The Answer: arm Lebanon. Arm Lebanon well, with modern weaponry.
I'm not saying arm the Hezbollah. No. I'm saying provide support to the armed forces of the freely elected Lebanese Government. Israel and the Bush administration keep referring to UN Security Council Resolution 1559 ( LINK -- pdf ) wherein is stated,
1. Reaffirms its call for the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon throughout Lebanon;
2. Calls upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon;
3. Calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias;
4. Supports the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory;
If you flip, I'll promise not to completely bore you.
Okay I lied about the boring part... sort of.
Lets look at those points individually,
1. Reaffirms its call for the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon throughout Lebanon;
From where does a democracy obtain its real authority? Founding documents, yes, but lets get serious. Nations retain authority via military power. We seem to be real good at encouraging and even creating democracies and then not equipping them such that they might defend themselves from enemies foreign and domestic. Take Iraq, for instance, please. Why do we do this? Maybe we don't trust them.
No, see, that would be stupid.
2. Calls upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon;
ALL. Remaining. Foreign. Forces. Nuff said. Yet, we have all this talk of sending in a peacekeeping force. A foreign force. Way to break your own rules, UN! Not to mention Israel! Their UN Ambassador toutes Resoultion 1559 every day on CNN, FOX, and MSNBC, while Israeli forces cross the border into Lebanon... also every day now. Yes, Israel was attacked first. Does that give Israel's leaders the right to wave a UN document in everyone's faces when they've no intention of honoring it themselves?
3. Calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias;
BY WHO? By the Lebanese Army? With what? AKs and a few Soviet era tanks that won't go 5 miles without breaking down? No airpower? No decent artillery? No modern anything?
4. Supports the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory;
There ya go. Israel is armed by the United States of America. Hezbollah, by Iran and Syria (yes, really).
But THE ONE AND ONLY government body called upon by UN Resolution 1559 to perform any action whatsoever... is left powerless to comply with that resolution.
Who should arm Lebanon? Well, there are some filthy rich Arab oil states who would benefit greatly from stability in the region. Start there. Yes, it would take time. Yes, the Lebanese Army would require training in the modern technologies of death and surveillance. Better get started. Either that or I never want to hear about UN Security Council Resolution 1559 again.
Weak democracies do not remain true democracies. They're ripe for systemic takover by militias... like Hezbollah. Like the militias in Iraq. Like the militias in Afghanistan.
Arm these democracies.