Back And Forth On UN Resolution

After I posted kudos to John Bolton -- not for getting a UN resolution through on Lebanon, but for getting the right resolution through -- frequent hat-tip recipient Jim emailed his dissatisfaction:

I could not convince myself to share any kudos for Bolton, like those you exteneded in "UN's Lebanon Resolution: The Key."

I find myself more aligned with John over at Powerline.

I'm VERY disappointed by President Bush, Condi et al, and I think we've just doomed many more brave young soldiers ... both Israeli and American, who will have to fight this against an enemy who has just been handed "bragging rights"... Key graphs:

"So the agreement will fail. Hezbollah will emerge with heightened stature as the first Arab force to fight Israel without being crushed. And Israel will have to renew the battle at some future date, under conditions that iwll almost certainly be more difficult than at present.

So it's hard for me to see this deal as anything but a defeat for all who want to vigorously oppose the advance of Islam imperialism in the Middle East and beyond.

Certainly a valid point of view and one I normally would share. But not this time. So I responded:

I’ve thought about that. Certainly, I wanted Israel to do its usual 6-day-war kind of thing and crush the Arab aggressor quickly. That opportunity has already passed; Hezbollah has already taken it to a new level by standing up and continuing to fight despite a pretty good Israeli offense. So the field changed; what do we do?

What we did was valid, I think. We got the world to blame Hezbollah. We got the world to tell Hez to stop. We got the world to tell Israel to stop its offence but not its defense. This is new; this is good. The alternative appears to be at least several more weeks, if not months, of grueling war, which may or may not succeed in disarming Hez (more likely not), but would increase sympathy for them and hatred towards Israel.

Speaking darkly, there will now be a larger UN force, possibly with French soldiers (who were blown up by the dozens last time they were in Lebanon). Hez will not be able to contain itself and will once again show what it believes in: the violent death of anyone who doesn’t believe as they do, and the violent death of any innocent who might further their cause. UN soldiers from France and elsewhere will die viciously at their hands, as will children, despite the UN’s best (?) efforts. That will further GWOT and further sympathy for Israel’s position.

Too Machiavellian for you?

Apparently. Jim responded:

Somewhat... (I'm kinda simple in my thinking...)

What I had hoped would happen, and believe still COULD happen, if ANYONE in our Administration had real guts, would be that Bush picks up the phone and says to that Leftist Appeaser, Olmert, (who seemed for a brief moment, to ALMOST get it):

"Hi Ehud, George here, YES, the US still supports you... Go for it and get the damn job done this time... We'll hold the UN for as long as it takes. What's that?, you're worried about 'World Opinion?' Well, no, of course the French and Germans and the American Left and Daily Kos won't like you... Do you think that they did last month? So what's the big deal? Hell, they don't like us either.

"That's right... we're in this together, and if we don't fight them now, we will later, and if later means that Iran has a nuke, we'll be in a REAL PICKLE, for sure.

"Yes, I'll take care of State and make sure that the supplies keep coming and you can count on us to watch your back in case those other two bullies try anything."

Well, yes, that's a fine speech -- and I think it's probably already been made in significant part. Bush has shown Israel just enough American resolve.

We've got a lot of stuff to balance -- public opinion in Iraq which will play a factor in how quickly we can wind down there, getting the UN and Europe primed for Iran, getting Bolton confirmed, and, yes, trying to save Lebanon, which, pathetic and Hezbollah-riddled as it is, is about as close to democracy as a Muslim state has ever come. Without the help of US soldiers anyway.

Spirited debate on tough issues between friends ... aren't you glad you're not a Dem?

Related Tags: Lebanon, Israel, Hezbollah, Hizbollah, Bush, Bolton, UN