The Ugly Truth About Peace in the Middle East
The ugly truth is that Lebanon is a failed state. A sovereign state has many responsibilities. Three of the most important are:
1. Defend its borders.
2. Control what goes on within its borders.
3. Protect its citizens from harm whether that harm comes from within or without its borders.
Lebanon has failed in all three of these critical responsibilities.
What is Israel to do?
Despite the assurances of the international community to protect Israel in return for leaving Lebanon the last time, the current U.N. presence in southern Lebanon is safely to the east of the border to Israel and out of danger – of either getting killed or of finding themselves in a position to have to kill someone else.
Perhaps the next multi-national force will be “robust” – i.e. willing and able to do what is necessary to stop the killing. I doubt it.
The reality is that Hezbollah and Hamas have no interest in peace. They claim specific grievances but in a part of the world where mayhem and violence goes back everybody can find some past “tat” to justify their next “tit.”
The most common grievance is Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. But if the Palestinians really wanted their own state, wouldn’t it have made since to continue the struggle in the West Bank while rewarding Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza with peace on their southern border?
Instead, they’ve launched over 800 rockets in the last seven months. The Israelis have responded with artillery and air strikes. Too many people have been killed on both sides. The reality is that for too many people in the Middle East, the existence of Israel is their primary grievance.
We will never have peace in the region until the governments of Arab countries stop excusing and supporting attacks against the Jews. The early criticism of Hezbollah by Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt was the correct response. Unfortunately, as the war drags on, the feelings of the Arab street and their governments draft back to their historic hatred and intolerance.
Israel must fight for two reasons:
1. If Israel did not fight, they would be derelict in their duties as a sovereign state.
2. Unfortunately, continuing the pain of the war is the only way that Israel can motivate the international community to take any action. Even now, the U.N. dithers for days and weeks as the dying continues.
The only way to assure a lasting peace is to defang Hezbollah. That means taking their weapons away, killing their leaders, imprisoning their soldiers and deterring their supporters (Iran and Syria). Unfortunately, because Hezbollah is embedded so tightly within the civilian population, whoever does this will take casualties and kill civilians.
I doubt that the international community has the stomach for this awful prospect.