Avoiding Disaster in Lebanon |
The first problem with solving problems in the Mideast is that every solution has been tried without success. The second problem is that failure doesn’t preclude repetition. A sad lesson of adulthood is that politicians care less about solving problems than showing concern. Doomed efforts still make good campaign ad copy.
In Lebanon, the military and diplomatic options have been exhausted. A security zone near Israel’s southern border? Tried that until the steady drip of casualties motivated a sudden IDF pullout in May 2000 – a move that betrayed Israel’s Christian Phalangist ally and brought Hezbollah to its doorstep. A Lebanese government commitment, enshrined in the UN resolution, to disarm Hezbollah and preclude the presence of armed personnel, assets, and weapons south of the Litani River? Tried it in 2006 and Hezbollah, like an infection, once again quickly spread south to the Israeli border. The Lebanese government, fearful of civil war and dominated by Hezbollah, has consistently played a game of “we pretend to disarm Hezbollah and you pretend to believe us.”
Empower the Lebanese Armed Forces? The United States has spent over $3 billion to strengthen the LAF since 2006 but, like the Lebanese government, it has consistently proven unwilling to confront Hezbollah fighters. International peacekeepers? Please, must we rehash the predictable, manifold failure of UNIFIL?
Today, the IDF has once again surged into south Lebanon. It has again pushed Hezbollah north and begun dismantling its vast surface and subterranean military infrastructure. Per tradition, the Lebanese government laments the country’s status as an Iranian satrapy and offers to continue pretending to disarm Hezbollah.
The new ingredient tossed into........