When terrorists become an army

There's a lot of interesting information out there in the blog-o-sphere about the current Israeli/Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon that you won't get from the traditional news sources. Here's some good stuff for your reading entertainment:

From the Counter-Terrorism blog: Hezbollah's Army Revisited. It seems as if Israel is fighting more than just a bunch of terrorists in Lebanon--more like a well trained, well equipped modern fighting force. This battle isn't going to end quickly, unless Israel gets serious about what the force they are facing.

From Pierre Lagrand's Pink Flamingo Bar blog, an excellent and well researched article about the Islamic component to the war on terror and how very, very dangerous it is: More Thoughts on the War against Islamic Terror.

Caroline Glick from the Jerusalem Post complains how the biggest hindrance to the IDF winning against Hezbollah is Israel's own left-wing government: Amateur hour is over. Sadly, Olmert is NOT the person you want leading Israel into a war. He's far too interested in appeasement and world opinion rather than total victory, which means that Israel will not be able to deal the death blow to Hezbollah that is desperately needed. We can all look forward to this war continuing again after another stupid multi-national "peace keeping" (really, do-nothing) force enters Lebanon and allows Hezbollah to retrain and re-equip. Except the war will be even bloodier, and casualties will be measured in the thousands, rather than in the tens.

And the legendary "VDH", Victor David Hanson, writes about the incredible stupidity in the West's unwillingness to recognize Islamic aggression for what it is. Read his latest thought provoking piece: The Brink of Madness.

(Special thanks to PajamasMedia, who provided some of the above links, and is doing a top notch job covering the war in Lebanon.)

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As a Christian, it is party of my obligation to God and man to take a stand against violence and injustice, and to take to task those who would rather appease and compromise with evil rather than rejecting it outright.

Though I've said it before, it needs to be stated again that as a Christian, I condemn the actions of Hezbollah and Hamas, which are clearly designed to incite war with Israel, an objective they have clearly achieved. And as a Christian, I stand behind the efforts of the Israeli armed forces to deal with these threats, kidnappings, murders, and rocket barrages as best they can.

War is a tool of last resort in Christianity, but it is a tool none-the-less. While Christians are absolutely forbidden to spread the message of Jesus Christ using force of arms, they are certainly allowed, and even encouraged, to do battle with the forces of hate, evil and intolerance, even if those in the wrong are other Christians.

The absolute worst war in terms of casualties ever fought by the United States was it's own Civil War, and those who were the spark that started the war were Christians like Harriet Beecher Stowe, who did their best to reveal the cruetly of Southern slavery in her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Even John Brown, extremist though he may be, at least understood that slavery in the South wasn't going to end peacefully, but it was going to take an act of war to set the slaves free. While I can condemn John Brown's methods, I cannot condemn his devotion to the abolition of slavery in the United States.

As far as it is possible, Christians are quite happy and content to live in peace with everyone: Muslims, Atheists, Humanists, Hindus, and so on. But there are times when it is more important to stand up for that which is right than it is to live in a false peace where evil is tolerated. In those cases, Christians must take a stand, even when that stand might lead to war or violence. And there are times when the stand that must be taken is against those who prefer to use war as a means to an end, like Hitler and Saddam Hussein for instance. In those instances, "talk" and "appeasement" only delay the inevitable outcome of their bloodlust.

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