No one can blame Israel for the years of frustration in dealing with Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon. They have conducted border raids, shot missiles, and otherwise tried to provoke Israel into a response. This week, they took advantage of the Gaza engagement to attack Israel again -- or perhaps staged the attack in coordination with Hamas -- and Israel has finally responded in force. While Hezbollah fires more rockets into Northern Israel, Olmert has all but declared war on Lebanon:

Israel intensified its attacks against Lebanon on Thursday, blasting Beirut's international airport and the southern part of the country in its heaviest air campaign against its neighbor in 24 years. Nearly three dozen civilians were killed, officials said.

The strikes on the airport, which damaged three runways, came hours before Israel imposed an air and naval blockade on Lebanon to cut off supply routes to militants. ...

In a stark warning, the Israeli army chief said Thursday that Israel's air force is prepared to strike anywhere in Lebanon, including the capital of Beirut, if the Lebanese government fails to rein in Hezbollah guerrillas.

"We are not at war, but we are in a very high volume crisis, and we have an intention to put an end to the situation here along the northern border," Brig. Gen. Dan Halutz said in Jerusalem.

Two Israeli citizens have died and 70 more have been wounded in the rocket attacks, and Israel has gone to its second-highest alert level. Reports yesterday had the IDF mobilizing even more units and calling up some reserves. Meanwhile, Ehud Olmert has accused the Lebanese government of supporting the attacks on Israel and has stated that Israel will not limit itself to southern Lebanon for military responses. The attack on the Beirut airport makes that rather clear.

However, one has to wonder whether Israel has chosen the correct enemy. Lebanon just recently freed itself (mostly) from Syrian occupation through a people-power revolution. Syria occupied Lebanon for almost 30 years prior to that, and they put Hezbollah into place as their proxy, not Lebanon's. Granted, Israel had a point when they noted that Hezbollah politicians have ministers in the Cabinet, but unlike Hamas in the Palestinian Authority, they do not have political control of the government.

A free and democratic Lebanon could be an ally to Israel, or at least not an enemy. They could eventually have a relationship similar to that of Jordan; not exactly friends, but not at all enemies. Why toss that away in a misdirected rage?

The author of Israeli misery in the North and in Gaza is not Lebanon, but Syria. Lebanon hasn't the resources to expel Hezbollah from its south, in large part because of the resources that Syria and Iran provide to the terrorists. The Lebanese government may not have done enough to disarm the Islamist terrorists, but it's Syria and Iran who armed them in the first place. Hezbollah takes their orders from Damascus and Teheran, not Beirut.

In this case, I believe the Israelis have made a strategic error. They need to use their resources to attack the root of the problem, or at least one of the two roots. Syria and Bashar Assad have much more influence over Hezbollah than Beirut, and taking the war to Damascus will have more possibility of deterring further attacks and raids than inflaming the Lebanese, who just started to get back on their feet in the aftermath of the Syrian withdrawal. They risk creating another enemy instead of eliminating the one that really matters.

Hopefully, Olmert and his military advisors will realize the folly of attacking a nearly-prone Lebanese democracy, and focus on the Ba'athist dictatorship that has the most responsibility for Hamas and Hezbollah.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Is Lebanon The Right Target?:

» Attack Syria? from It Shines For All
"President Bush said Thursday that Israel has the right to defend itself, as it launched fresh attacks on Lebanon after the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers," the AP reports.Bush criticized Hezbollah, whose guerrillas mounted a cross-border raid earlier ... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 9:04 AM

» Don't Mess With Israel from Stix Blog
When are the Palestinians, Hezzbolah, and Hamas going to figure out that Israel is never going ot go away. They are there to stay, and have the best militarty in the Middle East. Every time the Muslims in the area [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 9:09 AM

» Breaking: Israel attacks Lebanese army from Hot Air
The brink. ... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 9:29 AM

» The Muslim Brotherhood And Hezbollah Detonate The Political Bomb from All Things Beautiful
Today, we face the ugly reality, that the world at large has been successfully duped to believe that Israel is the aggressor and all the Islamic terrorist organizations are her victims. Now that Hamas has joined the ranks of other terrorist organizatio... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 9:54 AM

» 'Updates from Lebanon' from Hyscience
His last message is telling of what's going on: "Something tells me that everything the Israelis are doing right now is preparation for something much bigger. [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 10:02 AM

» Unleashing the Dogs of War from A Blog For All
Well, Hamas and Fatah, by and through the PA, have declared war against Israel in the starkest of terms and have gotten assistance from Hizbullah in opening a second front. That second front may seem like a good idea for the terrorists, but that will... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 10:05 AM

» Israel Continues to Pound Lebanon from Cyber-Conservative
More attacks designed to cripple Lebanon's military:

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel intensified its attacks Thursday against Lebanon, blasting Beirut's a...

Tracked on July 13, 2006 10:09 AM

» 'Updates from Lebanon' from Hyscience
His last message is telling of what's going on: "Something tells me that everything the Israelis are doing right now is preparation for something much bigger. [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 10:15 AM

» 'Updates from Lebanon' from Hyscience
His last message is telling of what's going on: "Something tells me that everything the Israelis are doing right now is preparation for something much bigger. [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 10:21 AM

» Count me in among the befuddled from Strange Women Lying in Ponds
I share Captain Ed's concern that Israel may be going after the wrong target, here. Ed writes:In this case, I believe the Israelis have made a strategic error. They need to use their resources to attack the root of the [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 11:56 AM

» Israel / Gaza / Lebanon Omnibus Update from Occidentality
Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch offers refers to a "1938 Alert" whenever he finds evidence of a Western society appeasing Islamic totalitarianism in the manner of a neo-Chamberlain. I might commence a 1914 alert -- referring to a line in a Spengler col... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 12:03 PM

» I’m Hardly the Only One Wondering About Israel and Lebanon… from PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts
For example, here’s Ed Morrissey of Captain’s Quarters: However, one has to wonder whether Israel has chosen the correct enemy. Lebanon just recently freed itself (mostly) from Syrian occupation through a people-power revolution. Syria occ... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2006 12:40 PM

» Israel asked for it per this blogger, who adds that we must restrain the Jewish state if calamity is not to ensue. from Pros and Cons
The above is an argument that has long annoyed me for it’s reflexiveness and for it’s implicit assumption that Israel is the only party that ought to restrain itself, in all but the most extreme circumstances. I don’t think this blog... [Read More]

Tracked on July 14, 2006 5:47 PM

» Why Lebanon from Hard Starboard
So, the question keeps arising, why are they focusing so hard on Lebanon? Israeli's northern neighbor only freed itself from Syrian domination a year and a half ago, and while Hezbollah has a role in its government, it doesn't have control like Hamas... [Read More]

Tracked on July 14, 2006 6:28 PM