ISRAEL AT WAR WITH MORE THAN JUST HEZBOLLAH

As the fighting continues to escalate evidence is surfacing more each day of an Iran and Syria connection in the hostilities that are raging in Israel and Lebanon. The longer that this continues the more even Arab states are calling for the disarming of Hezbollah. Israel is still standing firm that this conflict will continue until their soldiers are released, ( with the prospect that they are in Iran this is unlikely), Hezbollah disarmed and the Lebanese Army stationed on the southern border to ward of further attacks by Hezbollah. The United Nations has sent emissaries to Lebanon and Israel to attempt to broker a cease fire and Kofi Annon is calling for increasing U.N. peace keeping troops. Any attempt by the United Nations to end this in my opinion is doomed and a farce from the onset. Why would additional peace keeping troops aid in this situation in any manner when 2000 have been in Lebanon since 1978 with a U.N. mandate to disarm Hezbollah and prevent attacks against Israel which they have failed to do ? U.N. peace keepers have and always will fail because they are just as corrupt as the U.N. itself. So this proposal by Annon is not only not worth considering but not worth the time it took to explain it during a press conference. Concerning the brokering of a cease fire, Israel attempted to follow a peaceful process six years ago when it pulled out of the buffer zone it controlled in southern Lebanon, a buffer zone that was controlled to prevent the type of attacks that Hezbollah is currently achieving. The agreement set forth at that time was for Israel to move out of the buffer zone and Hezbollah would cease all attacks against Israel. Additional the Lebanese army was to assist in the disarming and keep a watchful eye on Hezbollah. Not only did Hezbollah continue to occasionally attack Israel but used the time to further arm themselves with the assistance of Iran and Syria. Why then would a cease fire work today since it has never worked in the past ? Also a cease fire implies negotiation and peace talks. One cannot talk to a terrorist because they do not listen and negotiation always fails because they do not honor agreements.

There are several options that I think should be considered concerning this war. First Israel should stand firm in their commitment to not stop until Hezbollah is disarmed. Israel has a reputation of backing up with force their statements and I am sure this will not be an exception. The restraint that Israel has exercised in warning the civilian population and attacking infrastructure targets to prevent movement of Hezbollah forces and supplies as well as disrupting the flow of arms coming from Syria and attacking Hezbollah command and attack sights is a good strategy and commendable for the concern for civilians. Hezbollah has been allowed to arm and have a free hand in the region far to long and the time to end their terrorism is now.

Following a similar strategy countries that are allied with Israel such as the United States and Great Britain who are also partners in the War on Terror should follow Israel's example and conduct a campaign against the terrorism that is taking place with Hezbollah and Hamas and the states that sponsor both. Today in Iran the leaders of both Hezbollah and Hamas both groups founded by Iran and financed and armed by Iran and used by Iran to instigate the current conflict met to end their differences and competition with one another to form a united front against Israel and further escalate the war thus giving full indication that Iran and the two groups that they sponsor are not going to back down. The next phase of this battle field in the global war on terror should consist of the U.S. and U.K using massive air power attacks on the infrastructure and military facilities of both Iran and Syria. Warn the civilian population in advance as Israel is doing then destroy both countries capability to instigate terror activity and arm terrorist groups again. Not only would this deal a great blow to both countries who arrogantly believe that we do not have the resolve to confront them which emboldens them to terrorize the region but it will also give them pause in any nuclear ambitions that Iran has and will force Assad in Syria to reconsider his terrorist strategy toward Israel. Additionally the destruction of the capability to wage a terror war by both Iran and Syria, who let's face facts are behind the current conflict in every way, will give courage to the freedom loving people in both countries to step up and over throw their governments. Until Iran and Syria are dealt with in a decisive manner there will never be peace in the region. Until their capability to wage terrorism and fund and arm terror organizations and networks is stopped and these two rogue states are brought under control Israel will always be threatened and war will continue to rage in the Middles East. The time to act is now! The time to fight with our ally Israel is upon us!

Ken Taylor