04 August, 2010

Lebanon and On

What a mess in Lebanon. A little tree-trimming by the IDF turns into a cross-border firefight. We lose a commander (HY"D) and another officer is badly hurt. We kill a couple of soldiers and a journalist (no great loss there) in retaliation.

With the UN being unusually cooperative by officially confirming that UNIFIL had a) been notified of the tree clearing and b) had reported it to Lebanon, it really deals Israel the hand it needs to blow this into a full out diplomatic coup for Israel. All the pieces are in place to really cement Israel in place as the injured party, and get some valuable political capital it needs to deal with the ongoing worldwide Israel-bashing.

So here's an appropriate response. It's a little expensive, but definitely worth it in the long run:
  1. Start massing troops on the border. The whole deal. Tanks, ammo, firebases, airbases. Make it a very public, very loud mobilization. 200,000 soldiers to start, minimum. Keep it going for two weeks. Make it look like we're heading all the way up to Tripoli.
  2. Set Lieberman loose. Let him start a 'round the world tour of how Israel is going to kick the shit out of Hizbullah once and for all, and teach the Lebanese army a lesson they won't soon forget.
  3. Get Ambassador Shalev to start making noise in the UN about Security Council sanctions. 45-minute tirade from the GA floor. Spit in the Saudi ambassador's face.
  4. Fire Barak; this is his mess in the first place(Well okay, that won't happen but a boy can dream, can't he?).
  5. When the UN, US, UK, all start clamoring for "restraint," Netanyahu wades into the thick of it and says, "Okay, I'll call off the war on the conditions that you:"
    1. Add Lebanon to the lists of US State Sponsors of Terror.
    2. UN Sanction of Lebanon in the UNSC for firing the first shot.
    3. Don't even flinch in September when the freeze is off. Not a peep, not a rolled eye.
    4. Trot out the old line "Israel has a right to defend itself" and play it like a broken record until everyone's saying it. (I'd love to hear that from Hillary's lips.)
There is really no way for Israel to lose this politically. Worst case scenario is we invade Lebanon. Again. Without two soldiers' lives in the balance, the IDF can visit some serious payback for 2006. Best case is that Israel regains its deterrent capacity. And we get to kill Hizbullies.

To the bereaved family of Lt. Col. Harari, I apologize deeply if this seems like crass opportunism. May his sacrifice not be in vain.

1 comment:

Lady-Light said...

YES. I LOVE it. Saw your post on The Kehila...כל הכבוד