Why Israel Is Right

If you watch the news at all these days, you probably hear an awful lot about Lebanese civilians dying. You also probably hear a lot of the anti-Semitic drudge that comes out of the UN. Perhaps you were beginning to be swayed by the media's stories and beginning to wonder why the Israeli Air Force keeps "targeting civilians." Fortunately for you, one Australian report has you covered. He's on the ground and has answers to those questions.

Check out this article

You see, Israel targets civilian areas because those are the areas that Hezbollah uses to launch their rockets. Note when the reporter points out that "until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, [the area] had not been touched by the Israelis. [After Hezbollah used it,] it was totally devastated." In other words, Israel avoids targeting civilians, that is, until Hezbollah fighters drive into civilian areas and try to use the locals as human shields. Then, unfortunately, civilians become caught up in the battle; and they have no one to blame but Hezbollah.

It's scary stuff for sure, and a true insight into the "holy" nature of Islamic terrorism. Not many other groups can claim that they ooze anti-Semitism and cause hundreds of innocent civilians to die because they want to use them as shields and exploit their deaths politically. Needless to say, don't by the anti-Israeli message for a second.

Abdicating, Abusing, and Adding

Back in 1787 when the Founding Fathers laid out our government in the Constitution, they intended to create a government that was limited in its power and scope. Furthermore, they hoped that the Legislature could work in the interest of the people and in regulation to the Executive. However, considering the vast array of power held within the current Congress, and in light of its intended powers as put forth in Article I, Section 8, it seems that the aims of our Founders have come up short.

The powers that Congress was original given are, actually, quite few. The Legislature was to concern itself with coining money, setting up the Postal System, building roads, unifying the States' laws on bankruptcy and naturalization, authorizing patents and copyrights, and punishing crimes committed on the "high seas." The aforementioned are all vital and logical functions for Congress to perform; nonetheless, the remaining clauses in Article I, Section 8 delineate Congress' two most important powers: the power to levy taxes and tariffs, and the power to declare war and maintain the armed forces. Those two encompass, by my count, some 10 of the 18 clauses in this section. Thus it seems safe to say that the main activities in which Congress engaged were expected to simply be imposing taxes and dealing with warfare. Regrettably, in modern times, Congress no longer lines up with its Constitutional counterpart.

Congress' first power, that of taxation, has been thoroughly abused; never in their worst nightmares would the Founding Fathers have imagined a country in which the tax burden would be as high as ours is today. Between income taxes (which were first implemented in the Civil War, 90 years after the Founders' era), property taxes, sales taxes and all the other taxes Americans pay, it's safe to conclude that James Madison never intended for Congress' taxation power to be used that much.

The second power, the power related to warfare, has, in a very real sense, been abdicated. While the Congress may still be in charge of funding and raising the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, the one thing they are not in charge of is sending those forces to war. That's right, Congress no longer has the power to declare war; and what's worse, they didn't lose that power, they simply gave it up. Of course, they didn't just give it up to anyone, they gave it up to the last person on earth the Founding Fathers wanted to have the power to declare war: the President.

Don't believe me? Consider this, the United States of America hasn't declared war since December 8, 1941; nevertheless, we've fought in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan and many other places since then. But how, without a declaration of war, can the Commander in Chief deploy forces all over the world? Unfortunately, nowadays, all the President has to do is either get a 'resolution' of support from Congress, like LBJ did in Vietnam, or go on a 'UN police task,' like Truman did in Korea. This is not a statement on how just or unjust all Wars since W.W.II are, but rather a statement on how the United States Congress has simply given the President the very thing they dreaded he would. Remember, our ancestors fought in opposition to a King, in part, because of how a monarch can rush to war at his own will.

Finally, as we all know, the modern American Congress has many, many, many, many, many more things it does than just overtax and abdicate declaring war; it handles Social Security, Welfare, Medicare, and Medicaid; it funds everything from education to its own pockets; and has snatched as much power as possible away from the States and the people (And, no, all of those things don't fall under the clause about setting up the Postal Service). Unfortunately, the advent of big government programs and power snatches has never been seriously questioned on the basis of Constitutional authority. As a matter of fact, questioning FDR's 'New Deal' got you put on a wiretapping list that actually included American citizens (unlike President Bush's).

