Shyzer.com

I think what’s scariest about the situation in the Middle East is that I agree with President Bush. By now, everybody’s heard President Bush speak candidly about his thoughts on the whole situation and while most of the media attention has been focused upon his usage of the word “shit,” little has been said about the message President Bush was trying to convey. Which I completely don’t understand. Here is a grown man, talking in what he thought was a private conversation to a trusted friend and ally, and we’re shocked he used an expletive in regard to a situation that, in reality, is shitty? There are times I feel this country is far too prude and childish - watching people gasp and scream bloody murder over a four letter word is such a time. But I digress.

You can count the number of times I’ve agreed with President Bush on your right hand. In fact, my grandfather, who lost a few fingers in an old mill accident, can still count the times on his hand. And yet, for all those out there keeping count, it’s time to extend a finger. It’s no secret that President Bush’s approach to foreign policy is “kick ass and take names later.” And while that doesn’t work in most cases, it’s certainly a better approach than “kick ass against the wrong people and take names later,” which is exactly what Israel is doing. They’re causing a scene for no reason (I’m looking at the bigger picture here, not at the 2 kidnapped Israeli soldiers) and which in turn will only hurt their cause.

Lebanon is a pawn. It has been for decades now and any low-level State Department diplomat can tell you that. This is no secret. And yet the entire world seems to turn a blind eye and accept Israel turning Lebanon into a scapegoat and in exchange the world gets to sleep easier at night while Israel ignores Syria. Sure, it’s true that Hezbollah was formed and currently resides in Lebanon, but its true backing comes from Syria. Weapons, money, soldiers, you name it, Syria hooks them up with it. One could even argue the Lebanese government has little power over Hezbollah due to Hezbollah’s increasing political force, as well as their high level of local support since it was Hezbollah and not the government who was building schools, hospitals, and roads. All thanks to Syrian support and money. Although, it might be safe to bet that some of that support will erode in the near future since all those schools, hospitals, and roads are in flames now, but that’s beside the point.

The point is, as Israel bombs the hell out of Lebanon, they are only hurting themselves and the Lebanese people. Sure, they might slam a few Hezbollah buildings and headquarters, but this is just like fighting the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. You can’t eradicate them with long range missiles. Hell, we’ve been in Afghanistan for almost five years now and we still don’t have anywhere near complete control over the country.

You can’t wipe out a terror cell with bombs and missiles. You can’t even do it through unilateral occupation (hi there, Iraq!) You attack the center of the problem, Syria, and to make sure it doesn’t succumb to the same fate as Iraq, you get the rest of the world behind you and show the Syrian government that they are so outnumbered, they haven’t a chance.

If we take diplomacy off the table (which with President Bush is almost a given, at least with the old and true President Bush, the one we heard on the microphone talking to Blair), then the only way to do it is to get a global backing and wipe out the source.

And that’s what President Bush and Tony Blair suggested here. Blair takes the diplomatic route in saying that if the entire world united, they could pressure Israel to stop in a matter of minutes. And President Bush takes this conclusion a step further in the form of, if Israel truly meant to rid themselves of Hezbollah, they then use this global pressure and flip it into support for attacking the true root of the problem and hit Syria. Israel wins in destroying an enemy, Lebanon wins in no longer being bombed, and the world wins by removing one of the most dangerous nations from the oh-so-fun equation of “Oh God, Oh God, what crazy nation might kill us all?”

Israel has done a fantastic job of playing the Holier-than-thou maiden in distress role over the past 40 years, but that’s for another post. What’s clear now, though, is that A) Israel is helping nothing in the current situation and has other alternatives that if taken would produce a much better result, B) Syria is playing a wonderful game of poker, C) The rest of the world seems okay with the fact that Israel is beating Lebanon senselessly, and D) President Bush and I are in the same frame of mind.

I think I need a drink.