Two Different Worlds

If you watch CNN you are no doubt worried about the “escalation of violence” in the Middle East, and the divided American families who are waiting for the US to evacuate their loved ones from Lebanon.

If you are reading the conservative online media you are experiencing something quite different.

In Frontpagemag.com David Horowitz tells of Hizbollah missiles that clearly come from China via Iran and need sophisticated trained crews to operate. From Strategic Forecasting he quotes:

We are now in the period preceding major conventional operations. Israel is
in the process of sealing the Lebanese coast. They have disrupted Lebanese
telecommunications, although they have not completely collapsed the
structure. Israeli aircraft are attacking Hezbollah's infrastructure and
road system. In the meantime, Hezbollah, aware it is going to be hit hard,
is in a use-it or-lose-it scenario, firing what projectiles it can into
Israel.

CNN reports the G-8 summit as a confused waffle. But in the New York Sun Eli Lake reports a diplomatic success for President Bush at the G-8 summit.

The final G-8 summit resolution marks a diplomatic victory for the president... [T]he resolution that emerged yesterday confirmed the president's view of the conflict, that Israel was fully justified in protecting itself against terrorist actions by Hezbollah and that instead of condemning Prime Minister Olmert, the root causes of the violence should be addressed, namely the continuing terrorist actions of Hezbollah.

In the Jerusalem Post Edward N. Luttwak represents the Hizbollah/Hamas attacks on Israel as an attempt by Iran to unify the Arabs against a common foe and reject the western attempts to get it to stop its nuclearization. But Iran’s strategy has forced Hizbollah away from integration into Lebanese politics.

Hizbullah has thrown away its political position in Lebanon because it is obvious to all that it is bringing destruction upon the country.

In this view the question is how much damage Israel gets to create before Hizbollah and Hamas have to cry uncle.

In war it is very difficult for ordinary people watching the media to understand what is going on.

One thing it is not is a mindless “cycle of violence,” or “Crisis in the Middle East.” It is a war, stupid. It is a war to preserve the state of Israel.