Cease Fire

McPickles Editorial

I have avoided this subject for a while, but here goes. First, the facts. Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Then Hezbollah did the same. The Israelis, understandably pissed off, proceeded to level Hezbollah-controlled parts of Lebanon, including a large chunk of Beirut. Hezbollah retaliated by firing rockets supplied to them by Iran and Syria into Northern Israel. A minor ground war ensued. Apparently Israel lost in the court of public opinion, its actions seen as too forceful, too reactionary. Further, after 34 days of fighting and no clear outcome, Israel's military dominance is now being questioned. I will not address the latter point because I do not know enough about the subject.

So, did the Israelis act irrationally? A terrorist organization with ties to a rogue nation sets up shop right in your backyard. They kidnap your soldiers. They fire a few rockets at your cities from time to time. Their influence in your backyard grows and grows. The host nation does not have the resources to address the problem. What is the proper course of action?

The Israelis, one would have to imagine, are sick and tired of living amongst violence. In a sense, they bring a lot of this upon themselves, at least in regards to terrorist acts arising from the Palestinian territories. But not with regards to Hezbollah and Iran. The Iranian funded predominately Shiite organization still has the archaic dream of eliminating Israel from the face of the Earth. They do not place nice. Neither does its benefactor. How can you negotiate with any sense of sincerity with this type of opponent?

It is unfortunate that the Lebanese had to be caught in the middle of this awful dynamic once again. And more importantly, it is unfortunate that, ultimately, the war did not force an outcome, and did not yield any long-term solution to the conundrum. But we would all be naive to think that Israel didn't know this going in. I guess what I have concluded is that, because of the nature of the enemy, Israel had no choice but to issue a violent reminder to Hezbollah and Iran (and Syria) "not to fuck with the Jews." Sooner or later, however, someone is going to have to confront Iran. Whether Israel will survive that confrontation is a whole other story.