The Latest War

My hesitation in writing about Israel’s attack on Lebanon is not so much a matter of me trying to figure out what I think as it is my doubts about whether I can add anything new to the topic. With Juan Cole and Chris Albritton observing and analyzing the situation, anything I can say, they’ve already said better. But I still feel compelled to weigh in the subject. So here’s my take.

Israel has jumped into a quagmire in much the same manner that the US did in Iraq. The Israelis had every right to act against Hezbollah guerillas attacking their forces and communities. Self-defense is every nation’s right. But the broader attacks on the Lebanese people and their infrastructure far from the border will cost Israel what sympathy the rest of the world holds for that nation’s right to self-defense. Just as the world stood with America after the 9-11 attacks and supported action against al-Quaeda, much of the world abandoned America when it turned its guns on Iraq, a nation that had no connection to those attacks.

Like America in Iraq, Israel (with BushCheney’s overt support) is hoping to change the local dynamics in its favor, to reduce the threat posed by terrorists. But the broader attacks on Lebanon will only serve to engender support for Hezbollah and greater animosity toward Israel in much the same manner that the Iraq War has inflamed the Islamic world against America. America and Israel have always been viewed as allies. These days it seems that the two nations are joined at the hip as they plunge into a spiral of ever escalating violence.

In the end I think Israel will find no more security in this latest attempt to secure its borders than it has in the past. As long as the Arab world harbors and encourages such opposition to Israel, the mid-east will find no peace. And therein lies a tragedy that has no apparent end. I don’t pretend to have an magic solution or even a plausible policy beyond live and let live. In a previous post I wrote:

...Jews and Muslims belong to the region...A century of posturing, hate, brutal war, oppression and geopolitics have so muddled the situation that, barring the second coming of Abraham himself, I’m not sure that any mortal can resolve the conflict. I do believe, however, that a necessary first step is for each community to acknowledge their common heritage, recognize the other’s right to exist and come to terms their brutal pasts. Without that step, at once so simple and so difficult, neither community will find peace or security.

I still don’t see politicians on either side of the divide offering anything better. My only hope is that the people will somehow get ahead of their so-called leaders.