Commentary » Blog Archive » Blair, Israel, and the Global Struggle

Commentary » Blog Archive » Blair, Israel, and the Global Struggle:

Wow. What a remarkably clear sighted response from Blair. I guess this is why the guy was such a steadfast ally in Iraq, because he understands that we are all in the same position, fighting the same overarching phenomenon. And therefore, we are placed by our enemies in the position of having to respond, which unfortunately entails, as does all warfare, civilian casualties. But what Blair understands, and what the critics of Israel (or the critics of the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan) do not, is that the enemy bears the moral responsibility for the civilian casualties.

"Even more remarkable, however, is the next sentence: “I mean, we face this [situation] continually. We face it now, actually, in places like Afghanistan.”

In short, Westerners should understand Israel because they’re in the same boat: their own armies are causing civilian casualties “in places like Afghanistan” for the exact same reasons.

So why do many Westerners either refuse to see the parallels or regard their own armies’ behavior with similar incomprehension and outrage? In Blair’s view, the heart of the problem is that too many Westerners fail to understand that they face a determined enemy waging a long-term global struggle, not a series of discrete, unrelated local conflicts."