The Feinstein Suggestion.
By Michael Reynolds | Related entries in Foreign Policy, Israel, The War On Terrorism, The WorldI haven’t written about the Hezbollah-Israeli-Iranian-Syrian war (HIIS? Straining too much for an acronym?) because there hasn’t been much to say.
Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, a tool of Iran and Syria. Hezbollah itself, Iran and Syria are enemies of the United States. They are bad people doing bad things and hoping to do more bad things.
It is impossible not to wonder whether part of the reason that Iran has conveyed its best missiles to Hezbollah was because the Mullahs had an eye on a future where Israel could be hit by nuclear weapons without the launch being traceable to Iran.
In any event, as it stands right now the Israelis are killing our enemies for us. It’s hard for me to see how that’s a bad thing.
So far the world has pretty well kept its collective mouth shut. But now Kofi Annan has started to pop off, demonstrating once again that the UN is unable to long resist aiding Jew killers. So long as it looked as if Israel might take the greater beating, Annan stayed mum. As soon as it began to look as if Hezbollah may be on the ropes, Annan talks of condemning Israel. Condemn Iran for instigating this? No. Condemn Syria for enabling Iran and Hezbollah? No. Condemn Israel for defending itself? Yes.
And we see that while the Left in our own country has shown a degree of decency (and political sense) in remaining mostly silent, the Leftist Prime Minister of Spain, Mr. Zapatero is one step away rehabilitating the Nazis.
On the other hand, some NeoCons are up and baying at the moon. Invasions! More invasions! Troops? We don’t need no stinkin’ troops, it’ll be a cakewalk!
To repeat the essential facts: Israel left Gaza voluntarily. Years ago it left Lebanon. In Lebanon the UN and the Syrians failed to remove Hezbollah from the area as agreed and studiously ignored the influx of Iranian weapons. In Gaza the Palestinian people freely elected Hamas, a terrorist organization. Then Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier, and Hezbollah crossed the border to kidnap Israeli soldiers and when the Israelis moved to recover their men, Hamas, and with greater effect, Hezbollah, began lobbing missiles at Israeli cities. In the north Israel decided to do the job that the UN promised to do but made no effort to accomplish, and the job that the Lebanese “government” promised to do but had no capacity to accomplish. In the south it retaliated against Hamas.
So. After hearing for decades that Israel just had to give up land for peace, we have the Israelis out of Lebanon, out of Gaza, working toward getting out of the West Bank . . . and all-out war between Israel and Iran’s terrorist proxies.
This has almost nothing to do with Palestinians per se, or the Palestinian cause. This is about the Iranian cause. Palestinians remain what they have almost always been: pawns of Arab dictators or pawns of distant Mullahs, or sheep to be fleeced by their own corrupt and vicious leadership.
Pressure will build for the US to “do something.” The something we will be urged to do is to rescue Hezbollah, Syria and Iran from the consequences of their own recklessness, power lust and obsessive hatred. Why we should do that is a mystery to me.
But, that having been said, we may need to find a way to help Israel walk back from this war if, as I suspect is the case, Israelis aren’t looking for the final showdown with Syria and Iran. If the Israelis are content to slap Hezbollah around, push Hezbollah up to Beirut, and force the Lebanese army (and/or a multinational force) to do what they promised to do 20 plus years ago, the Israelis may need us to step in at some point and act like the buddy who pulls you out of a bar fight.
Sen. Diane Feinstein had a good suggestion (no link available) talking to Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC today. Feinstein suggests rounding up the ex-presidents, Mr. Bush the Wiser, and Bill Clinton, and pack them off to the area on a long-term assignment to try and work out a way to get Hezbollah under some control, and Iran out of the immediate region. (Feinstein may have advanced it earlier, but I couldn’t find a link.) I think this sounds like a pretty good idea. The elder Mr. Bush is trusted by many Arab regimes, and Mr. Clinton knows more about the region than, well, anyone.
Will the younger Mr. Bush take up Feinstein’s plan? I doubt it. But when the time comes, it may be a pretty good idea to try.
(Cross-posted from The Mighty Middle.)
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 20th, 2006 and is filed under Foreign Policy, Israel, The War On Terrorism, The World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
I really enjoyed this post and found it to be rather informative. Just wanted to say thanks.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
Michael, I hate it when I can’t disagree with you. Where’s the fun in that?
July 20th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Meredith: Thanks, I appreciate that.
Alan: That’s because I left out the part where, “then we nuke Mecca.”
July 20th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
Michael
You conveniently forgot to mention Israel’s over the top response, the hundreds of dead civilians, 500,000 refugees, and the unnecessary cripling of Lebanon’s infrastructure. If Israel was soley taking on Hazib bi Allah that is one thing, but collective punshment of 4 million innocents is why the majority of the world’s population is outraged. Israel has no desire to re-enter Lebanon after getting spanked there pre-2000 and can not cripple their foe from the air. It is Israel that is painting itself in to a corner.
