Mideast Synonymous With Conflict

Seems to me the conflict in the Mideast is not going to end anytime soon.

And by anytime soon I mean ever.

You see, Israel is essentially the birthplace of three major religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The region has been fraught with conflict for thousands of years.

The only difference over the years has been the technology of the weapons used.

As long as there is an Israel, certain Arab groups will fight. It's that simple. If your stated goal is the destruction of Israel, there's not much room for diplomacy.

I listened to people on both sides of the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah talking to CNN reporters this week.

Supporters of Israel say Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, started it by kidnapping Israeli soldiers.

Supporters of Hezbollah say Israel has thousands of Arab prisoners who should be released, so the kidnapping is justified.

Israel says those prisoners are criminals and deserve to be locked up. Hezbollah says the soldiers they kidnapped are criminals.

So, after the kidnappings, Israel starts bombing and Hezbollah starts firing rockets and here we go again.

And as bad as the current situation in Lebanon and Israel is, I worry more about the rest of the Mideast.

I worry about Iran and Syria and what those governments might be inclined to do.

I worry about these places because I believe the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah will make things in these places worse.

I worry about these places because I see the potential for the current conflict to widen into those places.

And then there's Iraq.

I know that some people in the Republican party like to say the media paint Iraq with a negative brush and only report on the violence.

I know there are some good things happening in Iraq with regard to schools, hospitals infrastructure and the country's ability to govern itself.

But I can't help but think the situation in Iraq is worsening in some ways. And the events in Israel and Lebanon will only embolden insurgents in Iraq. These are insurgents who are bent on the destruction of anything or anyone who promotes less than an Islamic fundamentalist government.

It's been eight weeks now since Iraq formed a "unity cabinet." That was no small feat considering the fractious nature of that country.

Since then there have been approximately 1,700 people slain and more than 2,600 wounded in ethnic violence according to various news sources.

The violence has accelerated over the past couple weeks with Shiite militias carrying out mass executions of Sunnis.

Scripps Howard recently quoted a first-hand account by a reporter for The Times of London:

'West Baghdad is no stranger to bombings and killings, but in the past few days all restraint has vanished in an orgy of ethnic cleansing.

'Shia gunmen are seeking to drive out the once-dominant Sunni minority and the Sunnis are forming neighborhood posses to retaliate. Mosques are being attacked. Scores of innocent civilians have been killed, their bodies left lying in the streets.'

I am not sure how one would define the term "civil war." But I am sure Iraq is teetering on the brink of one - if it's not already there.

And this, surely, does not bode well for the U.S. forces serving there.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke beforeÊCongress Wednesday in Washington.

He said his country is crucial to the war on terror and asked for the U.S. to continue to send money and troops to Iraq.

He may be right. His country may be crucial to the war on terror. But I am starting to wonder if there are enough troops and money to run the terrorists out of Iraq.

And even if we are successful in running the terrorists out of Iraq, wouldn't they regroup elsewhere?

The people killing innocents in Iraq and firing rockets into Israel are terrorists, to be sure.

The problem is that they don't believe they are terrorists. They think they're doing God's work.

Most times, when somebody is doing something wrong, they know it. If a guy is stealing stuff, he knows he's a thief. He knows it's wrong to steal. So if somebody calls him on it, or if he gets caught, the thief will concede he's in the wrong.

The problem with terrorists is that they believe what they are doing is right.

They believe it's right to lob rockets into Israel, blow up mosques in Baghdad or fly jetliners into the Twin Towers.

They can justify or rationalize any action they believe helps them achieve their goals.

That mindset makes it virtually impossible to convince them to stop. Diplomacy won't work. The only way to stop them is to eliminate them. And the more of them you eliminate, the more deep-seated their hatred of the West becomes and the more easy it is to recruit new terrorists.

Israel certainly has the right to live in peace and defend itself against terrorists. Israel can't sit by and watch Hezbollah kidnap soldiers and fire rockets at its cities.

But even if Israel forces Hezbollah to disarm, the conflict itself will breed contempt for the U.S. and Israel in the Arab world and help nurture a whole new crop of terrorists.

It truly is a vexing problem.

The goals of a terror-free world and democracy flourishing throughout the Mideast are worthy goals indeed.

But given the history of the region, I must say I am more than a little skeptical about their attainability.

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