US Policy Objective Achieved with Collapse of Rome Conference

The final stop on neoCondoleezza Rice’s otherwise pointless trip through the Middle East was in Rome for an international conference called to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah. Nothing came of it, despite the spin-doctoring of Terge Roed-Larsen, a UN special envoy for Lebanon, who called it a “stepping-stone” rather than a “failure.” With all due respect, it was a failure, which is precisely what the US administration hoped to accomplish.

With this ugly little military action in its third week now, the US is quite content to let Israel hammer away at Hezbollah from land and air, mostly air. The Busheviks believe that Israel is doing Good by killing the Shi’ite militia and is profoundly sorry that most of the deaths on both sides have been civilians -- but not sorry enough to call off the dogs of war. The ineffective bombing will continue until there is no more rubble to pulverize, and without ground forces to follow up, it will change nothing beyond distributing poverty across a wide swath of Lebanon.

This is not to approve of the existence of Hezbollah. Its particular brand of Shi’ism is antithetical to just about ever Enlightenment value for which this journal would gladly kill. What one finds objectionable is the inappropriateness of Israel’s methods. Having decided to use military force to get rid of Hezbollah, it has opted for the sort that cannot get the job done. How much different things would be if the Israeli Prime Minister had some sort of military record, or the American administration for that matter, so that force wouldn't be a measure of manhood. The lesson for leaders in the 21st century is going to be the limitations of military might, a lesson that can be learned the easy way (read a little history) or the hard way (lose thousands of lives).

Still, a ceasefire would leave Hezbollah alive, and that would amount to a victory for Fascislam, according to the Worst and the Dimmest in the White House. So, the US decided to bicker with the other 18 nations at the Rome talks to let Israel continue its pointless bombing. United States urged language that demanded countries “work immediately to reach with utmost urgency a cease-fire that will put an end to the current violence and hostilities.” Most of the others wanted them to “work on an immediate cease-fire.” The key word was “immediate.” The key purpose in America's dissent was to prevent a diplomatic initiative from gaining momentum.

The current situation rests on three miscalculations. First, Hezbollah blew it when its less-than-holy warriors attacked an Israeli outpost, killing 8 Israelis and capturing 2. Second, Israel miscalculated when it decided to shatter Lebanon to get Hezbollah creating the conditions for a failed state to its north. Third, the Busheviks miscalculated when they decided to let Israel continue to pursue the wrong military strategy which will not get rid of Hezbollah.

Although this isn’t World War III (it’s hardly grand enough to be a post-colonial skirmish), similar events led to World War I. That mess could have been resolved with a cease-fire and a peace conference in November 1914, after the German offensive in the West stopped. Instead, there was a cease-fire in 1918 followed by a peace conference in 1919, and millions needlessly dead. Almost a century later, the policy is still victory, then negotiations. One hopes the words of Siegfreid Sassoon of the Royal Welch Fusiliers keeps the “leaders” awake at night, “You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye/Who cheer when soldier lads march by/Sneak home and pray you'll never know/The hell where youth and laughter go.”

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Home