Our troubled world needs historical perspectives. Sparta offers a good perspective. The Spartans were ferocious and well-disciplined fighters. Some know that 300 Spartan fighters were the core of a Greek force that held off a much larger Persian army at the famous battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The much larger Persian force eventually overcame them, but their heroic stand, somewhat like that at the Alamo, became a legendary event, and stimulated a subsequent victory against the powerful Persian empire. Fewer know that Spartan power, like that of the Confederate South, rested on the exploitation of a more numerous slave class, the Helots. The Spartans defeated the Athenians in the Peloponnesian War, but fell when the Helots, first the Messenian Helots and later those from Laconia overthrew their masters and ended the Spartan era.
I see a crude analogy between the Israelis and the Spartans and the Helots and the Palestinians. The Israelis don't exploit the Palestinians for economic gain, but they have established a segregated society, like the Old South, and one which must surely end in destruction of the elite class, or major reform in which the Helots are elevated to a much better life. Given the willingness of many young Palestinians to die for the cause, repression and intimidation just won't work. Hezbollah, no pacifists, were the victors of this 2006 Thermopylae. Israeli and Pentagon body counts and launcher counts don't mean a thing- all the Spartans died at Thermopylae.
We know from the SF Chronicle and from Sy Hersh that the Israelis prepared this invasion for more than a year See www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/21/MNG2QK396D1.DTL&hw=kalman&sn=001&sc
=1000. I don't admire Nasrallah, nor Sharon, Netanyahu and Olmert. All are machos from the pages of The Iliad. I also reject Professor Daniel Goldhagen, author of the excellent Hitler's Willing Executioners. His recent article laments Israel's problems- attacked by rockets, surrounded by Arabs who can't be deterred- and recommends that Israel should follow his sixth option, direct attack on Syria and Iran www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe goldhagen8aug08,0,2550524.story?col
Goldhagen can't see or won't admit how much of Israel's problems are self-inflicted. Why did the Israelis put settlers on the West Bank within months of the victorious 1967 war? The Israeli leadership hoped to outnumber the Palestinians with millions of immigrants from Eastern Europe. It didn't happen. There is much to admire in Israel, but their leadership has been corrupted by power, like our leadership. So Israel has the right of self-defense and the Palestinians and their Arab allies have the right to rebel against oppressive masters. Who will win?- it's like betting against the house in blackjack. The house, with its deeper pockets, will eventually win. The house is Arab.
Goldhagen states that negotiated peace is impossible. If the only negotiators are people like Olmert, Nasrallah and Ahmanijinad, that's true. If we include neighbors like Mahmoud Abbas and Iranians who seek peace, a negotiated settlement may be possible. However, the macho policies of George Bush and supercilious Rice make it impossible to even start such negotiations. Goldhagen should read the Hersh New Yorker article. American or Israeli attacks on Iran will bring a mammoth war, one which the Israelis can't win. The era of tank wars is over. The military value of airpower is less than it was in 1973, and Israeli nuclear missiles don't change the calculations. Use of Israeli nukes will however call forth Pakistani nukes. Only a fool desires that. A wider war will create even more jihadis focused on killing Americans.
Americans could begin the peace process by meeting directly with Syria and Iran and all three parties agreeing to send no more weapons to Israel, Palestine or Lebanon. Those who want peace can begin by insisting that the US stop pouring gasoline on the Middle Eastern fire. That means withdrawal soon from Iraq (taking along any Iraqi politicians who want out) and meeting directly with Syria and Iran. Saying, "Syria knows what we want" is arrogant and stimulates negative responses. Is that what Mr. Bush wants? Likewise, equating Hezbollah and those who plot to blow up airliners is repeating his "bring it on". The problem is that the next generation will suffer, not Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. We can't force Israel to negotiate but stopping the flow of money and bombs to them will have an effect. We don't need to disarm, but we can use a little humility.