The blogosphere is a cesspool of bizarre and hateful fantasies. On the East side, there are idiots who say that the only way to solve this problem is to declare jihad and vanquish Israel for good (because Hezbollah not getting utterly creamed in 48 hours obviously means that the Arab states working together could somehow pull this off). On the West side, we have equally absurd solutions that involve invading both Iran and Syria and not handwringing over dead women and children because they're all terrorist collaborators anyway. This perspective makes sense if one observes how President Bush consistently stays on message by spinning every event as yet another front of the war on terror (I recall being amused at how this position bit him in the ass during the DPW fiasco as he vainly tried to explain how the Emiratis were "good guys" despite being darkie Muslims).

The US gambled on Lebanon and lost badly. It is now viewed as the architect of three wars in the Middle East, two of which are going very badly (Afghanistan isn't very stable either, but hardly anyone is paying attention). American diplomacy has been alternately nonexistent, naive or clumsy in its handling of the Lebanon crisis, and the US administration appears to have offered incontroveritible proof to Arabs that pro-American orientation is worth little when Israel's interests are threatened. Contrary to right wing jingoistic moron claims, MENA public opinion does matter and should not be dismissed so casually.

Olmert clearly bet on a fast and clean operation. I doubt Sharon would've been so clueless, having been stung previously. Broad popular support for this war in Israel suggests to me a sort of widespread cognitive dissonance, a belief that constant and unrelenting displays of force will eventually break an enemy. Likewise on the Hezbollah side, where constant bleeding is the key to breaking an enemy.

Has it worked yet? Let me know when it does.

This aside, I am putting down my terrorism and MENA history books for the moment, and distracting myself with fiction instead. Last night I even managed to finish Possession, which, despite the plodding prose and pretentious literary wanking, turned out to be a beautiful and well-crafted story. I also plan to finish Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie, another author who seems to be in love with himself, but occasionally writes well. As the book appears to center around women and honor, it might be worth commenting on later.

PS - Matthew, I finally picked up Michael Collins. Happy now?