34-Day War: What a Waste!
It never even resulted in the recapture or freeing of the kidnapped soldiers!
So when I read reports that prisoner exchange talks may be underway to free the soldiers, all I can think is what a complete and utter waste that war was, and why diplomacy or negotiation could not have been an option at the very beginning.
True, the dynamics have changed because of the war, but at such a huge cost to both sides. There can be no benefit worth that toll. True, Israel has a policy to never negotiate with terrorists, yet it is open for debate whether such a stance has done them more harm than good, and those that they categorize as terrorists, are those that are as equally viewed by many as freedom fighters.
I will be watching closely how these possible prisoner exchange negotiations play out. War failed utterly, so the time to try to negotiate a peaceful solution is ripe.
Posted at 8/27/2006 04:14:00 PM PT
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3 Comment(s):
Juan Cole, Informed Comment, Wednesday,August 16,2006, sums this up very neatly with a screed that can best be summarized as'A pox on both their
houses'(Israel and Hisbullah).
Unfortunately, I feel that Nasrallah has played Israel like a drum. With the sympathy of the entire Muslim World, and the pocketbook of Iran, the rebuilding of Lebanon is assured. . .complete with an intact Hizbullah, much to the discomfiture of Israel. . .
The only losers are the commoners and innocents. . .
This whole Israel/Lebanon fiasco is just U.S./Iraq in minature. Thank god it didn't go as long as our Fiasco. But it did nothing but destroy. It cost way more than predicted. And the hawks accomplished none of their birthing a new Middle East goals. They just made people distrust us more and proved that superior fire power does not equal success against a determined group of locals.
No one won. Everyone lost.
'Sorry, too many typos, had to rewrite:
Unfortunately, I think that the people who won in this conflict were the US Republican Party and whichever party it is that the Iranian President is a member of. I think that both of those parties got a little wind in their sails over this one. The Republicans won on it because they know that some 70% of Jewish American voters still tend to vote Democratic and this little conflict might win the Republicans some converts by creating the idea that the Republicans will protect Israel come hell or high water. The Iranian regime won on it because it brings into focus the idea that the US, Coalition members, and Israel might be out to do some bodliy harm to the regular Iranian in the street in the same way that they did to the regular Lebanese in the street. That would tend to make people behave more tribally than rationally and rally around their leader, however awful he might be.
So in both cases I think the recent conflict tends to generally bolster unenlightened and exploitative government.
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