Echoing numerous world leaders, Pope Benedict has called for an immediate cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, asking both to “immediately put down their arms.”

“But that’s the last thing Israel should do,” said Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute.

“Israel must continue its war in Lebanon until it obliterates Hezbollah’s presence there. And the leaders of every civilized country should be urging Israel to do just that.

“Israel is Western civilization’s frontline in the war against Islamic totalitarianism, a religious ideology that seeks to subjugate the whole world to Islam.

“It is in the self-interest of every free or semi-free country in the world that Israel defeat Hezbollah, an Islamic terror group sponsored by the Islamic republic of Iran.

“The Islamic totalitarians will not be defeated until we in the West support Israel and gain the courage and the moral certitude to fight them without restraint.”