19.7.06

Um Líbano pós-Hezbollah?

The Lebanese military must be able to hold southern Lebanon, and to do so it will need us to train and equip it. It’s a push we should have undertaken in the aftermath of the Cedar Revolution, but instead we wasted more than a year. At the moment, Rep. Tom Lantos (D., Calif.) is holding up $10 million in aid to the Lebanese military, for understandable reasons (distrust of the Lebanese government). But the money will eventually have to be released, and the U.S. and the world more engaged in building the Lebanese government’s capacities.

The next few days could be crucial. Hezbollah’s miscalculation in apparently thinking its cross-border raid would be met with a weak Israeli response has created an opportunity to strike an important blow against Islamic extremism. Things could still go wrong for Israel. Its strikes in Lebanon could backfire and build sympathy for Hezbollah, while it might not be able to inflict truly lasting damage on the terror group without a substantial ground invasion. But the best chance for the best possible conclusion to the crisis will come if Israel continues to pound Hezbollah.