D
July 20th, 2006 at 11:49 pm
“I haven’t written about the Hezbollah-Israeli-Iranian-Syrian war (HIIS? Straining too much for an acronym?) because there hasn’t been much to say.”
Your acronym is: HISI-FIT.
Hezbollah-Israeli-Syrian-Iranian Fueling of International Tensions.
*dance*
July 21st, 2006 at 9:10 am
Why couldn’t the Mossaud have just gone on an assassination spree? Certainly they have agents within Hezbollah.
July 21st, 2006 at 1:32 pm
The suggestion that “the Leftist Prime Minister of Spain, Mr. Zapatero is one step away from rehabilitating the Nazis” is either misinformed or silly. Mr. Zapatero’s reasonable message was that Israel’s disproportionate response in Lebanon is likely to create more hatred and resistance, especially amongst the families of innocent victims. It is hysterical and unhelpful to accuse him of anti-semitism.
July 21st, 2006 at 1:38 pm
Hey Folks,
Good to finally be hearing about the basic problems here. You haven’t been talkin bout the HISI-FIT [that's good] because we’ve been side tracked with or own mess. Haven’t heard much aout OUR real enemies either, namely OBL and his crew! This latest in a long history [4000 yrs ?] of trouble here just points out the foolishness of our leaders’ efforts to save the world and spread demrocracy…bla, bla, bla. Maybe next time we’ll pick a fight with someting to do with this millennium!
July 21st, 2006 at 8:04 pm
watch this to know why you think the way you do..
this video online which explains (by the way, most interviewees are israeli or jewish) why American Media is as well an israeli occupied territory:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7828123714384920696&q=peace+propaganda
-more information you won’t find on corporate media:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
peace to all!
July 22nd, 2006 at 7:57 am
Michael,
Sterling post. I hear there’s a position opening in State…
BTW, this talk of disproportionate force really makes my ass twitch. The only thing to come from proportionate responses is more of the same. I wish that his concept could be banned from public discourse. We ain’t in Korea anymore.
July 24th, 2006 at 7:32 am
What Daniel said, Michael- except for the ass-twitching reference. As I was reading the post, I thought, “I can’t believe that Justin is making this much sense.” Then I saw it was you- so it was perfectly understandable.
July 24th, 2006 at 10:52 am
Disproportionate response? There is only one response in war….ALL OUT… all others just get your people hurt and killed, and they never work….. it is time to demand that the entire Islamic World stand up and put down their own radical elements….until we see Islamic nations policing their own, we will continue to have these type of actions……that also goes for Israel and the rest of the world…… if radical elements step beyond the pale, it is the responsibility of the society that spawned them to take care of them…… there will be no peace in the Middle East until the moderate elements of middle eastern society are willing to put their lives on the line to stop their own radical elements.
I am not a supporter of Israel, who commits enough of their own blunders, but in this instance they should go ALL OUT to end what the Syrians and Lebanese have failed to accomplish, and that is to run Hizbollah all the way back to Iran…..
July 28th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Michael,
I know that you are in the majority and I am in the minority right now on this issue, but it is hard for me to see how people think that Israel’s response is justified or will help improve the situation over there.
Your summary of events was not terrible, but left out Israel’s part in instigating and worsening this situation. Like everyone else, you left out the fact that on June 24 Israel abducted two Gaza civilians. The day after that is when a Gaza militant (stupidly and inexcusably) abducted an Israel soldier, and this sequence of events supposedly “started.” Then Israel did what they always do in situations like this and attacked the hell out of Gaza, and has killed over 140 Palestinians in the area in the last month. Hezbollah (stupidly and inexcusably) responded by kidnaping two Israel soldiers and killing three more.
Right now, the policy that you and most all other people think is the only sensible response has resulted in 600 killed Lebanese (nearly all civilians), 140 killed Palestinians (same), 55 killed Israelis, over 200,000 Lebanese refugees, massive destruction to Lebanese cities, and is still ongoing.
I refuse to believe that this was the best way to handle a situation where 3 Israelis were kidnaped and 3 were killed. I see no sense or moral value to such a stance.
You claim that you don’t see how letting Israel kill our enemies for is a bad thing? This “do something/bomb something” mentality is how we ended up in Iraq, is how the Israel-Palestine conflict has continued for decades, is how Hamas was created, and is how al-Queda and Hezbollah will have no trouble recruiting new members for decades to come. I don’t see how you can ignore the present consequences for all sides involved and the fact that this will just lead to creating more crazy idiots who hate the US/Israel.
Israel got fucked by a few stupid people, but they had two chances to handle things in a reasonable manner. Instead, they created a problem where the consequences are already literally 100s of times worse, and which blindly leads us further down the path of fighting a never ending war on terror.
The fact that no one in the U.S. points this out reminds me of the mentality of our country in the lead-up to the Iraq war. I think that the overwhelming majority of the world thinks this policy is disgusting, short-sighted and ineffectual, but since we are in the heat of battle right now, everyone in the U.S. is too scared or too fired up to recognize it.