And now Hezbollah. We sure have learned a lot of exciting new words since Bush took office!

After a week of headlines, I find myself asking: what the fuck is going on here?

First, some Palestinians kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Israel retaliated by bombing and bulldozing Palestinian civilians and infrastructure in the West Bank. Then some Hezbollah guerilla's from Lebanon kidnapped 2 Israeli soldiers. Again Israel responded with air-strikes, tanks, and artillery but this time against civilian areas in Lebanon, a different country. All the talk about the Palestinians ended and was replaced with daily bombings and Lebanon and a lot of talk about Iran.

The media and the President have been extremely supportive of Israel but should we be? Does massive retaliation actually work? Is it appropriate to attack civilians because of a kidnapping? What happened to that first prisoner? Who the fuck is Hezbollah and what do they want? Lebanon?! Did he say "Lebanon"? Holy deja vu. What does Israel hope to achieve by attacking Lebanon (again)? And why did the White House immediately start talking about Iran?

More importantly, should American's give a shit about any of these oil-free countries and their dysfunctional relationships?

If you had a friend who couldnt get along with anyone else, wouldnt you stop answering their phone calls and make some new friends? Is it time to move out of the neighborhood and focus on our own problems, like the school system and healthcare?

a policy of massive retaliation

Imagine that Canadian rebels took a US soldier hostage and killed a few others in the process. What would we do? Would we send in tanks and attack towns along the US-Candaian border?

Imagine that Mexican rebels took 2 US soldiers hostage and demanded the release of prisoners. Would we fire cruise missiles or send in bombers to level Mexican cities and destroy electricity plants and infrastructure?

Not bloody likely. This kind of "terrorist" situation is a police/government matter not a military one. When Saddam invaded Kuwait, we gathered a global posse and pushed him back out. When Israel invades its neighbors, we gush with praise and support.

two wrongs

Israel is making a mistake here and we are making a double mistake by supporting them.

By attacking Lebanon (especially civilians), Israel is only going to unite people against them irregardless of how they felt before the attacks. Israel has tried to be the toughest kid on the block for years and it just doesnt work to build lasting friendships, ie peace and trade.

Think back to 9/11. What was our immediate reaction? Did we ask who Al Qaeda was and why they bombed us? No. Our immediate reaction was to circle the wagons and look for someone to hit. (That's when we met the Taliban.)

It has been 5 years since our "shoot first; ask questions later" policy began. We now have troops in Afghanistan and Iraq with no end in sight and have spent hundreds of billions of tax dollars. The appearance of being Israel's unquestioning supporter, (their "poodle" so to speak), is going to hurt our ability to negotiate with Arab leaders in the region at a time when I thought we were trying to pull out.

WW3

If Bush wasn't our President, there wouldn't even the jokes about this being WW3. But given Bush's foreign policy track record, the situation is a lot more serious than a joke. Then again, more than a few of Bush's supporters would welcome WW3 because they believe it will trigger Armageddon and the return of Jesus. Amen brother.

Since this probably isn't going to go away anytime soon, you might as well learn a bit more about Lebanon. The guests on To The Point today had a very good discussion on the situation.

To the Point

Warren Olney

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July 20, 2006

Segment #1: Fighting in Middle East Continues into Eighth Day

With Hezbollah rockets landing in Nazareth and Israeli attacks in Southern Lebanon creating a "humanitarian crisis," there are reports that the United States has given Israel the green light to accomplish maximum damage. On CNN, Isaac Herzog, Secretary to Israel's Security Cabinet, said that Israel would continue its attacks "to uproot this terrorist organization" until it achieves its objectives. We update the ongoing violence with an expert on the Israeli-Arab conflict and reporters in the Middle East.