Mullings An American Cyber Column By Rich Galen

US & Int'l Papers

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Winds of Change in the Desert

Monday July 17, 2006

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In a remarkably insightful piece in this week's Weekly Standard magazine, Bill Kristol lays out, in under 70 words, why the current outburst in the Middle East is different from previous ones:

Most of Israel's traditional Arab enemies have checked out of the current conflict. The governments of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia are, to say the least, indifferent to the fate of Hamas and Hezbollah. The Palestine Liberation Organization (Fatah) isn't a player. The prime mover behind the terrorist groups who have started this war is a non-Arab state, Iran, which wasn't involved in any of Israel's previous wars.

As if to prove his point, an editorial in the Arab News the English-language newspaper published in Saudi Arabia says the following:

Lebanese civilians and their cities are bearing the brunt of an assault for which [Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad] Siniora holds both Israel and Hezbollah responsible - the former for using a disproportionate use of deadly force to secure the release of two captured Israeli soldiers, the latter for dragging Lebanon into a conflict the government neither chose nor wanted.

This is significant because the Arab News does not hysterically call for Israel to be banished from the Planet; but demands Hezbollah share equally in taking blame for the events taking place in Lebanon.

The militant terror group Hezbollah literally occupies southern Lebanon. There is little doubt they are supported with arms, equipment, and money by Iran. Syria, which is right next door, is, in effect, the loading dock for Hezbollah: Iran ships money and materiel to Syria; Hezbollah drives over and picks it up.

Foreign Ministers of the Arab League, meeting in Cairo, naturally issued a statement condemning Israel, but the Kuwait Times reported the following:

The Saudi foreign minister appeared to be leading a camp of ministers criticising the guerrilla group's actions, calling them "unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts."
Supporting his stance were representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, delegates said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

Even the G-8 summiteers found common language condemning Hezbollah:

"The immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces to destabilize the region and to frustrate the aspirations of the Palestinian, Israel and Lebanese people for democracy and peace. In Gaza, elements of Hamas launched rocket attacks against Israeli territory and abducted an Israeli soldier. In Lebanon, (Hezbollah) � attacked Israel from Lebanese territory and killed and captured Israeli soldiers�"

This is the time for the Arab states to step boldly into the 20th Century (the 21st Century may be too long a leap) by accepting the reality that Israel exists. Regional maps on Arab web pages do not mention Israel as a country. Egypt tends to have maps which stop at the eastern edge of the Sinai, Jordan has the land mass which is Israel but does not label it.

Arab nations should support the Lebanese government in its desire to rid itself of the Hezbollah as an occupying force in the south, just as they rid themselves of Syria last year. With oil at $75 per barrel, the neighbors might build one less luxury hotel per month and help Lebanon regain its place as a jewel in the region.

Israel should accept and support the effort by providing infrastructure improvements and a dedicated effort toward joint ventures to develop the Lebanese economy.

If you accept the notion that Iran is the Professor Moriarty of this situation, the question becomes, what to do about it.

Short of a shooting war with Iran, the best way to keep its expansionist goals in check is to share the wealth - literally - with the poorer Arab nations in the Middle East and in North Africa to allow their economic engines to provide hope to their people.

This eruption might well prove to be the final gasp of the mindless terror being paid for by Iran and practiced by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Inshallah.

On the Secret Decoder Ring Page today: Lot's o' links to Bill Kristol's piece, to the Arab News editorial, to the G-8 statement, and to Professor Moriarty. A pretty cool Mullfoto from London a couple of weeks ago, and a perfectly wonderful Catchy Caption of the Day.

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