This is a letter to the editor I published at the Daily Advance. Posted here for posterity, since they have no online archive:
Now that Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon after inflicting $3.6 billion dollars worth of damage and leaving hundreds of civilians dead, Hezbollah, apparently funded by Iran, now takes up the cause of rebuilding the war-torn country, handing out $150 million in cash to compensate people for an estimated 15,000 homes destroyed. These people will surely vote for the terrorist organization in the next round of elections and Lebanon’s democracy will crumble into dust. Israeli and Arab newspapers both view the conflict as a win for Islamic extremism as the Muslim world cheers what they consider Hezbollah’s victory against Israel, which they call “America’s proxy army.”
Now compare the above scenario to America’s interactions with the largest Muslim country on the Earth, Indonesia, which is also the most tolerant of Western culture among all Muslim states according to a recent PEW poll. Indonesian newspaper editorial sections marveled at the non-violent and civilized way Americans resolved the 2000 election disputation, seeing us as the role model of peaceful democracy to emulate. In 2003 the number of Indonesians who viewed America positively jumped 25 points in direct response to our outpouring of aid to the tsunami disaster relief effort.
Bombing one country shatters a fragile democracy and brings a terrorist organization into power. Flooding another country with humanitarian aid and leading by example defuses hostilities toward America and convinces people to continue giving democracy a chance. Democracy wins where people are convinced of its superiority over totalitarianism on the battleground of ideas, not the ruins of a war zone.