Humankind faces a "new axis of evil" more dreadful than any before. United States President George W. Bush identified North Korea, Iran and Iraq in his State of the Union Address and warned that, if not stopped, they will have weapons of mass destruction within the next two to three years. As the world's only super-power and the leader of civilized society, America has the moral and ethical responsibility to bring this evil to an end.
North Korea, unlike Iraq and Iran, is basically an isolated iconoclasm whose world is confined and whose financial capacity is limited. Iran and Iraq, on the other hand, are part of the great Islamic world in which there is much sympathy for their activities and shared anger against the non-Moslem world. More than a billion of the world's six billion people practice Islam. Though the vast majority adhere to the teachings of the Koran, believing in human dignity and universal peace, at least ten percent have been caught in the web of Islamic extremism, fanned by fanatic clergy and demagogues such as Osama bin Laden.
War with Iran and Iraq at this time need not be inevitable. Had Europe's greedy leaders observed the sanctions against Iraq, Saddam Hussein would have been brought to his knees and, minimally, compelled to permit United Nation inspectors into the country. Those inspectors would continue to destroy biological weapons and materials, as well as the means to manufacture nuclear weapons. Most Iranians oppose the rigid control and dictatorial regime of the Ayatollahs. The West needs to support internal elements there who could well topple that regime. Hizbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are the only international terrorist gangs who have both the wherewithal and commitment to perpetuate terror. Hizbollah receives its funding and arms from Iran and does all of its "dirty work," while the Iranians plead innocence. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are integral components of the PLO, Arafat's political and military machine.
USA Today reported on its front page that al-Qaeda escapees from Afghanistan have found haven with Hizbollah in Lebanon. It would not at all surprise me if Mulla Omar and bin Laden are hiding somewhere in Lebanon, as well. I would urge President Bush to be patient with North Korea, Iraq and Iran at this time, but to be true to his own pledge to destroy those who harbor terrorists, as well as the terrorists themselves. Crushing Hizbollah would allow justice to prevail. It's nineteen years now since Hizbollah murdered two hundred and seventy American Marines in Beirut.
Syria, Hizbollah's other benefactor and host, spews hate against America, and Bashar Assad, its vile young dictator, speaks against Jews as if he were Hitler's heir. Both Hizbollah and Syria could be crushed in a week or two. Turkey, to the North, would support the destruction of Hizbollah and provide launching bases and military support. The fall of Syria, the most terrorist of all states, would leave Iraq completely isolated on its western flank and cornered between a free Syria and its bitter enemy, Iran, on its eastern border. A militarily devastated Syria would no longer occupy Lebanon and the destruction of Hizbollah would bring an end to the world's largest center for the production of heroine, in the Beka Valley. Under Syrian and Hizbollah control, the heroine trade has been a major source of funding for al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist movements. Needless to say, it would compel the Palestinians to put an end to their own terrorist activities and seriously engage in negotiations for a realistic peace with Israel.
The destruction of Hizbollah before any military engagement with North Korea, Iraq and Iran would be a cost effective, life-saving moral objective, would bring freedom for the Islamic masses around the world and deal a "death-blow" to drug trafficking and terror. All of which are steps in the US President's courageous efforts in the war against terrorism.
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Rabbi Grossman is the Chairman of the Board of Religious Zionists of America and a former President of the Rabbinical Council of America.
North Korea, unlike Iraq and Iran, is basically an isolated iconoclasm whose world is confined and whose financial capacity is limited. Iran and Iraq, on the other hand, are part of the great Islamic world in which there is much sympathy for their activities and shared anger against the non-Moslem world. More than a billion of the world's six billion people practice Islam. Though the vast majority adhere to the teachings of the Koran, believing in human dignity and universal peace, at least ten percent have been caught in the web of Islamic extremism, fanned by fanatic clergy and demagogues such as Osama bin Laden.
War with Iran and Iraq at this time need not be inevitable. Had Europe's greedy leaders observed the sanctions against Iraq, Saddam Hussein would have been brought to his knees and, minimally, compelled to permit United Nation inspectors into the country. Those inspectors would continue to destroy biological weapons and materials, as well as the means to manufacture nuclear weapons. Most Iranians oppose the rigid control and dictatorial regime of the Ayatollahs. The West needs to support internal elements there who could well topple that regime. Hizbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are the only international terrorist gangs who have both the wherewithal and commitment to perpetuate terror. Hizbollah receives its funding and arms from Iran and does all of its "dirty work," while the Iranians plead innocence. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are integral components of the PLO, Arafat's political and military machine.
USA Today reported on its front page that al-Qaeda escapees from Afghanistan have found haven with Hizbollah in Lebanon. It would not at all surprise me if Mulla Omar and bin Laden are hiding somewhere in Lebanon, as well. I would urge President Bush to be patient with North Korea, Iraq and Iran at this time, but to be true to his own pledge to destroy those who harbor terrorists, as well as the terrorists themselves. Crushing Hizbollah would allow justice to prevail. It's nineteen years now since Hizbollah murdered two hundred and seventy American Marines in Beirut.
Syria, Hizbollah's other benefactor and host, spews hate against America, and Bashar Assad, its vile young dictator, speaks against Jews as if he were Hitler's heir. Both Hizbollah and Syria could be crushed in a week or two. Turkey, to the North, would support the destruction of Hizbollah and provide launching bases and military support. The fall of Syria, the most terrorist of all states, would leave Iraq completely isolated on its western flank and cornered between a free Syria and its bitter enemy, Iran, on its eastern border. A militarily devastated Syria would no longer occupy Lebanon and the destruction of Hizbollah would bring an end to the world's largest center for the production of heroine, in the Beka Valley. Under Syrian and Hizbollah control, the heroine trade has been a major source of funding for al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist movements. Needless to say, it would compel the Palestinians to put an end to their own terrorist activities and seriously engage in negotiations for a realistic peace with Israel.
The destruction of Hizbollah before any military engagement with North Korea, Iraq and Iran would be a cost effective, life-saving moral objective, would bring freedom for the Islamic masses around the world and deal a "death-blow" to drug trafficking and terror. All of which are steps in the US President's courageous efforts in the war against terrorism.
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Rabbi Grossman is the Chairman of the Board of Religious Zionists of America and a former President of the Rabbinical Council of America.