Let me take you back a whole week. Operation Cast Lead was winding down: a military success, a diplomatic tie, and a disappointment to much of the right wing blogosphere. All four of the top Council picks dealt with terrorism and the West's inadequate response to it. Non-Council winner and MR friend Seraphic Secret published Part I of his two-part series on Hollywood's long-term terrorist apologism:

The Battle of Algiers, (1965) directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, a perennial favorite on college campuses, is hailed as a modern classic. Certainly the skillful use of black & white cinema verite is highly effective, making the viewer feel as if he's been plunged into the heart of the Algerian maelstrom. The scenes of torture and terror are stomach churning and bring chills to any civilized viewer. But let's be clear, the film is a work of leftist propaganda, beautifully crafted, to be sure, but a film that seeks to justify Islamic terror by proposing that the French were so brutal that the Algerians had no choice but to resort to unrestrained terror. Sound familiar? You better believe it. When homicide terrorists first struck in Israel, spokesmen for Fatah, Hamas, Hizbullah and the slick terrorist network, Al Jazeera, immediately claimed that the, ahem, powerless Palestinians, had no choice against the brutal and inhuman Israelis.

Council winner JoshuaPundit outlined how Western and Israeli capitulation had made Hamas comfortable with their war crimes against Israeli civilians, while non-Council runner up Ralph Peters detailed the war crimes those fanatics committed against Palestinian civilians. Council runner up Right Truth took issue with how that same kind of capitulationist sensibility caused President Bush to refuse to help Israel when the Jewish State sought to preemptively destroy the Iranian nuclear program:

America said NO when Israel asked for her assistance. Make no mistake -- the day will come when the US will need Israel's support. Let's pray Israel will not remember this moment of rejection by the US. President George W. Bush had to choose -- Iraq or Israel -- and he chose Iraq. This did not have to be an either/or choice, in my opinion. Iran is already meddling in Iraq, they already have agents, arms, and spies inside Iraq. The Iraqis are dealing with that. Surely there was some way to help Israel. Prepare for the worst my friends. The enemy is here, on American soil. They are marching in our streets, threatening American citizens who speak out for Israel. Many times the police stand back, as they do in the UK, and allow the personal threats and violence. If this continues, our own streets in certain cities will no longer be safe for anyone but them. They use our own laws and freedoms inside the US against us, crying 'racism, hate'.

Luckily Obama's brand of "tough diplomacy" will fix this. Or that moronic phrase will prove to be a mind-numblingly insipid euphemism for appeasement. One of the two, though.

References:
* Explaining This Mess During a Brief Intermission in Propaganda [Watcher Of Weasels]
* Learning From the Real Battle of Algiers [Avrech / Big Hollywood]
* The Hidden Story On Gaza [JoshuaPundit]
* Hamas's Brutal Legacy [Peters / FrontPageMag]
* America Said NO [Right Truth]
* Mere Rhetoric: Dennis Ross: "I'm Endorsing Obama Because He'll Make Iran And Iran's Financial Backers Like Us" [MR]

Previously:
* Watchers Council Results - When I Was Your Age Being Wrong Actually Meant Something
* Watchers Council Results - Could It Possibly Be That Operation Cast Lead Is Justified?
* Watcher's Council Results - What You Say Out Loud Matters