HOW THE ENEMY SEES GAZA

Daily commentary by Gary Bauer
How The Enemy Sees Gaza

While debate rages on in Israel and the U.S. about the wrenching forced evacuation in Gaza of 8,500 Jews there is no such ambivalence among the enemies of Israel and the U.S. Al Qaeda has already said it will enter Gaza as Israel withdraws. And read these chilling words of Mahmoud Zahar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza:

"We [Hamas] are part of the great world plan whose name is the world Islamic movement. We do not recognize the State of Israel nor its right to control any of the land of Palestine. Palestine is holy Islamic land that belongs to Muslims the world over."

Translation: The war isn't over until there is no Israel! Zahar went on to express his conviction that the scenes we are seeing in Gaza right now will lift the morale of the Islamofascists and affect the battle for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sadly, I believe he is right. The thugs killing U.S. troops in Baghdad and Kabul have every reason to believe that terrorism works. It worked in Gaza. It may still prevail in Iraq. In the interconnected world we live in, the Gaza Jew without a home tonight is directly linked to the U.S. soldier riding patrol in Mosul. Both are now less safe because of the perception that terrorism pays.

Check out my editorial in today's Jerusalem Post by going to the American Values website at www.ouramericanvalues.org . Select the link under "Recent Op-eds."

Baghdad Bombings
The triple car bombs that exploded within minutes of each other in Baghdad yesterday provide us with yet another glimpse of the evil we are confronting. One of the car bombs targeted an open-air bus terminal. Police and bystanders rushed to gather up the wounded and get them to a hospital just a few hundred yards away - where another car bomber waited for them. He then exploded his device to kill those who had survived the first blast.

These are the same murderers who claim the protection of the Geneva Convention and various international treaties when they are apprehended. Yet, they routinely target civilians, hospitals and children. And why shouldn't they? The same groups that condemn the U.S. for a stray bomb are silent about the intentional murder of non-combatants every day.

These thugs will control Iraq if we leave. Indeed, they will likely control all of the Middle East and its oil that the economies of the U.S. and Europe depend on. But, public support for the war will wane unless the president does more to demonstrate that we intend to win.