World War 3 or not?

When I woke up this morning I wasn't planning on declaring Newt Gingrich a sage. But with the whole issue of Israel fighting terrorists backed by Iran and our long struggle for the future of Iraq and everything else, I think that the former speaker of the house may be one of the few that are speaking plainly on the subject.

Gingrich writes here that this conflict is part of a larger picture that he wants to label World War 3, stating that "the United States and her allies face a long war with an irreconcilable wing of Islam." He argues that this isn't a war of our choosing, but rather the choice has been made for us, over and over again. For example, Israel has made multiple concessions to its Arab neighbors, only to see the fascist and racist elements of those countries demand the complete elimination of Israel and the Jewish people (which Victor Davis Hanson explains well here).

We can recognize this for what it is or we can ignore it. There's a lot of people in the world that hate us and don't want to reason with us.

My hope is that diplomacy and threat of force can keep a relative peace in this world. But what I fear is this: We (the western, democratic nations) will convince ourselves that we're through with Iraq and Afghanistan and go home. We'll convince Israel not to defend itself adequately and for a time, through appeasement, we might even have peace in the world. But then we'll have another 9/11. And another. Then a few free countries will fall under totalitarian control. And then a few more. Israel may eventually be eliminated and much of Europe and North America may be compromised.

I'd really like for more parts of the world to be open to missionaries and religious freedom and not fewer. I'd want the Bible to be allowed to compete in the free market of ideas. And I'd also like for my children and grandchildren not to have to worry about Katusha rockets and suicide bombers if it could be prevented now.

While I don't want this to become a larger conflict, I'm not sure our enemies want to avoid it.