hink back some three decades to the old "Bonanza" series on TV. It opened with stirring theme music and a branding iron eating its way into a map of the terrain; the heat and flame devoured the area touched. Looking to the map of the Middle East we see Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Iran, Iraq, possibly Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other states likely to be involved in the conflagration. It is unlikely that Jordan and Egypt (both states with peace treaties with Israel), would become involved because supporting Hezbollah would mean improving the chances of their rival - Shiite Iran. Iran, like Syria lacks the firepower to directly oppose Israel militarily and, besides, if they tried to then it would give Israel an excuse to bomb its nuclear facilities... a move which would not disturb the Bush administration.
The Wall Street Journal put it succinctly in an editorial this week gone by; speaking of how the world clamors for Israel to stop defending itself, they wrote "The better and necessary response is to let Israel's counterattacks continue," until Hezbollah is no longer a threat. If a cease-fire occurs then they will just use the cease fire period to regroup and rearm. That seems a likely scenario. Our Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice will be returning to the Middle-East for more face-to-face diplomacy. The Secretary said "We want a cessation of violence, but we have to make certain that anything that we do is going to be of lasting value." Israel has said that it is open to negotiations and to an improved, enlarged and better trained U.N. peacekeeping force. They are still determined to see released and returned the captured soldiers.
It is my hope that I am exaggerating and inaccurate when I say that it appears that the United States has forfeited nearly all its standing as an honest broker in the Arab and Muslim world.
If Hezbollah carries out its threat to continue firing the longer range missiles into the heart of Israel, look for a powerful response from the Israeli Defense Force.
How does it happen that within less than three weeks we have seen a border incident, provoked by Hezbollah and Hamas, brought to the brink of regional warfare? Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the Israeli chief of staff ,was recently quoted as saying that they would "turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years." I pray that will not be necessary