Europe: Wishful thinking
Bryan Preston

Europe wishes that Iran and Syria want peace. But wishing doesn’t make it so.

European governments are reaching out to Hezbollah’s foreign backers, Iran and Syria, in an attempt to engage them in a solution to the Lebanon war by recognizing their importance for regional stability.

While the United States, Israel’s main backer, is unwilling to talk at a senior level to either country - seen as “rogue states” in Washington - European foreign ministers have no such taboo if dialogue can help extinguish fires in the Middle East.

But beyond making Syrian and Iranian leaders feel respected, it is not clear what the Europeans can offer to persuade Damascus or Tehran to lean on Hezbollah guerrillas to stop firing missiles into Israel or accept eventual disarmament.

They could offer them total control over Lebanon, as it seems clear to me that that’s what the Hezbollah offensive is all about. Given Europe’s track record of giving away little countries to sate the appetites of big, belligerent countries, control of Lebanon may well be on the table.

Here’s the thing: ...

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Contributed by Bill Faith on August 2, 2006 at 01:07 PM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink

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