Denice Gary-Pandol
Middle East Specialist
A Betrayal of the War on Terror © 2006
A Betrayal of the War on Terror?
Is the world witnessing a strategic defeat for Western democracies by breaking trust with a long-standing, committed ally in the global war
against Islamic terror?
In light of United States’ law and policy on international terrorism, the ceasefire betrays the current mission of the United States.
Summarizing the administration’s approach in a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001, the President stated: “Every nation, in
every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” In a press conference this week,
President Bush again declares that “America will stay on the offense in the war against terror.” So, it remains for now the stated intent of the
United States to take all necessary action against nations who neglect a pro-active stance against terrorism, representing an important and
broad phase in the national security strategy of the country.
Are Lebanon, Syria, and Iran exempt from this strategic approach in the war against terrorism? Recall that Lebanon, in violation of
international law, allows terrorists to maintain a complex military infrastructure in order to attack not only Israel, but other Western nations.
In public statements, Hizballah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, speaks glowingly of the Muslim people’s strength and commitment to martyrdom.
Even Lebanon’s President, Emile Lahoud, in an interview on August 16th stated that the people of Lebanon “respect Hizballah” as an
organization that represents Lebanon’s “national resistance movement.”
So is it now the policy of the United States to make a distinction between terrorists and those nation-states who harbor them, who elect them
into office, and who share their views? Will the United States now lend its support to nations, such as Lebanon, that tolerate the stated
goals of Islamic terrorists who advocate the violent spread of Islamic jihad?
As an ally in the war on terror, is Israel right to exercise the same foreign policy approach as set by the Bush administration: “Strength
beyond challenge,” military pre-emption, and unilateral action? Indeed, as Israel struggles with her own fragile national security interests in
the face of an onslaught of Islamic terror from her northern and southern borders, she too must “take all necessary action” against the
threat of increasing terrorist attacks.
Violence against Jews continued everywhere, according to former Lebanese Ambassador Fereydoun Hoveyda who grew up in Lebanon in
the 1920’s and ‘30s, long before Israel’s statehood in 1948. Moreover, the civil discord between Christians and Muslims continues to remain
a constant threat to the stability of Lebanon - like the rest of the Muslim Arab world, it is still about Islam. Growing up among Lebanon’s
elite, Hoveyda’s father was a diplomat as well, he attended a local madrassah where he was taught to memorize and quote passages from
the Koran calling for the death of Jews and Christians along with other young Muslim boys. In point of fact, he cites an intense hatred of all
Jews in the area which remains to this date an institutionalized phenomenon across the Muslim Arab world.
To further illustrate this point, Bernard Lewis, well-known Middle East scholar, recently quoted the Ayatollah Khomeini, who quoting a
passage from an 11th grade Iranian schoolbook states: “[Muslims] will stand against the whole world and will not cease until the annihilation
of them all. Either we all become free, or we will go to the greater freedom which is martyrdom. Either we shake one another’s hands in joy
at the victory of Islam in the world, or all of us will turn to eternal life and martyrdom. In both cases, victory and success are ours.” These
statements are not exclusive to Iranian schoolbooks. Indeed, these views are discussed in textbooks in every Muslim Arab nation, informing
multiple generations of Muslim youth.
The anti-semitic culture within the Arab Muslim population in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran has not changed. So long as generations of Muslims
fill mosques and madrasahs reciting Koranic verses that call for the death of the infidels – ceasefires and resolutions are meaningless.
In the final analysis, diplomacy does not change the hearts and minds of Islam’s true believers. What will be accomplished by the ceasefire
is an unmitigated defeat for Western democracies by furthering the cause of terrorists by emboldening Hizballah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-
Aqsa Brigades, and other terrorist groups to greater acts of terrorism in their continued war of attrition against Israel, denigrating its role in
the war on terror while strengthening their military capability to again challenge the United States and the free world.
© 2006 Copyright Denice Lyn Gary-Pandol. All rights reserved.