Israel Sends In The Ground Troops

Israeli warplanes pummeled the Lebanese infrastructure. Hezbollah patron Iran said a cease-fire and a prisoner swap were possible, and the international community signaled willingness to send peacekeepers to back a diplomatic solution.

Israeli ground troops entered southern Lebanon to attack Hezbollah bases on the border, a government spokesman said Monday, but rapidly returned to Israel after conducting their military operations.

Hezbollah, for its part, fired rockets that flew farther into Israel than ever before, at the Israeli city of Haifa, destroying a three-story building and wounding at least two people.

Western leaders stepped up efforts on the diplomatic front, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling for the deployment of international forces to southern Lebanon. The President bluntly expressed his frustration with the actions of Hezbollah, suggesting Syria could use its influence with the guerrillas.

So, while Israel continues its systematic destruction of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the usual suspects are already looking to protect the terrorists from their just desserts. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is looking to the five permanent members of the Security Council (US, Russia, China, France, & Great Britain) to take the lead in a peace-keeping mission to Lebanon, to separate the two warring sides.

Stories like this make me wonder if Annan and his ilk are so stupid that they don't remember history, or so arrogant that they think we don't. Because I can't see a third explanation.

First up, it's a fool's errand. There is no "peace" to "keep." If anything, the situation would call for "peace-makers," a military force to go in and forcibly separate the two sides -- and that would indeed be insane. Peacekeepers are for enforcing a cease-fire or some other cessation of hostilities, and we are nowhere near that yet.

Secondly, the United States should have absolutely no interest in protecting Hezbollah. Far too many people tend to forget that as of September 10, 2001, Hezbollah had killed more Americans than any other terrorist group in the world.

Thirdly, any American contribution to such a force would most likely involve more US Troops. And to send them into this situation would be a terrible idea.

In 1983, the United States sent forces into Lebanon in order to keep the peace after Israel, fed up with endless attacks by Hezbollah, attacked and devastated Lebanon. Sound familiar? And during that attempt at peace-keeping, Hezbollah sent a suicide bomber in a truck loaded with explosives into the US base in Beirut, killing 242 United States Marines.

Finally, Hezbollah is not a state. It is a criminal, terrorist organization, and as such deserves no protection from the United Nations.

Israel is taking out the world's garbage in Lebanon. Instead of trying to protect the filth, the world should be offering to at least hold the door.