My dear old friend, K2, posted a comment on one of my postings that I felt was significant enough to address here:

Don't misunderstand my response or my question for opposition to your posting, Shayne, but the devil's advocate in me has to ask...without keeping the door open for peace how does it all end?

Do we settle for a constant state of war, with consistent killing on both sides, instead of keeping an eye on a potential peace (as remote as the possibility may be)?

Do we set an Islamic genocide as our end-objective? Regardless of the fact that there is plenty of land in the Sinai Desert for concentration camps and the playout of final-solution scenarios...well, that just doesn't seem like something the French would tolerate (though I hesitate to say the same for the US these days). Heh.

At least the head-in-the-cloudser writing for The Daily Kos cyber-rag (which is an apt description of the VAST majority of political-minded blogs...they aren't news sites, and you should endeavor to remember that) dares to imagine and present a possible solution to the madness in the Middle East, as wrong-headed as it may be. Here you do nothing more than stoke a fire that absolutely must and should not be allowed to burn.

First of all, I want to say that I very much appreciate his comments and understand exactly what he is trying to convey.

So the question is, how does it end?

Firstly, so there isn't any question about where I stand on the matter, understand that in a perfect world, I, along with most everyone else, would love to see complete and total peace in the region (and everywhere else as well). Secondly, I would never call for an Islamic genocide. Nor would I ever call for the opening of Arab concentration camps. What happened to the Jews in the 1930's and 40's must never happen again to anyone.

My entire point of my posting was in essence an acceptance of reality. The reality is that there can not be peace between Israel and the forces that wish to destroy her. In order to have a plan for peace, you must have someone who whom to make peace with. In our generation (and before), with limited exception, regardless of the words out of their mouths to the West, the leaders of most Arab nation's ultimate goal is the elimination of any Jewish presence in the region.

How do you make peace with that? By the very fact that in order to begin talking peace, you have to accept the notion that your enemy doesn't even consider your presence to be legitimate. Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the PA and countless other governments- all members of the United Nations - have said time and again that they do not accept the legitimacy of a sovereign Jewish state. From the War of independence through the Six-Day War, from the Yom Kippur War until even today, the leaders of the Arab nations have energized their people to believe that the Jews must be "driven to the sea". You see it in their textbooks, you hear it in their Mosques and you watch it on Al-Jazerra and Internet web sites.

There is no mistaking the voracity of their venom.

So, how does it end? I'm glad you asked.

There has been a growing movement within Lebanon for the elimination of Hezbollah. As part of UN Security Council resolution 1559, Lebanon must disarm the terrorist organization. Clearly, the Lebanese government does not have the power to reign in Hezbollah, mostly because of it's unified support from Iran and Syria. However, given this opportunity, it would behoove them to allow Israel to take care of the problem.

As Prime Minister Olmert stated today, the conflict must continue until Hezbollah is completely disarmed. By doing this, Olmert shows that he understands the mentality and dynamics of the key players involved. Should Israel succeed (and it's quite likely they will), three very positive things will occur:

1. The liberation of Lebanon from the grips of Iran and Syria

2. A crippling defeat of the Ahmadinejad regime and quite possibly the beginning of the end of the Ayatollah-led government.

3. The security of the northern part of Israel.

4. Tremendous repercussions throughout the Palestinian-controlled territories.

How is this all possible, you ask?

It's possible because Hezbollah (and Iran, by proxy) never expected the Israeli government to react this harshly. However, once engaged, Arab honor must not be forgotten. Therefore, Hezbollah has no choice but to fight it out. As it becomes more clear that they will suffer sound defeat, both militarily and strategically, more Iranians, Lebanese and Palestinians (those who want to make peace) will become more vociferous and begin challenging their leaders to the point of a revolution.

Think it can't happen? I'll give you four examples where it has:

Egypt (although it caused Sadat's death)
Lebanon
Jordan
Iraq

It was hoped that the Palestinian leaders would have followed suit after Oslo, but apparently it was a ruse. However, there are many people in Iran, Lebanon and in the Palestinian-occupied territories that want to live free of the oppressive, intolerant, corrupt regimes of their rulers.

So to answer your question, my dear old friend, the answer is to let Israel do whatever it needs to do defeat Hezbollah - and defeat it completely. Only out of force can the terrorist organizations be defeated. Force is the only language they know. To continue to play on the delusion of "peace" would just be met with a more dangerous situation later.

I know you dismiss the intelligence of President Bush, but what he said a few years ago still resonates with me today. We can not afford the luxury of waiting until the terrorists have the capacity to wage nuclear war. For if we wait until they have them, it's already too late.

Hit them now. Hit them hard. Hit them until they can't hit anymore. Ever.