The Art of Politics and War is to Know Thy Enemy


A short reply by Con George-Kotzabasis to:

The Holocaust Declaration by Charles Krauthammer

Washington Post, April 11, 2008

The art of politics and war is to “know thy enemy”. And once the enemy is revealed to be irreconcilable and unappeasable, in this case Iran, because of his apocalyptic and chiliastic nature as an irrational actor and therefore most dangerous, one has to destroy such an enemy before he becomes stronger. If preemption is not going to fall into a state of desuetude and finish up as a comical term losing all its seriousness, it must be used against the centrifugal regime of Ahmadinejad relentlessly and efficiently. It’s necessary therefore and timely that the Bush administration makes an open and unambiguous threat to Iran that if the latter does not immediately cease its nuclear program the U.S. will be targeting by an unspecified force de frappe the triangular leadership of Iran, i.e., the mullahs, the high officials of the government, and the higher echelons of the army, in a surprise attack. Only such a clear threat against Iran’s leadership may create a shifting of positions among the latter, and, indeed, a “palace revolt” against the Ahmadinejad regime. And if there are signs that this will not happen, then the U.S. will have no other option but to attack Iran.

Charles Krauthammer’s proposal of the “Holocaust Declaration”, I’m afraid is impolitic. As in America and many other countries in the world many of their peoples still breathe the poisonous vapors of anti-Semitism, and hence, the “Declaration” will be seen by many as a Jewish stratagem and therefore politically will not become a rallying point.

I rest on my oars: Your turn now