Reality in the Middle East

Israel has officially ended Operation Cast Lead with timing that indicates uncertainty about American policy going forward. There will be much talk about the meaning of the latest battle. Some will argue that Hamas won (as Hamas is doing now), others that Israel mistakenly stopped short of victory, some will continue to argue that Israel's "disproportional response" was unwarranted or worse.

Only a lunatic could conclude that Hamas "won" the latest round in an ongoing war, unless mere continued existence is considered victory. Talk about Pyrrhic. Israel's failure to wipe out the entire leadership structure of Hamas may have been a mistake, but it's hard to see how such a goal could be accomplished on a lasting basis--new leaders could be imported or rise to the top. And the disproportional gripe is absurd on its face; what was Israel supposed to do, lob rockets indiscriminately into Gaza, or kill just as many civilians as Hamas had haphazardly managed in the past few months?

In general, wars end when one or more parties grow so tired of fighting that they are willing to give up their war aims in exchange for a cessation to conflict. Some foes are unwilling to do this, and would rather die than give up. To modern Western sensibilities, this is almost impossible to understand, which goes a long way toward explaining why Western efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East have always failed. The war will continue, and its result will matter immensely.

In all likelihood, the only really decisive end to the violence may be the total destruction of one party to the conflict; Israel is understandably hesitant to attempt such a project--the memory of the Nazi Holocaust is much too fresh for that, after all--but Iran's Mullahs would certainly like to take a crack at it if they could. The unfortunate reality is that Israel faces a years- and perhaps decades-long war ahead, one in which it must prevail in relatively small steps. But it should make clear at every turn that attempts to terrorize or destroy Israel will be met with overwhelming force. That way the costs of warfare will be borne primarily by those who continue the conflict, a good number of those who prefer death to peace will get their wish, and perhaps (a very big perhaps) a generation will arise that prefers living in peace to death attempting the extermination of Israel.

For the most part, Israel knows its enemies and is committed to periodically executing an operation against them. What Israel can never be too certain about is its friends. Israel has to fight for its continued existence, for, as is often said, the first war the Jewish state loses will be its last. The entire Arab world, including Israel's sworn enemies, is watching America with its own hopes and fears, too. America's policy under Obama's administration cannot ignore these realities, or if it does, it will be but following a time-worn Western tradition of wishful thinking.

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