The Folly of Subjugation

It occurs to me that Israel and Iraq are rapidly morphing into very similar problems.

Israel continues to suffer under the constant disruption of various Palestinian militant groups; Iraq is suffering under the pain of recurring unrest as various "insurgent" groups try to make it untenable for the US (and allies) to continue occupying the country.

How are these two problems similar? Well, Israel continues to attempt to deal with the Palestinian problem by subjugating and controlling the Palestinian people. Similarly, the United States has put itself into the position of controlling the Iraqi people.

In both cases, when problems arise, the 'controlling' party - be it Israel or the US - responds with massive military might.

In Israel, a Palestinian launched rocket has triggered a massive military operation where the Israeli Army is invading/attacking Palestinian settlements in the Gaza strip. Here we are a few days after that attack, and the violence is simply escalating, possibly hurtling out of control.

In Iraq, there are a number of symptoms emerging:

Kidnappings (especially of non-Iraqis) are escalating
American forces are engaging in "offensive" operations to subdue "insurgents"

While the use of massive, overwhelming force does have a short term desirable effect, it does nothing to engender the social and political stability that is required to actually move forward with such issues.

The simple fact is that anytime a people perceives that they are being held under someone else's thumb, they will find ways to make the "oppressor" (whoever it may be) very uncomfortable. In Israel, the Palestinians have engaged in what amounts to a long standing civil war - variously called "Intifada", "uprising" or whatever. In Iraq, we see kidnappings, suicide bombings, horrifying beheadings published on the web, etc. In truth, the differences aren't that big.

I cannot claim to know what the solutions are for either Iraq or Israel. The issues in both cases become deeper and more complex with each passing day. To me, the simple fact is that both Israel and the United States appear to be making the same mistake of attempting to achieve peace through subjugation. Especially in today's world, the odds of such an approach working in any long-term sense seems remote. A people that feels themselves to be restricted by someone else's whim will always find ways to subvert the will of their "masters".

In these situations there are no "victors" - only losers. Each side eventually degenerates to the same level of brutality, each self-justifying their actions in terms of the horrors their opponents have imposed on them.

Sadly, the leaders in all of these cases seem unwilling to step aside from their positions and make actual moves towards resolving their collective issues.