A FAUSTIAN BARGAIN

In July, in what must be one of the most counter-productive deals ever crafted in the middle east, Israel exchanged 5 imprisoned terrorists with the terrorist group, Hezbollah, in return for the bodies of 2 Israeli soldiers who had been kidnapped before the 2006 war in Lebanon. 

Among those released was Sami Kuntar who broke into the home of a family in northern Israel, took the father and his four-year-old daughter hostage, killed the father in front of the daughter and then used his rifle butt to crush the girl's head. Upon his release Kuntar was treated to a parade and Al-Jazeera threw him a birthday party. The Lebanese government closed its offices and declared a national day of celebration. This is an outrage that endangers freedom everywhere, yet I have not heard much in the way of a denunciation coming from world leaders or the press.

Why Prime Minister Olmert and the Israeli government think this was a worthwhile exchange and why fat ladies wear Bermuda shorts will remain, for me, two of life's more enduring mysteries. It does, however, demonstrate two things: 1) Olmert is unfit for office and should be pole-axed, & 2) Some of Israel's leaders are so worn out by the constant strife that they do not seem to realize that they encourage more kidnapping and killings by agreeing to completely worthless negotiations of this sort. Their performance has been shameful. It signals a woeful lack of resolve to those who seek their ruin.

It is believed that about one third of all Muslims, or approximately 300 million of them, favor the terrorist cause. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, at their zenith, could not even muster this kind of support for their goal of world domination. Radical, fundamental, Islamic, terror is an absolute evil with which there can be no compromise. We can either win this war or we can lose it. We should prepare ourselves for even more sacrifice because losing it is not an option unless, of course, Barack Obama becomes the next president of the United States.