First Israel, now Britain - the chickens come home to roost

There's an uncomfortable truth in this world we live in - that the Jews, whatever else they might be, function as a warning sign to civilization. What happens to them first tends to happen to the rest of the civilized world later, and there are numerous examples of this in history.

One modern example is Le Jihad Francais. Back when France's restive Muslim population was mainly concentrating on attacking Jews, the French government was fairly indifferent.....until the `youths' began violently targeting all of French society. Then, the French suddenly began to take notice.

The same thing happened when it came to homicide bombings and Islamist terrorism against Israel prior to 9/11. Virtually all of the jihadist tactics used in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philipines, Kashmir, Thailand and the whole world over were perfected and tested first against Israel.

Likewise, there's a connection between the British hostages and past events concerning Israel.

Not quite a year ago, three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped in their home territory, at Iran's instigation.

The world was largely indifferent, with many countries finessing any minor condemnation by enfolding this aggression into the Arab-Israeli conflict. Britain in particular was notable for its lip service and lack of support as Israel attempted to recover its hostages, and for its anti-Israel stance when it came to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the Israel -Hezbollah war that followed.

Now, those chickens have come home to roost as the British are now suffering from the same aggressive behavior from the same source that they more or less condoned when Israel was the victim. Fifteen British sailors have been captured at gunpoint by Iran a day before the UN sanctions vote, based on the false pretext that that the sailors had strayed into `Iranian waters.'

This was nothing less than an act of war against Britain - just as it was an act of war against Israel when Hezbollah and Hamas invaded Israel and took hostages.

Nobody, least of all Britain should be surprised at this. The mullahs see that it worked against the Jews...why should Britain be any different? Why not up the ante?

Iran has been acting in this manner for quite some time. Its aggressive behavior, sponsorship of Islamic terrorism, defiance of civilized norms and continued quest for nuclear weapons, coupled with the threat to annihilate Israel have continued relentlessly, while countries like Britain have confined themselves to the odd verbal condemnation and a few largely meaningless sanctions via the UN.

I have to wonder whether nervousness about antagonizing Britain's restive Muslim population - or alienating their votes - is behind the British government's skittish behavior in this.

Iran, of course, is taking advantage of this uncertainty. It's accelerating both its conventional military and its nuclear weapons program, as well as coming to important agreements with its fellow jihadists in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf at the Riyadh Summit this week. The blatant kidnapping of British hostages is just another signpost.

If the West continues to ignore this, they will be faced with a lot more than a few abducted sailors.