Remember that strange war between Israel and Hezbollah last year? The one that was pretty clearly a proxy conflict between the U.S. and Iran? Well, Israel’s goal was to stamp Hezbollah out of existence. It has obviously failed. Like the obnoxious weed that it is, Hezbollah simply dug in to its roots and sprouted elsewhere, and now it is pursuing overt military action against the government of Lebanon, taking funding, supplies, and logistical support from its sponsors in Tehran and Damascus. It would be nice if we could offer some better support to the moderate and pro-Western elements in Lebanon, but six years after beginning military operations against Iraq and seven years after Afghanistan, we are still over-extended and probably still gunshy after the disaster in 1982. It’s frustrating to see the bad guys do stuff like this and get away with it.
