Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum; If you desire peace prepare for war.

These words of the Roman writer Vegetius remain as true today as when written in the 4th century and in the turmoil of today's Middle East, perhaps more relevant than ever. All over this troubled region the cataclysmic forces of revolution against autocratic governments have been unleashed and, as Muslim slaughters Muslim, Israel despite its faults, remains the one constant and stable democracy. Perhaps that's why it's despised as much by Western 'liberals' as much as fervent Islamists, an island of democracy simply shouldn't exist in this sea of anarchy, it's an anomaly.

The reality of living here is the knowledge that war can come at any time and in this very small country civilians no less than the military are in the front line. Incoming missiles take but a few minutes to reach our cities and therefore every dwelling built since the first Gulf War, when Saddam's crude but effective Scuds targeted Tel Aviv, has a fortified 'safe room'. Earlier dwellings and all public buildings have a basement 'miklat' (shelter). Israeli citizens have been issued with gas masks and on 22nd June a national emergency drill was carried out. Twice in the day as sirens wailed,  residents had to go to a shelter,  the emergency services simulated rescues and the cabinet met in an underground bunker.

We attended a lecture by the Home Front Command here in peaceful Karmiel on what to do if, perhaps more accurately when, war comes again. The existential threat to Israel is very real, not simply theoretical, as Iran has sworn to destroy us even as it strives to obtain thermonuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. The fact that 20% of Israel's citizens are Muslim or Christian Arabs and would also be incinerated by bombs which do not discriminate, would not deter the fanatics who control the Iranian theocracy. There are also those around the world who would applaud this 'solving' of the Israel/Palestine conflict by removing that which they abominate the most, the State of Israel.

On the subject of war, I watched a fascininating programme on the History Channel about Sun Tzu, whose seminal tome on military strategy, 'The Art of War' is still studied in military colleges today.  It is also required reading for all CIA and US  Military Intelligence officers 2,400 years after it was written because its principles are timeless. Napoleon, Admiral Heihachiro who masterminded Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap who led North Vietnamese forces to victory against France and the US and Generals Schwartzkopf and Powell in the first Gulf War are among those who studied it. 



Karmiel Centre

There are many quotable quotes from 'The Art of War' but the one I like the most as applied to our current situation is 'For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.' To survive and indeed thrive in the very tough neighbourhood in which Israel dwells, will indeed require the acme of skill from its elected leaders.