Peace in our time -- Post 3
Contributed by Bill Faith
Continued from
Peace in our
time -- Post 2.
The lessons of Lebanon
Paul Mirengoff
At a certain age, people tend to stop learning from new events and begin
seeing them solely as confirming beliefs and prejudices they already hold.
This is true, for example, of the latest war in the Middle East. I see these
events as confirmation of my views that Israeli territorial concessions are a
bad idea and that the U.N. is a curse on the world. Leftists see the same
events as confirmaation that war is not the answer or that Israel is on the
same moral plane as Hezbollah, or whatever it is that leftists believe about
such matters.
Against the odds, however, the current war in the Middle East has caused me
to modify my thinking a bit. Specifically, it has made me more sympathetic to
the views of the
"to hell with them hawks" and/or the
"endgame
conservatives," and less a fan of the Bush administration's quest to
promote democracy in the Middle East.
[Read the whole
thing.]
***
A response to Captain Ed
Paul Mirengoff
Captain Ed finds my suggestion that "the Bush administration didn't want
to take the heat for more fighting in Lebanon" to be "an unfair shot at the
White House." Ed writes:
Bush and his team made sure that they would not allow the UN to win the
war for Hezbollah, and this document at least shows that effort, regardless
of its implementation. It's really not our job to hold umbrellas for Israel,
and they certainly didn't show too much enthusiasm for fighting the kind of
war the post suggests in any case.
Except for his final clause, I'm not sure I understand exactly what Ed is
saying, but let me try to respond.
[Read on.]
A Response To Paul
Ed Morrissey
Paul Mirengoff, a true gentleman and a friend,
responds to my
criticism that he unfairly criticized George Bush for agreeing to the
Security Council resolution, rightly noting that I did not explain myself in
much detail. Paul politely restates his case and attempts to interpret my thin
line of argument. In fairness, I'll provide a better explanation and hope that
makes for a better argument.
The overriding question of how to end the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict is to
understand Israel's goals and realistic expectations of military action in
Lebanon. ...
[Read
on.]
Destined to Fail
John Hinderaker
I don't disagree with the harsh assessments Paul and Scott have already
delivered on the U.N. resolution brokered by the administration yesterday, but
let me just add a few words from a slightly different perspective. In reading
the resolution, I'm reminded of the old joke about the economist's solution to
the problem of how to get out of a hole: "First, assume a ladder."
[Read on.]
Economist? They taught me in General Engineering 100 it was a
Mathematician. Nonetheless the argument has merit.
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