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Israel and IranReader comment on item: After an Israeli Strike on Iran Submitted by SarahSue (United States), Jun 30, 2012 at 21:37 Bravo to Michael Eisenstadt and Michael Knights for getting it right. And for using thirty years of history as their guide. Wow, what a concept. How refreshing! The great majority of opinions on how the muslim world will react to an Israeli attack is based on Western thinking. But the islamic world is not like America and does not think like Americans. Islam teaches their people to be cowards. They only attack when the odds are strongly in their favor. Why do you think there were five armies that attacked Israel in 1967? Islamic countries are good at saber rattling and inflammatory rhetoric. They are good at ambushes and hiding behind civilians. They are good at pretending to be friends. That is why 241 military personnel were killed in Lebanon in 1983. That is why Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half brother, Wali Karzai was killed in 2011. He trusted the Taliban. That is why so many American personnel have been killed in Afghanistan. They trusted terrorists dressed in policemen's uniforms. That is why a C.I.A. compound in Forward Operating Base Chapman, in Khost Province lost at least seven operatives in 2009. They trusted an informant. All these deaths could have been prevented if these people had learned that to trust a muslim was like taking a snake into your bosom. Instead they were taught that islam is a 'religion of peace'. When confronted by a strong, well disciplined army, muslims turn and run. Did you know that when the Egyptian Tank Regiment was confronted by Israel in the Sinai, over one hundred tanks were abandoned because their commanders ran away in fear? This is the norm not the exception. This leads me to reminder readers that islamic armies are not like western armies. We are constantly evolving. The weapons we use in Afghanistan are far superior to the ones we used in Desert Storm. Our soldiers are constantly being trained. Our military uses millions of rounds of ammunition to train soldiers to shot. We can do many repairs in the field. We have a great support staff of medical personnel. We can and do fly the wounded all over the world to get the best treatment. Our ships do training maneuvers continually. The islamic armies have none of these things. One of the reasons Israel's attack on Osiraq was successful is that the Iraqis who manned their radar installations, turned them off when going to dinner at the same time every day. Israel knew this and used it to their advantage. Turkey lost four of its limited fleet of advanced helicopters because their pilots crashed them. Our navy invited the Saudi navy to participate in training exercises, but the Saudis were unwilling to train at night. When Iran wanted to impress her people with their newest ground-to-air missiles, one did not go off and had to be photoshopped in. Islamic countries routinely store their precious ammunition and munitions well past their use-by-date, accounting for some of the spectacular explosions that we have been seeing in the last few years. Syria recently had to send their helicopters to Russia to be repaired. Now they cannot get them back. In 1967, Israel destroyed most of the Egyptian Air Force in one attack because the Egyptians turned off their entire air defense system to go and party in anticipation of an Egyptian victory the next day. So why is it again, that Israel should fear these people? So many, including some of the commenters here get caught up in the minutiae of what will happen after the fact. Some of it their predictions will undoubted happen. But the big picture is what is important. None of the countries in the Middle East could bring down Iran. The hezballah like to do their own saber rattling, telling the world that if Israel touches so much as one hair on Iran's head, they will rain down fire and destruction. Hogwash! When Israel does something that none of them can do it will impress the hell out of them. Israel's enemies will see Israel as a lion and cower accordingly. Whether you look at the raid on Entebbe or the raids in Syria and Iraq, Israel's enemies did not band together and attack, rather they quaked with fear. No country was willing to go to war to avenge the honor of Libya, Syria or Iraq. The raids of Syria and Iraq could easily been seen as acts of war, if their neighbors had been so inclined. Instead there was dead silence, punctuated by little yelps of faux outrage. I remember how the Syrian government reacted to the 2007 raid by Israel. First, they denied that the al-Kibar nuclear facility even existed. Then they changed their story and said it existed but was not a nuclear facility. Then they said it was a nuclear facility that the Syrian destroyed themselves or some such nonsense. I remember getting a good laugh as their stories become more and more incoherent. Finally the whole thing died down, without Israel taking a single hit. The same thing happened with Entebbe and Iraq…nothing. There is no reason not to think the same thing will happen with Iran. The present day so-called 'Middle East Experts' seem to forget about Saddam Hussein and his fire-breathing rhetoric against Israel before 1981. He used every threat he could think of to intimidate and marginalize Israel. He was as dedicated to Israel's destruction as Iran is today. There is nothing new here. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is following the same beaten path as all islamic leaders have used for centuries. The islamic way of thinking has not changed one iota. Scare Israel with rhetoric and follow up with action. The problem with this current action, nuclear weapons, is that it take years to complete and billions out of their economies. This delayed threat is what has saved Israel in the past and is what will save her now. The bottom line is this. Those that think that increased terrorism and retaliation should give Israel pause, should remember that Israel is facing the annihilation of its entire citizenry. That includes over seven million people. Plus, it would be safe to assume that millions of people in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Syria would be also effected from any nuclear fallout. Remember that the final death toll would include many millions more muslims than Jews or Israelis. Is this an acceptable price? Sure, to those who are not being threatened. But to those that would be included in the Israeli death count, this is a sobering thing. As painful as it is to say, a few hundred people killed in retaliation is a small price to pay to protect millions. Remember the two atomic bombs we dropped on Japan? The utter devastation? Hydrogen bombs, like the ones Iran is building are at least a 1,000 to 5,000 times more powerful. That is the reality that Israel is up against. To paraphrase Michael Eisenstadt and Michael Knights, I think it would be safe to say that the muslims will be quick to condemn and slow to act. That is what they have done in the past and there is no evidence to suggest they would act differently now. Sure they are quick to retaliate against civilians that publish cartoons or people that desecrate the koran, but a nation of well-armed pissed off Israelis? Cowardice will rule the day. Given the nature of islam, it always has and it always will. Michael Eisenstadt and Michael Knights are spot on. Long live America, long live Israel. SarahSue Submitting....
Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". Reader comments (30) on this item
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