I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." - Frank Herbert, Dune
The IDF airstrike on Qana, and subsequent collapse of a building that killed many civilians, illustrates the impact of ideas and perceptions in war. There is the physical terrain that a conflict takes place upon, and there is a terrain of the mind, complete with its own forbidden places. Not suprisingly many have reacted with disgust at the news of the civilian deaths, because in the west a thousand years of tradition have evolved to protect civilians against wanton acts of violence. Hezbollah, knowing this about the west, and seeking to seperate Israel from any potential ally, has been shaping the terrain since the beginning of the conflict. Despite being the initiator, they have built an impressive fortress in the minds of the western observer, founded on the perception that any Lebanese civilian casualty is a grave injustice. Any larger loss of life makes the hill it sits upon taller, and the shadow it casts trouble him more deeply. This is not a new problem, Plato in The Republic makes the analogy of the cave:
"Behold! human beings living in a underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets." -- Plato's Republic, Book VII.To see the truth, the observer must have the will to turn his eyes from the shadows on the wall, and see exactly what the puppeteer is doing behind his back. Will has always been a crucial factor in the ability to make war. The side that doubts itself lacks the resolve to pursue victory, resulting either in stalemate or defeat.