Indeed, somewhere between the 16th amendment, the New Deal and Congressional 'authorizations' of force, it seems the United States Congress has lost sight of what it was intended to do. And naturally, 'We the People' are the ones who get hurt the most by this. Because a bloated, overburdened, and busy Congress, coupled with a Chief Magistrate holding excessive powers, diminishes the dream of men like Madison and Hamilton - not to mention our freedom.

Don't Mess With the Jews!

There is, indeed, one truly sane country left in the world today. One country that takes threats against itself seriously, has the guts to actually do something about those threats, and doesn't much care what anyone else in the world thinks about it. That country has spent the last 6 days bombing Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. Perhaps 'bombing' is not the appropriate term - how about 'kicking the living sh*t out of them with airplanes'. Seriously, all Israel has done is bomb for 6 days and somewhere between 40 and 50% of all Hezbollah military capability has been destroyed. Ouch. That's like Italian tanks versus Ethiopian bows-and-arrows bad. (And yes, the Ethiopians vs. Italians is a real historical event.) Furthermore, I believe Israel will actually have the brains to stay and finish the job they started; instead of deciding half-way through that they feel like they've 'sent a message' and can go home.

Needless to say, I fully support Israel and its right to beat Hezbollah to a pulp. Terrorists who willingly attack innocent civilians do not need to have old Soviet-era rockets at their disposal. Fortunately, the task of getting rid of Hezbollah's weapons falls to Israel, a Nation who is quite happy to complete it.

Furthermore, what do these successful attacks say about Hezbollah and the situation in the Middle East? Or Islamic terrorism in general? Well, first of all, it shows us, once again, that Israel really does have a right to exist. Remember, Hezbollah is a group on par with the PLO, (who are also on the receiving end of this bombardment) and they have crumbled, for the umpteenth time, in the face of Israel. How can one possibly say that a people who lose 40% of their military capability in six days, despite not even being invaded, deserve to have a country? Remember if you run a country, you are in charge of "National Defense" something these Arab groups don't quite seem to have figured out. Especially compared to Israel.

Also, on a more philosophical note, this could tell us one of two things about Islamic Terrorism. Either a) the Islamic will to fight is weakening slightly or b) Bush was right. Hezbollah's resistance is quite minimal and, on top of that, they seem to be getting little or no support from the rest of the Arabic and Islamic world. To me, this seems an indication that Islamic militants really feel that Hezbollah can't win this fight; and given the Islamic terrorists 'Allah is with me so I'll never give up' attitudes, that's kind of surprising. On the other hand, it could mean that Islamic terrorists can't help Hezbollah fight back because they are already overcommitted in different places. In other words, no one can support Hezbollah because all their terrorists have been deployed to, say, Iraq. Which would course vindicate President Bush's belief that going into Iraq would attract the terrorists there and prevent them from doing harm elsewhere. Again, this is purely philosophical, but I find it compelling.

So, to our allies and friends in Israel: Good Luck and Happy Hezbollah Hunting!!

Mistake '08?

While traveling through China, one of the things that stands out is the massive relocations that are ongoing. No matter where you go in China, it seems the government is forcing people out of their homes and into high rise apartment buildings; and nowhere is this more prominent that in Beijing. However, in one sense, Beijing is very different from the rest of the country, because there all the re-locating is being done "to prepare for the Olympics" in 2008. Deep down, the relocating of people in Beijing probably has little to do with the Olympics, and would have happened with or without the '08 Games; but still, it begs the question: why are we in the rest of the World providing excuses for the Chinese government?

First off, let me clarify exactly what the Chinese government is doing and why it's wrong. Hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of Beijing residents are being moved out of the homes their families have lived in for years and into new high-rise apartment buildings. The problem, of course, is that there is little or no choice involved for the people being re-located; and, unlike in the United States where we have 'Eminent Domain', those evicted from their homes aren't given adequate monetary compensation.

On the face of it, there seems little the United States or any other Nation could do to directly stop a country like China, which has the largest standing army in the world; but, at the very least, we should refrain from condoning their more malevolent Communist policies. Unfortunately, that's just what the International Olympic Committee did when it awarded the 2008 Olympics to Beijing. Now, anything the Chinese government does in Beijing, whether it be massive relocations or something much worse, can be done under the guise of preparing for the 2008 Summer Games. To make matters worse, there is really nothing the rest of us can say, because we're the ones who decided to put the Chinese in charge of the '08 Games in the first place. Surely, when it comes to trying to fight some of the more terrible elements in the Chinese government, the rest of the World can do better than that.