Staying Focused

It’s too soon to say whether the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will hold, but its success could pose a significant challenge to Americans. Even during the heaviest fighting, there seemed to be some Americans who didn’t understand why the battle mattered, who argued that it was Israel’s war, not America’s. As a semblance of quiet, if not actually peace, settles on northern Israel and southern Lebanon, even those who have understood the importance of Israel’s struggle in the context of the global war on terror might find it dropping off their radar screens. That would be a terrible mistake, because Israel’s ongoing war against Hezbollah, whether hot or cold, is our war, too.Last month, the House passed a resolution by a vote of 410 to eight in support of Israel in this conflict. Rep. Ray Issa, a Republican of California, one of the eight dissenters, has lamented, “In ten weeks, I think we will regret not having shown more empathy for the suffering of innocent Lebanese.” What we should regret, however, is that America didn’t take on Hezbollah back in 1983 after bombings of our embassy and Marine barracks at Beirut. How different the last 20 years might have been had America recognized these atrocities as acts of war and taken the appropriate action then.The horrific pictures of the innocent Lebanese victims, particularly children, are indeed haunting. Their tragic deaths, however, rest squarely at the feet of Hezbollah and their sponsors in Tehran and Damascus. In stationing offices and housing missiles in residential areas, Hezbollah terrorists hid themselves behind Lebanese women, children, and elderly, thus committing a despicable act of treachery against their own people. Hezbollah, the hometown heroes, deliberately placed those children in harm’s way.There’s plenty of blame to go around. Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora has been quoted as stating that Israel must pay for the “barbaric destruction” of his country.The truth is that under the impotent leadership of Mr. Siniora, Lebanon has been rotting slowly from the inside out. Under Mr. Siniora, the puppet of Syria, Hezbollah flourished in Lebanon like a cancer. Mr. Siniora is weak; the people of Lebanon deserve better.Of course, we cannot speak of blame without mentioning the tragic broken wheel that is today’s United Nations. Resolution 1559 was ignored not only by Hezbollah and the larger Lebanese government but by the very drafters themselves. Is there any evidence whatsoever that the U.N. actually attempted to enforce the disarmament of Hezbollah? The UN’s failure to successfully implement 1559 forced Israel to fend for itself. Kofi Annan can count the escalation of this conflict as the most grievous of his bungling failures. Israel, indeed the world, deserves better.For many, Hezbollah has only recently emerged as a topic of discussion at the water cooler. Hezbollah, however, has been destroying lives and crushing spirits for decades. The torture and ultimate death of Navy Diver Robert Dean Stethem during the 1985 Trans World Airlines hijacking by Hezbollah terrorists is recognized as one of the most brutal slayings of our time. America and our allies have yet to implement cohesive measures to bring Rob’s murderers to justice. Robert Stethem and his family deserve better.Where will it end? Not with this ceasefire, no matter how expedient the agreement may be nor what solution to the Hezbollah problem Israeli and American leaders ultimately fashion. What hope do we have when the leaders of nations and world organizations allow evil to grow and interweave into the fabric of mainstream cultures? Do we expect to defeat militant extremism by playing to the middle ground? The eyes of the world are casting about for the kind of leadership that can bring about a lasting peace. Hezbollah has been America’s problem at least since the 1980s. Ceasefire or not, now is certainly not the time for Americans to lose focus.Ms. Stethem is married to Patrick Stethem, brother of the late Robert Dean Stethem.

Staying Focused

Staying Focused

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