(Telegraph-UK) Charles Moore - The Hamas massacres, rapes, and kidnappings of Oct. 7 last year had a chilling political purpose. "We can do this," Hamas was saying, "and no one can stop us." They calculated, and they were not wrong, that the world would be awed. Islamists, including many in the West, would be elated and further radicalized. Moderate Arab regimes would be scared. The Western democracies would quickly switch back to their default position of begging Israel not to do anything much about it and then, when Israel did do something, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Although, in fact, Israel was doing fairly well in destroying Hamas's operational capacity in Gaza, this was obscured by the dark cloud of world and media condemnation. Western, including British, calls for ceasefire were, at best, foolish and, at worst, designed to help Hizbullah (and Hamas and Iran). If Israel had acceded to these demands, Nasrallah and his merry men would still be around, still appearing invincible. Israel's killing of Nasrallah on Sept. 28 is a most powerful reaffirmation of what a free country can achieve because of the skill, courage and - at least when it really matters - unity of its people. Israel has had to defy the world to do this. It should be a lesson to all of us that when we unambiguously resist terror and tyranny, we will win. And when we don't, we won't.
2024-10-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive