More Lebanon

I couldn't agree more with Peter. Strikes like the one that occurred today in Qana will merely work to exacerbate the problems facing Israel (and the U.S). I don't think you have to be an expert in counter-terrorism or guerrilla warfare to understand that bombing civilian populations plays into the hands of Hezbollah. That Israel seems to be oblivious to this basic fact is truly baffling. As Kevin Drum noted the other day:

But if there's any country in the world that should understand the nature of war against a guerrilla organization, it's Israel. Wanting to give an enemy a bloody nose is one thing, but they can't possibly have believed that an air campaign would do lasting damage to a broadly-supported indigenous guerrilla group like Hezbollah. Nor could they have seriously entertained the notion that they could bomb Beirut around the clock and create free-fire zones in southern Lebanon and still retain the sympathy of any substantial bloc of the Lebanese citizenry. Nor, having been the proximate cause of the rise of Hezbollah in the first place, could they have had any illusions about what effect a major war would ultimately have if it failed to utterly destroy its target.

But apparently they did. And now they don't know how to get out.