By having no foreign policy vision other than vengeance, the current administration puts the United States in the same position of past super powers that squandered all their advantages on arrogance fed by blood and treasure. Without any understanding of the global relationships the Republicans will continue to export their view of morality as a foreign policy - my way or the highway fundamentalism.
We cannot afford this foolishness. If the President wants to reestablish the support of Congress and get back to the days when arguments over American foreign policy stopped at the waters edge, he is going to have to start doing more than just talking about a revolution in democracy in the Middle East.
This month we watched as the Israel/Lebanese border became a flashpoint once again. American diplomacy is playing catch up ball. Instead of following up the departure of the Syrians with unequivocal support of the Lebanese government so they could also send Hezbollah packing, we high fived and went back to grind in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Iranians were not so predictable. They can deny their support, but the hardware comes from them.
Was there really any surprise that the Israeli Defense Forces reacted so strongly to the capture of two soldiers and rocket attacks on the northern part of the country?
So now what? The administration is going to have to do something other than send in US forces, not that we have many left. If military force was the answer it would have worked in 1948, or 1956, or 1967, or 1973..... We need to get the Lebanese government, such as it is, working with the Israelis to achieve the common goal of eliminating Hezbollah. To this end the Israelis can stop bombing Beirut airport and civilian infrastructure north of the Hezbollah occupied villages. The Lebanese can provide information on the location of rocket storage, staging, and launch facilities as well as the location of Hezbollah units and leaders. The US can leverage diplomatic support to support the Lebanese government.
