakthrough that makes them difficult to defeat. They've grasped that the more they endanger their own people and get them killed, the better it is for them politically. Israel or the U.S. gets blamed. That's like a superweapon in the media war.

David Brooks (NY Times, Aug 6, 06)

With a terrorist organization in control of Gaza and dominant in the West Bank; with a terrorist army on its borders; and with an apocalyptic Iranian president determined to wipe it from the map, Israel is faced with the greatest threat ever suffered by any nation since Britain faced the armies of the Third Reich.

Dr Denis MacEoin (An excerpt from his response to a policy speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair. Denis MacEoin has published extensively on Islamic topics)

Bryna and I were intrigued by the perceptive comparison you draw with Rome, Carthage and the Punic Wars. I wrote to many of our friends asking them to look in on your blog.

Paul Cipes (Aug 7, 06)

Disarming Hezbollah is the key to Mideast Peace. If Hezbollah is not disarmed, then the moderates in the Middle East are going to be discouraged. Lebanon is likely to be taken over by Hezbollah sooner or later, and this whole crisis will repeat itself. That is the fundamental issue that all Americans must understand.

Henry Kissinger (Told Fox News, Aug 9, 06)