A Lost Opportunity
Israel lost an opportunity to strike a significant blow in the war against radical Islamic terrorism when they accepted a UN-backed, mealy-mouthed ceasefire in their ongoing battle against Hezbollah. And by backing the UN resolution, the United States also lost an opportunity to change the balance of power in the Middle East.
Israel has always been cloaked in an air of invincibility. Decisive victories in pretty much every war they've fought will do that. It was that air of invincibility that kept their enemies at bay. But this war was different. Israel is widely seen as being the loser in the conflict. They achieved none of their objectives, whether it be the return of their kidnapped soldiers or the outright destruction of Hezbollah. Yes, some terrorists were killed and some weapons destroyed. But Hezbollah remains, Israel's internal politics are on the verge of crack-up and the Arab street is celebrating what appears to be a large chink in the Israeli armor. Make no mistake, the entire moderate Arab world was quietly waiting for Israel to wipe the map clean of Hezbollah and serve notice to Iran that their aggression and support of advancing terror operations would not stand but Hezbollah's survival and diplomatic PR victory has left everyone not only scratching their heads but praying for their own survival. Simply put, Israel failed. And now everyone in Israel is trying to figure out why and who is responsible. It appears that Prime Minister Olmert would be the primary culprit.
The United States would be a different story. In supporting Israel's "right to defend herself", the US was also secretly hoping (and secretly supporting logistically) for a decisive Israeli victory that would crush Hezbollah and advance the forces of freedom. In standing back for over 5 weeks while Israel pummelled Lebanese territory and infrastructure with air strikes, the US gave Israel the longest leash they've had in quite some time to conduct a military operation without being second-guessed by the world's lone superpower. But it would seem to me that President Bush was desperate for Israel to unleash a massive ground operation to actually destroy the Hezbollah terrorists instead of just some of their weapons and some of their bases of operation. After the world had seen enough, Secretary of State Rice concocted a ceasefire resolution that only one week later stands on the brink of collapse. This is not only a diplomatic disaster but a showing of fundamental weakness of the US. From every conceiveable angle, the US and Israel have lost major ground in the war against radical Islamic terrorism. In war there is always a winner and a loser. We lost. The bad guys won. Now what?
Israel has always been cloaked in an air of invincibility. Decisive victories in pretty much every war they've fought will do that. It was that air of invincibility that kept their enemies at bay. But this war was different. Israel is widely seen as being the loser in the conflict. They achieved none of their objectives, whether it be the return of their kidnapped soldiers or the outright destruction of Hezbollah. Yes, some terrorists were killed and some weapons destroyed. But Hezbollah remains, Israel's internal politics are on the verge of crack-up and the Arab street is celebrating what appears to be a large chink in the Israeli armor. Make no mistake, the entire moderate Arab world was quietly waiting for Israel to wipe the map clean of Hezbollah and serve notice to Iran that their aggression and support of advancing terror operations would not stand but Hezbollah's survival and diplomatic PR victory has left everyone not only scratching their heads but praying for their own survival. Simply put, Israel failed. And now everyone in Israel is trying to figure out why and who is responsible. It appears that Prime Minister Olmert would be the primary culprit.
The United States would be a different story. In supporting Israel's "right to defend herself", the US was also secretly hoping (and secretly supporting logistically) for a decisive Israeli victory that would crush Hezbollah and advance the forces of freedom. In standing back for over 5 weeks while Israel pummelled Lebanese territory and infrastructure with air strikes, the US gave Israel the longest leash they've had in quite some time to conduct a military operation without being second-guessed by the world's lone superpower. But it would seem to me that President Bush was desperate for Israel to unleash a massive ground operation to actually destroy the Hezbollah terrorists instead of just some of their weapons and some of their bases of operation. After the world had seen enough, Secretary of State Rice concocted a ceasefire resolution that only one week later stands on the brink of collapse. This is not only a diplomatic disaster but a showing of fundamental weakness of the US. From every conceiveable angle, the US and Israel have lost major ground in the war against radical Islamic terrorism. In war there is always a winner and a loser. We lost. The bad guys won. Now what?
posted by The Rock | 4:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home