The Conflagration
Well, this is just wonderful news, isn't it?
As many others have said, this isn't anything new for the Middle East. Since Israel's independence in 1948, there have been major wars involving the major powers in the region and there have been minor insurgencies and police actions. In that regard, this is sadly nothing new.
What is new is that there are currently 150,000 American fighting men and women (including allied forces) occupying a major country in the region. This major country lies between the nation (Iran) that is pulling the strings of the nation (Syria) that is pulling the strings in Lebanon. Dare I ask the question what would happen if Israel attacks Syria directly? Here's one thought:
"If the Zionist regime commits another stupid move and attacks Syria, this will be considered like attacking the whole Islamic world and this regime will receive a very fierce response," [Iranian President] Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Wonderful.
posted by Joshua @ 9:41 PM
4 Comments:
Here is an interesting editorial on the current situation from the Lebanese paper The Daily Star.
All the fundie millenialists are going to be jumping up and down with joy thinking the end of the world is coming.
I think the editorial may have hit it on the head with this remark:
One of the dangers on this occasion is that the alacrity with which the Jewish state exercised its military option might cause the crisis to acquire a momentum of its own that neither logic nor compassion can easily reverse.
From my limited viewpoint, I can't tell if Syria and Iran are just making the usual noises or if something else is really going on this time. Either way, with 150,000 U.S. troops on the ground, the margin for error is pretty slim.
Just 2 cents:
1.)Although I agree with the above that the situation in Lebanon is ripe for extended and explosive involvement by Syria and Iran, first and foremost I side with Israel in that I defend her right to protect her soverign border from incursion from a hostile foreign power such as Hezbollah. Even if Hezbollah is not a soverign nation, it operates from, is sanctioned by, and is indeed a part of the government of a soverign state, and therefore Israel is justified in striking the necessary targets in Lebanon in order to cripple and destroy the part of that nation that is at war with Israel. This is no different than the US principal of bringing the war against the Islamists to their refuges, havens, and sanctuaries.
2.)The editorial linked by Boudicca expresses the hope that the current crisis can be an opportunity for the Lebanese to finally unite politically after the promise of the Cedar Revolution. I agree wholeheartedly. I emphatically disagree with the editorial's hope that Hezbollah can be part of this unity. If anything, I feel that the lesson for the Lebanese people is that no matter how many minsterial portfolios are given out to Hezbollah, no matter how many memorandums of understanding are signed promising stability and refrain from violence, Hezbollah answers not to the Lebanese people but to their own aim of eradicating Israel and to their sponsors in Syria and Iran. What in effect has happened so far is that Hezbollah unilaterally declared war against Israel with its incursions and then rocket attacks, without any consultation with the rest of the Lebanese government, of whom it is a part of, and it did so either of its own initiative, or worse, at the prompting of Syria and Iran. This is like the Libertarian party attacking Canada with its militias all by its damn self, and then asking the rest of America to support them and go to war when Canada bombs New Hampshire and Vermont in retaliation, simply because it's a fait accompli. It is only a matter of time before Lebanon faces up to its Hezbollah problem, and although the reckoning will be bloody, it is also entirely necessary. If Lebanon decides to remove the cancer of Hezbollah from its body politic, then Israel should refrain from her mistake of supporting any one of the factions, not matter how pro-Israeli they are, and let the Lebanese settle this thing between themselves for good. Israel should still defend their borders from attacks by hostile Hezbollah. They should still act to prevent the arming and equipping of Hezbollah by Syria and Iran by choking off the arteries of transport, as they are currently doing. The United States should act as a further guarantor of Israel's actions, making it clear to Iran and Syria that further interference in Lebanon will no longer be view benignly and that we will hold parties firmly responsible. This will not guarantee that a democratic, non-Islamist regime will be the outcome in Lebanon, but at least that outcome can be honest, and we can all stop pretending that the state of affairs wherein Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran dictates the pace of dialogue and so-called reform in Lebanon is viable and healthy.
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